Help regarding Tiger Barbs!!

fishcatch22 said:
I was reading it in a hurry! people miss things!
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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
 
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.)
 
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ViperGTS19801 said:
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?
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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.
 
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

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 .
 
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gagaliya said:
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.
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: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! :)
 
ViperGTS19801 said:
: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! :)
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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

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