AquaRank.com

FishProfiles.com Message Forums

faq | etiquette | register | my account | search | mailbox
# FishProfiles.com Message Forums
L# Freshwater Aquaria
 L# General Freshwater
  L# With Tiger Barbs?
 Post Reply  New Topic
SubscribeWith Tiger Barbs?
pizpot
*******
----------
Big Fish
Posts: 382
Kudos: 82
Votes: 1
Registered: 01-Oct-2002
male canada
I've got a 20G tank without plants, and with 4 tiger barbs. I've had so much trouble trying to stock it with tiger barbs, that I'm thinking of giving up. On the last (3rd) attempt, I bought 10, and quarentined them for 2 months. Then when I put them into the main tank, all the existing tiger barbs (for the 2nd time!!!) died. It is a tiger barb only tank. Then there were 8. About one died per week and now there are 4. These 4 have not died for 9 weeks. One is skinny though, and I am trying to fatten them up. My very first batch of tiger barbs got nice and big so I think I am feeding enough.

(20% weekly water change, ammonia, nitrite are clear, aquaclear 200 filter, 24'C)

Have you ever bought a kitten from the Humane Society? They come with "kennel cough" and will give it to your existing cats. Is this like that? The fish store looked at me funny. What should I do? Get more tiger barbs? Or maybe something else that can handle them, not that I know what that is?

At this point I'd like some guidance. I've got some brown algae or is it BG algae which may be poison for all I know. I'm trying upping the lighting and thoroughly vaccuming the gravel every week. I have had the light barely for a while now.

Attached Image:
Post InfoPosted 08-Sep-2006 22:58Profile ICQ PM Edit Report 
Calilasseia
 
---------------
-----
*Ultimate Fish Guru*
Panda Funster
Posts: 5496
Kudos: 2828
Votes: 731
Registered: 10-Feb-2003
male uk
You might want to take a look at this thread in which a problem not unlike yours was discussed.

It's possible your Tiger Barbs are eating rotting food and getting sick that way.

Try introducing a bunch of bottom feeders - some Corydoras should live compatibly with your Tiger Barbs. It's JUST possible that your mortality woes could very well come to an end if you have bottom feeders snapping up any uneaten food instead of it lying around rotting.

Also, try feeding smaller quantities but more often - a situation that more closely approximates to the wild situation. This is ESPECIALLY important with barbs, as they are basically 'pigs with fins' and if you let them, they will gorge and pass partially digested food out the back end, adding to your nitrogen cycle management issues as well as possibly providing a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria.

Lastly (and i'm back to provenance again) check your stock. Wild type Tiger Barbs are a LOT stronger and more healthy than some of the selectively bred colour varieties. However, the fact that your quarantined individuals lasted 2 months, then started dying off in the main aquarium, suggests that it's the uneaten and rotting food problem covered in that thread I linked that could be your source of woes.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002
Post InfoPosted 09-Sep-2006 02:14Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
pizpot
*******
----------
Big Fish
Posts: 382
Kudos: 82
Votes: 1
Registered: 01-Oct-2002
male canada
Very good reading for me!

As I said, my old batch of tiger barbs where big and healthy for a year, and *GONG* I had 4 corydoras julii with them! (but alas moving to grandma's for 2 weeks and back for home renovations did them in)

I never got more cories--thought they were not getting enough food and felt sorry for them.

Regarding stock, the 1st healthy batch were regular, the 2nd batch was green, the 3rd batch was a mix of all three types, and the last try was all regular.

Cheers for beers! I have a question about my algae which I think I will post in its own thread.
Post InfoPosted 09-Sep-2006 04:31Profile ICQ PM Edit Delete Report 
Calilasseia
 
---------------
-----
*Ultimate Fish Guru*
Panda Funster
Posts: 5496
Kudos: 2828
Votes: 731
Registered: 10-Feb-2003
male uk
Oh, break out the gravel vac and remove ALL traces of rotting food before adding the Corys. They'd probably prefer not to eat rotting food too you know.

Basically, once you've gravel vac'ed the tank and added some Corys, try again with the Tiger Barbs. If they last longer this time round, then you're sorted.

Oh, and if you can slowly but surely migrate from plastic plants to live ones, this would also be a GREAT step forward, because live plants absorb some of your nitrates at the end of the nitrogen cycle, which will in turn keep algae down once the higher plants are established and outcompeting any algae present. Plus, you can keep some Otocinclus in there with your Tiger Barbs, and they will happily snack upon algae with undiguised relish.

So, for your 20, I'd run with this:

6 Corydoras julii
4 Otocinclus
12 Tiger Barbs

From that point on, you're more or less fully stocked. But then, the bottom feeders will be helping to ensure that your Tiger Barbs are nice and healthy, so your shoal of 12 will look spectacular once they're acclimatised and bedded in!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002
Post InfoPosted 09-Sep-2006 21:09Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Post Reply  New Topic
Jump to: 

The views expressed on this page are the implied opinions of their respective authors.
Under no circumstances do the comments on this page represent the opinions of the staff of FishProfiles.com.

FishProfiles.com Forums, version 11.0
Mazeguy Smilies