Behaviour Problems please help!!!

[Knuck691]

Hello

I have recently purchased a 30 gallon aquarium and after setting it up and leaving for 2 weeks i bought 5 tiger barbs, the fish look very healthy and are very active with the lights off. The problem im having is when i turn the aquarium lights on after a few minutes the fish go to the bottom of the aquarium and look as if they are vibrating.

The temp is kept at around 25 - 26 degrees 78 F

Any suggestions?

 

[liv2padl]

to begin with, schooling fish such as tiger barbs will act more normally if they're maintained in larger groups ... at least 10 fish. then there's the light .. many fish species prefer a more subdued lighting and lots of cover.

 

[Knuck691]

Thanks i'll look at purchasing some more Tiger barbs and see how it goes.

 

[kyle3]

wait to buy more fish until the tank has finished cycleing read this about cycling

then - what do you have as far as decour? are there plants live or fake? rocks? castles? or is the tank bare?

turn off the light and tell us what is says on the bulb near one end.

i have to admit it's a little strange- we've got to narrow it down a bit

do you have water test kits? if you don't those are something you will have to get- we need to know what your amonia, nitrite and nitrate readings are

how long have the fish been in the tank?

how many water changes have you done since they've been in there?

are there anyother fish in the tank?

cheers
-Kyle

 

[Knuck691]

These are the only fish in the tank, well they are the first fish in the tank. i bought the tank a a few weeks ago and set it up and left it running for a couple of weeks before i introduced them.

As for tank decour there are several plants (artificial) and a castle type thing which they can hide in, also there is a large rock and some bogwood.

There are two tubes one which says Juwel Aquarium WARM-LITE 18 WATT / 590MM and the other says Juwel Aquarium DAY-LITE 18 WATT / 590MM

I will be carrying out the test later this evening so will post the results then

Thanks

 

[kyle3]

okay so we know they've got places to hide- aren't feeling vulnerable from that

no other tankmates- good at this point

having the tank set up for 2 weeks does not cycle it if that was your meaning in including the information again.

how long have you had the fish in the tank?

# of water changes since the fish were introduced?

did you read the cycling thread?

the test results will definately help.

it doesn't sound as though you've gotten a strange light bulb although i'm not familiar with that brand and didn't find much in my quick search

we're getting closer- eliminated a few possibilities, keep those answers coming and we'll get to the bottm of it!

-Kyle

 

[Knuck691]

Yes i read the cycling thread

The fish have been in the tank for a week and i have not done a water change yet.

i will be testing the water shortly when the little one has gone to bed.

They are feeding well, thats got to be a good sign!

 

[kyle3]

i suspect you have an over abundance of amonia- in the eary phases you will need to do water changes anytime you amonia or nitrite go over .25 ppm- IMO

we'll see for sure when you get those results

 

[Knuck691]

Well i finally tested the water

Amonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 50
PH - 7.6

Well that rules the amonia out.
As to where i go from here i dont know. Gonna leave the aquarium lights off for now as this seems to be causing the problem although i dont know how.

 

[kyle3]

oh my, your nitrates are WAY too high you need to do a water change - 60-70% test again

if it's not down below 10ppm do another water change of the same proportion tomarrow

and test again