my tiger barbs arent very active..

[bobsaget]

the tank is a 30 gallon tank. i think i have 10 tiger barbs. maybe 12. i forget.and i have one bristlenose pleco, and two german blue rams. ammonia is 0, and nitrate is at around 10-20ppm. i do frequent water changes just to make sure everything is going well. now, when i first got my barbs and they were the only thing in the tank, they were going from left to right in the tank. i put in a red tailed shark, but took him out because the tank is too small, and he was picking on the barbs. i went thru a case of ich as well. then i got my pleco, and my two gbr's. everyone gets along quiet fine. if anything,the gbr's seem to bully the barbs.( you can see in the 3rd picture the two rams are chasing the barbs) so now you have a little info and history on the tank..my question is..why are my tiger barbs not very active? most of them eat when i feed them (frozen bloodworms/frozen daphnia) but 2-4 of them sometimes dont eat? some of them will randomly loose some color, and lose control, and float nose down? some of them linger at the very tippy top of the water? but they are ALWAYS chilling in the green bamboo on the left of the tank. i dont understand!!! even if i put my finger in there, a few weeks ago they'd all be going for my finger. now its just the two (VERY curious) rams, and a few select beefier-than-others tiger barbs. the only 6-8 or so barbs just chill out in the plant. should i take apart some of the bamboo (they have little connecter things) and give more swimming space and less hiding space?

 

[Glabe]

nice looking tank! let's see...
1. how long has the tank been up and running?
2. did you cycle the tank with the tiger barbs in it?
3. what are your nitrites?
4. What is the temperature? Tiger barbs appreciate it a little cooler
5. What kind of water are you putting into the tank?
6. What is the filtration?
7. Is there alot if water agitation at the surface from the filter or is there a bubbler?

The nose-down thing is normal for tiger barbs when they're relaxing. It's part of their quirky charm Their stripes fade to green when they're nose down or when they're stressed/unhealthy. They should all be boisterous eaters

 

[bobsaget]

thanks. trying to get into the live plant thing. got a few java moss squares (sewn onto something) in there that are actually now covered in algae ugh.. and a java fern that doesnt really seem to be growing? heh. anyway.

1) for 3-4 months now.
2)yes, unfortunately i did a fish-cycle. this isnt my first tank however. i did FREQUENT water changes, and tested the water every other day. i also took a piece of sponge from my 6g nano tank, and put it in my 30g. ive now gotten biomax though, to create more bacteria colonies.
3) im testing as we speak. i use api test kits if anyone is wondering. however, they're a few years old. i also want to add, whenever ive tested nitrite, its always read 0. since i first got the kit? ok, i finished typing my post. and checked. its at 0ppm.
4) the temp according to a tiny meat thermometer is at 80-81. i cant really read the little thermometer in my tank very well..but im thinking the meat thermo is pretty accurate.
5) i get my water from tub. i run the water for a few minutes, for the temp to even out, adjust the temp as close to the dirty tank water as i possibly can, and then treat with prime.

all of the fish have good color, besides the random loss here and there. but the small handful of barbs in the green are just super tiny. and i just looked, and 2 of them are so close to the top, it looks like their mouth is breaking the water level. could me raising my barbs in a new tank, cause them to have problems? or even the previous cases of ich cause problems? i had a few jungle ich clear tablets i used to clear it up. but i only had 3. so then i got kordons ick attack which is all natural, and it took a LONG time, but the ich was finally gone. a couple of the green barbs will flick against the heater though..but there are no other symptoms, and i only see this once in a while.

 

[bobsaget]

i just changed out 5 gallons of water. and i took out the really long bamboo, just to test and see what will happen now. i took two pictures as well. this first one, is of my really small albino. he does eat a little bit..but he is smaller than the others..and his shape..he looks odd. does he not? almost deformed?
http://oi44.tinypic.com/96l155.jpg

this second picture is of my regular tiger barb, who is at the very top, like i was explaining. he too is very small (you can kind of tell compared to the others in the pic) and he is actually shaped like the albino. http://oi44.tinypic.com/5yb907.jpg

just saw another regular barb flicking against the heater. its peculiar..only against the heater they do it. i turned down the heater a tiny bit, ill check on it tomorrow to see how much it went down.

 

[rufioman]

My pleco used to attack my heater so he could knock it down and lay on it. Don't worry about that lol. The ich part is questionable but I wouldn't worry about it. Second, your barbs might be getting the worse of it from your ram, which is arguable. I think your fish are comfortable up there honestly but your oxygen levels could be the culprit. Add airstones and do 5g changes every 2 days? 3 day? Should be fine

 

[bobsaget]

you dont think agitation from the filter is enough? perhaps i keep the water a little bit lower, so it is hitting the water harder?

also, if i were to want a better/brighter light, to show off the colors more, could i just get a regular bulb like i alraedy have except stronger, and stick it in there?

 

[Glabe]

you dont think agitation from the filter is enough? perhaps i keep the water a little bit lower, so it is hitting the water harder?

also, if i were to want a better/brighter light, to show off the colors more, could i just get a regular bulb like i alraedy have except stronger, and stick it in there?

Yeah, the filter should normally do it. However, they do like cooler water, and the warmer water may be lowering the O2 levels... I dunno if that's what's going on, but it's worth trying to lower the temp a few degrees.

And the albino and other small guy look jacked up... good luck with those little guys.

 

[bobsaget]

they do look weird right? its not from an illness or disease? maybe i should try to trade them in at petsmart?

 

[Glabe]

it's just a symptom of... something. We get fish like these from the distributors, and some come in looking normal and develop it. They never make it in our store tanks, even with spot feeding. It's prolly has to do with the less than ideal conditions that they live in. If any store is dumb enough to take yours in as a trade, I'd stop shopping there.

 

[authmal]

it's just a symptom of... something. We get fish like these from the distributors, and some come in looking normal and develop it. They never make it in our store tanks, even with spot feeding. It's prolly has to do with the less than ideal conditions that they live in. If any store is dumb enough to take yours in as a trade, I'd stop shopping there.

:thm: