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So, this is a newish 20 gal tank.
I started it out after a week by adding 6 danios, 1 of which died of fin rot, and 2 died from unknown causes, which I figured may happen, new tank + petstore fish... there are casualties to be expected.. but the other three have been hanging out quite nicely.
Anyways, now that my tank has cycled through and all the levels are proper, I decided to expand by adding a small school of tiger barbs (originally six but turns out I got seven because one of them was missing an eye, I got an extra for free?) one tiger barb is acting really funky, just kind of hovering around tiny quick little fin movements but mostly just appears to be hovering and keeping himself upright. I fear he will be kicking the bucket here soon ...

To the point!

While adding the barbs, the danios seemed curious and happy while the new bag of fish floated around in their home, but once actually releasing them into the tank the danios are just swimming right below the surface if they do swim down at all its frantic like they do swim down at all its quick and frantic like they are searching for an escape route. BUT heres he kicker! The barbs are paying them literally no mind..

other than the ocasional barb breaking out of the school by himself to investigate, their paths have not even crossed.

I think the danios are over-reacting lol.

should i try adding a few more danios to give them the safety in numbers feel or just let them chill and see how things work out? I know three isnt really enough to school, even before i added the barbs they were more like individuals, who sometimes played together.


What should I dooooo!?

Danios are schooling fish so a minimum of 5 is recommended. Any fewer than that and they will all act individually, possibly aggressively, or become introvertive as it seems like they have. Adding a few more danios wouldn't be a bad idea at all so they will school again, and having plenty of hiding places will make them feel safe. It's a little contradictory, but the more places fish have to hide, the more you'll see of them.

That barb sounds like he has a case of gill fluke by the way. It's cheap and easy to cure, and it isn't lethal, at least in early stages. Eventually it will inhibit the fish's ability to breathe properly because the gills have been eaten away by the parasites. If you buy the API powdered medication, make sure the tank has been fully medicated, and water changed as per the instructions on the packaging, before adding any new fish. Particularly scaleless fish like loaches and eels. That powder is copper based.

Thanks for the info on gill flukes... never heard of them before.

So I went out and bought the API master test kit and the medicine that treats flukes but figured that before i started the medication id do a water change and vacuum all the gravel in hopes to get rid of the larvae if there in there. Ended up changing about 25% of the water. Added some prime, and the stability by seachem and then tested the water...

The strips are saying that the water is extremely hard, and the total alkalinity is around 40ppm then I tested the reg pH (7.6) and the High pH (7.4) are these readings going to be okay? Are they out of wack because I just changed the water? Should I take any proactive measures to fix it? I haven't started the medicine yet either, felt like I should probably give the tank some time to re-stabilize before I went removing the carbon filter.

Any Suggestions?

you can compare your results with your "normal" water by leaving a small glass sitting on the counter overnight and using your test kit on it. This will tell you what readings you can expect out of the tap, and how far off (or not) your tank is

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Hi and Welcome to Fish Profiles!

Just a minor addition to what "Moondog" suggested.
When you draw that glass of water and leave it set out on a counter, be sure that everyone knows that its is a test and that no one, or nothing (pets) should take a sip or drink out of it. The saliva will can alter the test results. Also, so will smoke from cooking or smoking.

These fish, the barbs, prefer soft acidic water. Now, if they were bred in fish farms they may be more tollerant to water in the low 7 pH and hardness around 10 but if they are native fish, then they will have high stress and difficulty adapting to your high Ph and high Hardness.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Would adding AQ salt to the tank help any?

the box said something like 1/2 a teaspoon rounded for each gallon of water... buuuuut that sound like an awful lot for a freshwater tank?

Freshwater fish don't need salt, and you really don't need to be adjusting your water really. Since once you start adjusting you always have to adjust...and that gets to be a bit of a pain.

Lowering ph can be done by adding driftwood to the tank. It'll slowly leech tannins into the water that will slowly lower the ph and in a more stable way than with salts.


^_^