gold barb anti-social, neon tetra losing a little color

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W

weizilla

AC Members
Jan 23, 2006
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I have a 20 gal tank with the following fish:

2 rosy barbs,
1 gold barb,
2 small neon tetra,
4 cardinal tetra,
1 small bala shark,
1 shark catfish,
1 chinese algae eater
and
1 2" blue crayfish (got 3 days ago).

I've had the tank set up since Nov 20th and all the water tests that I've done up to this morning have shown that the water is fine (no ammonia, no nitrites).
However, recently about 2 days ago, I've noticed that my gold barb isn't as active anymore. Usually it hangs around the top of the water and gets excited when I walk by because it thinks it's feeding time. However now, it just hangs out at the bottom corner of the tank not swimming much. Every now and then, it would swim out a little bit, then dart back to the corner again. When it swims, it swims very slow, like it would almost stay in place while flapping its fins. When I feed the tank, it still eats but it hangs out in the corner most of the time.
I've also noticed that my tetras are losing some of their red color and arn't hanging out in schools as much anymore. However, this might just be temperary as its in shock from me turning on the light this morning.

None of the other fish are displaying any different behaviors though.

I've done a few water changes this week but it doesn't seem to help. Should I be concerned that something is wrong or will this just go away?

could this be neon tetra disease?
 
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Holly9937

Holly9937

AC Members
Jan 20, 2005
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Michigan
I'm going to guess stress might be the issue. Your fish you have are not the best mix. The barbs and neons are schooling fish and you don't have enough of them, 3 is a very bare minimun for schooling fish, 6 is ideal. The balas are also schooling fish, are very skittish and get to be around 12" in proper tanks (much larger than what you have). Also, the crayfish might be putting everyone on edge. I know some sites say they are peaceful, but that is not always the case, and even if it doesn't eat your fish, you've introduced an obvious predator (in their minds) to the environment, and I would bet everyone is a bit on edge. Also, the CAE can be aggressive.

If you can, I would consider returning the crayfish, bala and CAE and rounding out your schools a bit more. The fish will be much happier if you can do that.
 
W

weizilla

AC Members
Jan 23, 2006
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i was going to have 6 cardnal tetras but I got 2 neon ones by mistake. they have been schooling together up till recently so i figured they were good. my barbs have never been swimming together and seemed to be fine until recently when the gold barb started being anti social. and the cae hasn't bothered anyone. it just happily swims around sucking on everything like a vacuum
 
R

rrkss

Biology is Fun
Dec 2, 2005
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My gold barbs always school together tightly and do best in groups. My Rosy Barbs like to stick together also though they tend to break up into minischools and only come together into a big tight school whenever Mr. Rainbow Shark pays them a visit. That gold barb needs more of his own species to do well. Right now he feels unsafe and will act that way until he gets a group of his own species in order to feel protected.
 
Genral72

Genral72

Giver of worthless imformation.
Oct 15, 2005
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Pittsburgh
As far as the barbs go you need a larger school for them to school. The Bala Shark will grow too big for your tank. I believe the chinese algae eater will also. Crayfish are bad for most tanks as they will kill your fish. Balas also need to be in schools of at least 6. The shark catfish also need a minimum tank of 85 gallons. I would suggest tanking everything but the barbs and tetras back. Hope I helped
 
budrecki

budrecki

Trust me, it's for your own good.
Dec 17, 2005
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Orlando,FL
Are you sure you have a "Gold Barb", or do you have 2 red/orange rosey barbs and 1 yellow rosey barb. The red/ orange are males, the yellow are females. If this is the case, the males may be chasing her to death.
 
W

weizilla

AC Members
Jan 23, 2006
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sorry, i looked up more pictures. i have 2 cherry barbs, not rosy barbs, and 1 gold rosy barb (the anti social one), not a gold barb. my bad.

my gold rosy barb used to be happy for the past 2 months but he's only like the for the last 2 days.

as it turns out, i don't think it was the crayfish. for the last 2 days, it has been in it's hut the whole time molting
 
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