Drunk Tiger Barb?

D

Deniz

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Jul 30, 2003
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My tiger barbs are not really settled in their new tank even though they have been in it for nearly 3 weeks. One is fine, the other two are swimming funny a lot of the time. They seem to lose balance a lot and most of the time they go to the back near the heater and hover vertically heads facing down.

The temp is 29C and pH is 7.4 and its a 5 gallon tank. The tank is cycled with all parameters seemingly normal. The only thing I can think of is the gravel wasnt washed out before I put them in. The tank used to be a goldfish tank and I had some of that green salt in there. I changed 90% of the water but did not wash out the gravel, although I did vacuum it at the time.

Are they drunk? :sad
 
Sounds like a problem, although from the info it's hard to diagnose. However, I'd do some significant water changes (40% or so) every other day for a week to see if that clears up the problem.
 
awkward swimming behaviors are also normal to tiger barbs so make sure it's not just normal swimming. If they're all swimming head down most of the time then there is probably something wrong. you said the other parameters are normal but just to make sure the parameters you are speaking of are the ones that are crucial. Your ammonia and nitrites should be 0, nothing more and the nitrate level should be less than 40ppm, I am able to keep mine below 15ppm with an overstock of fish so this is easily attainable with controlled feeding and regular water changes/vacuuming. If these parameters are the ones you were saying were acceptable then yes, I'd look for contamination from something. Does your water contain chlorine/chloramine? if so, you must remove it if you havn't already. another thing that can affect swimming habbits is food, if they aren't getting certain types of vitamins they will do odd things like fight to stay under water. If the headstands are just occasional, I wouldn't worry about it. Be a little more explanitory with the "funny swimming" and maybe we can pinpoint normal or irregular swimming. Kyle
 
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