Help regarding Tiger Barbs!!

[ViperGTS19801]

My girlfriend Megf and I put together a ten gallon tank, and since she loves fish, we put an Angel, two bala sharks, two tiger barbs, and a Pleco inside.

For the past six months, the fish LOVED the tank. Everyone seemed happy. They all got huge, enough so that we were getting ready to split the fish into two seperate tanks (the ten gallon and a new fifteen gallon).

Now, perhaps we're better suited to goldfish: we hardly ever maintain the tanks. The filter does a great job of keeping the water clear, and the pleco keeps the fishpoo off the gravel. However, other tank elements are unmonitored: acidity levels, pH levels, etc.

As I said, for six months, the fish seemed so happy. Then, about a week ago, one of the two tiger barbs was found floating upside down and pallid white. Meg was crushed, and she sent him on a spinning trip down the toilet.

The other barb became introverted and stopped eating. he died just earlier tonight.

The other fish seem unbothered.

Any thoughts?

[fishcatch22]

well, your tiger barbs probably wasted away because you didn't give them a proper school, because it doesn't seem like they had any common diseases. was there anything weird about the corpse? any white spots or gold dust?

[ViperGTS19801]

No, they were just white and dead-looking.

The two barbs spent all their time together, and seemed quite happy, until the one died, at which point it's friend got very lonerish. That's understandable.

[fishcatch22]

how long did you have them?

[ViperGTS19801]

how long did you have them?
Roughly six months.

[fishcatch22]

It could have even been from old age, I don't know. just next time you get barbs of any type or any other schooling fish, make sure you get at least 5, okay?

[Roan Art]

When was the last time you did a waterchange -- or have you changed the water at all?

You need to get a test kit, ASAP, or you could lose all your fish. Please go out and get an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test kit and post your pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

As an aside, a 15g tank is not big enough for any of those fish, nor is the 10g they are in right now.

Plecos, btw, do not eat feces. You are supposed to remove the debris yourself. What are you feeding the pleco?

I highly suspect you'll find your nitrates are through the roof and this will point to Old Tank Syndrome. Six months is awful early to develop it, however you have a huge bioload for that little tank and I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Whatever you do, do not start doing water changes or you could kill all your fish. Just post your water parameters and we'll walk you through fixing the problem. Kay?

Roan

[fishcatch22]

I agree. that is a HUGE bioload... it could be old tank syndrome. we need more info to properly judge. I guess I just automatically assumed that you did regular basic mantinance.

[Roan Art]

I agree. that is a HUGE bioload... it could be old tank syndrome. we need more info to properly judge. I guess I just automatically assumed that you did regular basic mantinance.
This sentence says it all:


"Now, perhaps we're better suited to goldfish: we hardly ever maintain the tanks. The filter does a great job of keeping the water clear, and the pleco keeps the fishpoo off the gravel. However, other tank elements are unmonitored: acidity levels, pH levels, etc."

Roan

[fishcatch22]

I was reading it in a hurry! people miss things!

[Roan Art]

I was reading it in a hurry! people miss things!
Yer fired ;)

I miss stuff all the time. It's human and normal. I totally expect people to check my posts and whap me with anything I've missed :D

Roan

[fishcatch22]

okay... back on subject now. buy a ammonia/nitrite/nitrate test kit, use it on the aquarium water, post the results, and us experts will respond as to what's wrong with your tank. (P.S. what kind of pleco is yours? he could grow up to be 12" long.)

[gagaliya]

My girlfriend Megf and I put together a ten gallon tank, and since she loves fish, we put an Angel, two bala sharks, two tiger barbs, and a Pleco inside.

For the past six months, the fish LOVED the tank. Everyone seemed happy. They all got huge, enough so that we were getting ready to split the fish into two seperate tanks (the ten gallon and a new fifteen gallon).

Now, perhaps we're better suited to goldfish: we hardly ever maintain the tanks. The filter does a great job of keeping the water clear, and the pleco keeps the fishpoo off the gravel. However, other tank elements are unmonitored: acidity levels, pH levels, etc.

As I said, for six months, the fish seemed so happy. Then, about a week ago, one of the two tiger barbs was found floating upside down and pallid white. Meg was crushed, and she sent him on a spinning trip down the toilet.

The other barb became introverted and stopped eating. he died just earlier tonight.

The other fish seem unbothered.

Any thoughts?

you are not suited to take care of goldfish, or any fish for that matter until you learn and do some research.

To begin with, get a bigger tank and get rid of the bala sharks. Angel and a pleco in a 30 gallon may be bearable with weekly water changes.

Or keep the 10 gallon, get rid of all your fish and buy some white clouds instead.

[dorkfish]

Ya, that is a huge bioload - I stopped reading half way and didn't want to know any more.

Well, since you don't know the basics of fishkeeping, could you please read this article:

The Freshwater Aquarium For Newbies (http://aquafacts.net/wiki/index.php/The_Freshwater_Aquarium_for_Newbies)

Don't apply the water change scedual in the article until you clear up your case of OTS (old tank syndrom), wich is probably what killed your first barb, if there were no other symptoms. Regardless of the nitrate reading in that tank right now, with that bioload and no water changes for 6 months, it has all the bad water parameters in levels higher than they should be (other than amonia and nitrite maybe) that a tank with OTS would have, just in different doses. So long story short, start with 10% water changes, and slowly work up to the proper 25% +, preferably 50% becuase of that huge bioload .

[ViperGTS19801]

you are not suited to take care of goldfish, or any fish for that matter until you learn and do some research.

To begin with, get a bigger tank and get rid of the bala sharks. Angel and a pleco in a 30 gallon may be bearable with weekly water changes.

Or keep the 10 gallon, get rid of all your fish and buy some white clouds instead.

:look: I'm searching for where you start to be helpful.

Everyone else in this thread is being wonderful and pointing things out, steps that should be taken to fix a current problem and keep things from getting out of hand.

Your thoughts are like an etch-a-sketch: toss everything and start over.

Do you actually have an emotional attatchment to fish? My girlfriend sure does. I'd like to see you tell her to her face to flush her favorite fish down the toilet.

To everyone else: I'll be testing the water and posting resultsby the end of the night. Thanks so much to all you helpful folks for the suggestions! :)

[gagaliya]

:look: I'm searching for where you start to be helpful.

Everyone else in this thread is being wonderful and pointing things out, steps that should be taken to fix a current problem and keep things from getting out of hand.

Your thoughts are like an etch-a-sketch: toss everything and start over.

Do you actually have an emotional attatchment to fish? My girlfriend sure does. I'd like to see you tell her to her face to flush her favorite fish down the toilet.

To everyone else: I'll be testing the water and posting resultsby the end of the night. Thanks so much to all you helpful folks for the suggestions! :)

I told you what need to be done as a perm solution, without sugar coating it - Get rid of the fish or get a much bigger tank, NONE of the fish you have can live in a 10-15 gallon. The bala shark alone can get up to 16". Water testing and good upkeep will maintain the tank, but you need a workable setup to begin with.

[DaisyTattoo]

Ok, calm down everyone lol. No reason to get upset. Anyway, here are the facts. The minimum tank size for the angel is a 30g tall tank. Minimum for the balas around 90-120gallons. Minimum for pleco 120gallons. The truth is the angel will get to be about the size of the palm of your hand. The balas prefer to live in groups and also get VERY large. And the pleco...well, the pleco can get to 2 feet long. All of the fish you have need much larger tanks. They are probably dying from the high nitrate, ammonia whatever you have in there. Plus the stress of the overstocking will cause them problems. I'm sure you were unaware of the size these fish get bc your LFS probably failed to mention it. It's not your fault. But please do some research and know what you want to buy BEFORE you go into the store next time. For now, you really need to go out and get a much much larger tank if your girlfriend is really attatched to these guys. They look small now, but watch out! They grow quickly and if you keep them in the 10g you will stunt their growth and cause them alot of pain, possible spine deformities, and ultimately a very early demise.
Here is a link to a story of the life of a pleco..it will let you know just how quickly they grow and what size tank they will need. It really is worth the read. http://aquafacts.net/showthread.php?t=406&highlight=rufus
I'm sorry you were misled about your fish. You can always search the site for fish suitable for a 10g tank. I hope you can find a solution to your problem.

[fishcatch22]

my recomendation, friend, is that you upgrade to either a 100 or even a 200g, depeding on what kind of pleco your pleco is (you STILL haven't told us!) and your pocketbook size. if u can't afford a tank that big, place an ad in your local newspaper and see if you can find the sharks and the pleco a good home and move the angel to a 20g, at least.

[ViperGTS19801]

Wait...

Spend hundreds of dollars on a HUGE tank, or

Get rid of the fish?

I'm sorry but that's of NO help whatsoever. Thanks for the assistance, folks, but I think I'll pass.

[dorkfish]

Sorry to you, but those are your only options if you want all your fish to be healthy. In a 20-30g, the ballas and pleco will get stunted, wich will make there behavior turn very boring and cause very bad damage to the fishes organs and spine. And unless your doing large (50%+) daily water changes, the other fishes health will be affected becuase of the large amonts of DOC's and other toxins that will be in the water.

So do you still pass?

Remember, your fishes very existence depends completely on you, do you want to be responsible for these fishes living miserable lives and ultimately dieng a lot sooner than they should?

Oh, and heres a site to help identify your pleco:

Age of Aquariums (http://www.aquahobby.com/e_home.php)

Go to the "gallery" for fish pics & profiles.

[onepawnup]

[QUOTE=ViperGTS19801]Wait...

Spend hundreds of dollars on a HUGE tank, or

Get rid of the fish?

Dude
no one is telling you not to raise fish just do a bit more research before you buy instead of trying to fix it as an after thought. the fact is the fish you have and the tank you have are not compatable unless you goal is torture them
(go stand in you closet for an hour ...could you live if you were brought food daily ? yes you could ) (would you want to ? especially if no one wanted to do the minimum maintanace of taking out your body waste)I dont think so
that being said if you dont want to get your fish a bigger tank then find a home for them and get some that are more compatible to the tank size that you like

[Lady G]

I am one who knew NOTHING about fish before I got mine also, got suckered into the "they can fit in that tank, and be fine together" bull**** and they wont outgrow thier tank (which technically is true..b/c they will die first). Anyway I ended up with 3 bala shark, 3 columbians, 1 RTBS, 2 irredecents, and a couple others for a 29 gallon tank, I (well my son actually) was told they would all be fine in that tank. Needless to say I started loosing fish (also didn't realize the maintaing a tank part of it) well I did (and still do) loved the fish we had and when the columbians started getting a weird "shedding" to them I found this site and with the help of the people here and LISTENING to what they said I now have very healthy, happy fish. I immediatly got a vaccume for the tank and started doing DAILY water changes between 20-40%, ended up loosing the columbians they end they ended needed brackish water and did not make it, I found a home for the irredesents, I was lucky in the fact I knew someone with a pond they went to a 140 tank to grow large enough for the pond. Then I contiued with daily water changes...I was able to make it to every 2-3 day WC until I was able to find them a not much bigger but bigger 30g tank, separated them a bit to break up the bio-load, continued water changes until FINALLY I was able to get a 55g which still isn't big enough for the bala's and am happy to say I now have a 75 coming...if you keep an eye out you will find good deals! I know if I want to keep the bala's I will eventually have to go bigger yet, but my point is if you want to keep the fish you have and keep them healthy listen to what people are telling you they are not trying to run you down or force you to spend money you don't have and they certianly are not telling you to flush your fish!
You can upgrade slowly if need be at least for now go and get a 20g and break them up a bit.

Good luck,
Gin