Wierd Fish

[blanc1g]

So, Tiger barbs acting strange - sensitive to light and lose colour, find the nearest shaded place, won't swim to the top to feed. Other fish are fine, except for exploding neon tetras (constipation). Tank is not overloaded. Ammonia is 0.25-0.5, PH 6, GH 180, Nitrites at 0.5 and nitrates 60. Not perfect - would this explain their sensitivity to light? They are fine when the lights are off. Any ideas?

 

[lilfishie]

have you been doing water changes to get the Ammonia down? ideally you don't want it above 0.25 but 0 is best.

how long have you had teh Tiger and how many do you have?

 

[blanc1g]

have you been doing water changes to get the Ammonia down? ideally you don't want it above 0.25 but 0 is best.

how long have you had teh Tiger and how many do you have?

Changed 20% yesterday. I have 6 barbs - been in an established tank for 4 months. Behaviour is a recent development - they were previously very happy

 

[lilfishie]

you will need to be changing more than 20% to move that ammonia, have you tested your tap water? seems strange to have any ammonia in a older tank how did you cycle it?

 

[Mowbz]

Did you use dechlor the last time you changed your water? Thats a lot of ammonia and nitrite for an established tank...

If the pH get any lower, that amount of ammonia is potentially lethal, so BIG water changes are going to be needed until you can find out why your bacteria arent working as hard as they should be.

 

[blanc1g]

Did you use dechlor the last time you changed your water? Thats a lot of ammonia and nitrite for an established tank...

If the pH get any lower, that amount of ammonia is potentially lethal, so BIG water changes are going to be needed until you can find out why your bacteria arent working as hard as they should be.

Just done a big water change - they all seem a bit happier in the light. I have been cleaning the gravel a lot recently to keep the snail numbers down, could this be having an effect on bacteria? Maybe I've been overfeeding? Any ideas of fish that eat snails - haven't really got room for clown loaches?

 

[ZoddyZod]

you have a large snail population and a neon tetra 'exploded', these are two clear signs that you are overfeeding, and this may very well be a cause for your ammonia and nitrite readings.

 

[Tizer]

What zoddy said, kinda stands out like a sore thumb as the cause of your problem. you are effectively still cycling your filter, you are in a fish in cycle. You need to be doing decent water changes every day. Your tiger barbs are probably acting the way they are because you are poisoning them. Some fish are more sensitive to ammonia and of course nitrite than others, although barbs are supposed to be a little more hardy than most.

 

[Jinty McGinty]

you have a large snail population and a neon tetra 'exploded', these are two clear signs that you are overfeeding, and this may very well be a cause for your ammonia and nitrite readings.

What zoddy said, kinda stands out like a sore thumb as the cause of your problem. you are effectively still cycling your filter, you are in a fish in cycle. You need to be doing decent water changes every day. Your tiger barbs are probably acting the way they are because you are poisoning them. Some fish are more sensitive to ammonia and of course nitrite than others, although barbs are supposed to be a little more hardy than most.

+1 to the above

 

[CrazyAirborne]

+1 to the +1