"fighting" stream barilius

[riffless]

okay, I posted before about these fish and I didn't get too much info, but now I've got a kinda serious question... I currently have four of these fish, and one of them looks like he/she has been attacked, leaving it with a fairly decent sized gash behind it's front fin... will the others pick on it now that it is wounded? (if so, should I isolate it until it heals?) or might this be disease that I'm not aware of? these fish live in a 30 gallon tank with only a pleco (so far)... any help would be great... thanks

[riffless]

have ich... there's small white dots developing on his front fins... anybody know anything?

[riffless]

and I just added 3 green tiger barbs to the tank, and they're doing really well together... I'm hoping that they'll co-exist peacably and am looking to add a tin-foil barb to the mix in a week or two... if anyone has any questions about my fish... e mail me... thanks

[OrionGirl]

Okay--What kind of barilius do you have? Some of them can get way too big for a 30. If you have one of these kinds, then I imagine that territory spats will become more common. Check Fish Base for the full list. Some species I looked through said they should not be kept with fish smaller than themselves, as many of these are highly efficient predators of small fish, mollusks and crustaceans.

All references I could find indicated that they fish do much better with lots of plants--sounds like they might need to be able to hide from one another.

Regarding the suspicion of ich--how long have you had these fish? Ich will show up within 2 weeks, at most, less in waters that are above 78F.

[riffless]

and the ich came on the first couple days after I purchased them, but it was confined to one fish that was wounded (which makes me think it wasn't ich at all, but rather a reaction to his/her injury) and that one eventually died... these fish are supposed to get up 6" each, so I may have to transfer them to a bigger tank (more $$$ I can't afford)... the barbs and the barilius have been doing okay together, as they're both in groups of three, but the barbs have been staying close to the bottom of the tank, while the barilius are swimming the upper area... it will be interesting to see how they interact once they start swimming at the same levels (if they ever do)

[OrionGirl]

Okay--these are often sold as green barred, or just barred danios. Nice looking fish, should be peaceful, but they will get big enough to be a threat to smaller fish. The barbs should be okay, but I'd stay away from things like kuhlie loaches, neons, and smaller tetras.

I'd avoid adding crustaceans, since thse guys will probably make a snack of them. As stream fish, they'll prefer lots of water flow, and that may be why they are hanging out at the bottom--the water flows fastest there. Add a power head or two, and see if it makes a difference.


If you only ever saw those few spots, it either was not ich or the spores never hatched in your system--a good thing to miss!

They should be okay in the 30 for quite some time, as long as you don't add much more. 3 6 inch fish with a few 2-3 inch fish will be fine, actually a fairly low bio-load, since the bigger fish are that stream lined torpedo shape, meaning a smaller bio-load than a heavier bodied fish of the same length. I was just concerned--some members of this family can get up to 10-12 inches, but are seldom seen in the hobby.

[riffless]

I only plan to add maybe two more fish, and they will both be tin foil barbs... I'm currently usind a aquamaster 250 powerfilter and it seems to provide pretty good flow because I can't fill my tank to the top, so there's and inch or two of drop at the outflow, and the barilius seem to like being in that general area... I should probably plan to add a powerhead like you suggested and create a bit more flow in the future... thanks again

[riffless]

with these two types of fish, is there a chance of them breeding (either barbs or the barilius) and if they do, should I isolate the young from the others and let them grow to a decent size then sell them? I havent noticed any young in my other tank, but this one is bigger and less stocked...

[riffless]

he/she was alive, then 2 hours later, not alive... I added a couple new rocks today, but I believe this fish was spending a lot of time near the bottom of the tank and might have seemed to gasp near the end... any ideas? thanks

[Cloud-9]

I noticed that you seem to be a bit restless. Do not keep adding to the tank unless it has been stable for some time. There is obviously a problem. In my humble opinion, it is not wise to add more fish to a tank that is having problems until the cause has been determined and corrected.

Watch out for any more signs of ich. Use a treatment suitable for the species of fish in the tank if you see signs.

[riffless]

I was only doing some "landscaping" to give the fish a couple new hiding spots... this is a 30 gal tank with (now) 2 barilius and 3 green barbs, as well as a pleco... the barilius are extremely active, and when I was adding rocks, it may have just shocked the fish... as for the water, the ph is stable and ammonia is zero...