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Hi folks

I have a cherry barb that is recovering from a nasty bite mark. He's currently in my hospital tank. I'm apprehensive in transferring him back into my main 42G tall tank which contains 6 redeye tetras, 1 zebra danio, 2 tiger barbs and 1 serpae. I believe it was the tetras that attacked him for no apparent reason. These guys have all been together now for almost 2 years.

I'd like to know if my lone cherry barb would be OK in my 10G female guppy tank. It only has 6 guppies in it, and my cherry barb is fully grown now at 3". I know its pushing the limit for a 10G but would he be safer with them instead of being put back into the main tank?

Your opinions are greatly appreciated!


*Mitch*

I know that Cherries are very peaceful little fellas. So, I would believe that the Cherry would be fine in with your guppies.

However, in reading the stocking list in your 42g tall, I would guess that the Serpae or the Tiger Barbs would be the most likely culprits, as far as that bite mark goes.

The Tigers should be in a school of at least six, if not more fish. The same thing goes for the Serpaes as they are almost equally as snippy and fiesty as the Tiger Barbs. Frankly, I am kind of surprised that the Tigers haven't ravaged that Serpae and nipped his fins relentlessly. The bigger the schools of Tigers and Serpaes (within reason), the less trouble you'll have with nipping and chasing. They'll be too busy nipping and chasing their own kind!

Best of luck,I hope your Cherry barb gets better!

I agree your cherry should be fine with your guppies. I used to keep two with my guppies and they got along really good.

Thanks for your replies Scott and Gourami. I'm hoping to move him over in a few more days. I want to wait as long as I can to make sure his wound is healed up properly but he's already starting to lose his colour so he's obviously stressed out about the whole situation. He was a vibrant red when he went into the hospital tank and he's changing to a silvery colour now.




*Mitch*

The Cherry will be red again, when it will be fine & i also agree, that you can place it with the Guppy's. Just monitor it for a few days, to be sure.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

It pains me to report that my cherry barb is dying. When I came home tonight he was at the bottom of the tank and listing to one side. He swims a little and has a problem staying upright. He's now lodged himself between some fake plants. I've no idea what happened. He seemed to be mending nicely, but all of sudden, this. I can only guess that it was the stress of the attack, the moving to the hospital tank and meds that was just too much for him. A very sad development.


*Mitch*

man, sorry to hear that about your Cherry, maybe he will pull through... I will keep my fingers crossed...

good luck!

Hi Scott

He didn't make it. He was one of my favorite fish and it's sad to see something like this happen. I've decided that I'm not going to be adding any more fish to my main tank now and let the current stock just die out. This will give me time to decide wether or not I'm going to continue with this hobby. Too disheartening when these incidents occur.

Thanks for checking back


*Mitch*

hey mitchee dont be discouraged from this hobby all the way... it isn't worth it! it is way to rewarding a hobby to get discouraged... for one thing you really needed to research your fishes' nees prior to purchasing them... tiger barbs are really supposed to be in groups of 5 or more... same with danios and all barbs and tetras... your one school will probablt terrorize the zebra or serpae eventually as they are loners... the tiger barbs will fed as they are more aggressive and can fight back... but ideally i could say fix you schools and your tank could be beautiful, healthy and lasting!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

one danio!get him some friends danios are happier that way


lol all i got to say

i like feesh

Hi Brandeeno

Thanks for the encouragement. I initially did have the complete schools of fish and my tank was quite nice! However, after a while I was looking at going in another direction with my stock. For this reason, I haven't been replacing any of the fish I've lost over the last year or so. I knew the tiger barbs were fin nippers but never thought they would actually attack and kill another fish. Pains me to think that my negligence caused the death of my cherry barb. Anyhow, I'm still debating whether to keep on or not. It's a wonderful hobby and I do enjoy it, for the most part anyway.


*Mitch*

Don't get discouraged! You learn from this hobby by making mistakes. I know I did. If we all started off knowing evrything it wouldn't be any fun. I just lost one of my mollys tonight for no aparent reason that I can see. But im not gonna let it get me down, cause I still have the rest of my fish to tend to

Come on Mitchee...... You have to learn from your own mistakes, like we all did. Sometimes i still cannot understand how the fish die, when a day before they where swimming as usuall.

Today i lost 2 C.trillineatus & i was really sad, last week the BN eggs didn't hatch, lost some C.paleatus fry due to a water change a few weeks ago. So it's not only you. There are ups & downs in all hobbies & it's the same with fish keeping. I still managed to raise lots of C.paleatus & C.aeneus albino fry to adults & bred them. So look at the positive & with the help of the Fish Profiles members, you'll start all over again.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com