Gold Barb wounds? Help much appreciated

Hello people,
My gold barbs have this on them, anyone know what is is and how to sort it.
Many thanks

It will help a bit more if you can offer more information. Taking a guess from just a picture does not do much really.

Perhaps if you can mention what size your tank is, how many gold barbs do you have, any other tankmates and how many. How long the tank has been running and if it is cycled and what your water parameters are if you know them if you have a test kit.

Even a full tank picture may provide some clues as well.


The more information, the better

Thanks for the quick reply!
Tank is a 100l nano,
3 gold barbs (2 with the problem) 3 tiger barbs, 2 red eye tetras, 1 large angel fish, catfish & 2 xenopus todes.

Tank has been up and running for 4weeks fish been in 2 weeks.
Water is good when i last checked last week however i used my last stripe.
On my last test ph 7.5, no nitrate/nitrite/ammonia however water was at high end of hardness.

Fish transfered from my old 60l Biorb (gold barbs had issue previous to being moved)

Ok, am going to have to be the bad guy here and be the bearer of some news thats not gonna be what you want to hear

First thing is, your tank is likely not big enough to keep the nice angel fish, they actually need a tall tank due to their long fins. Would suggest a tank height of at least 60cm being suitable for angels though Seriously fish suggest a minium height of 50cm, but am of the opinion the higher the tank, the better. And one other thing, angels are soft water fish, so thats fairly important for your angels long term health.

Pterophyllum / Angelfish

The second issue is, Tiger Barbs are mean fish to keep in a community tank. Really, they should be in a tank on their own or with very robust tankmates at the very least. They will likely pick on all your tank stocking.

Quoted from Seriously Fish - Puntigrus tetrazona / Tiger Barb

"This species is notoriously aggressive with a reputation for biting the fins of other fishes, although this behaviour only seems to be pronounced when insufficient numbers are purchased or space is limited.

That said, it is relatively boisterous and does not make an ideal companion for timid, slow-moving, or long-finned species such as many livebearers, cichlids, and anabantoids.

Robust fishes inhabiting similar biotopes in nature, especially comparably-sized, pelagic cyprinids perhaps constitute the best choices but other options include balitorid, cobitid, and nemacheilid loaches as well as benthic cyprinids such as Crossocheilus or Garra species. If geography is not an issue many rainbowfishes and tetras are also suitable, but be sure to research your choices thoroughly before purchase.

It is a gregarious species forming loose hierarchies, with rival males continually battling with each other for female attention and hierarchical position within the group.

A group of at least 8-10 specimens should be considered the minimum purchase since this increases the likelihood that the fish will be distracted by each other rather than their tankmates and will result in a more natural-looking display. Males will also show better colouration in the presence of conspecific rivals."


So thats something for you to consider and perhaps do a little research on what may be best for you and your tank stocking's future.

Sorry to be the bearer of news you may not have wanted to hear. I always say thats its much better to know this sort of thing sooner rather than later when things may have gotten a whole lot worse.


EDIT - Oops, forgot to mention, its possible the injury / wounds on the Gold Barbs are from the Tiger Barbs. Could be injuryies from the Tigers themselves or a escape wound on wood/rock/decor and it could be a possible be stress related from the bullying/harrassment fromt he Tigers.

In short, my money is on the Tiger Barbs being responsible for those wounds in one way or another.

Hi again, my tank is 60cm high so all good on that account.

My tiger barbs are very timid, they dont harras any tank mates however the gold barbs do go at eachother.

I shall lower the ph for the angel

On no sorry its 50cm

Thats perfect regarding tank height, one less things to worry about

I assure you, Tiger barbs are one of the most aggressive specie of fish for a community tank. So thinking or seeing nothing happening when you watch the tank does not mean its not happening. Do keep a close eye on them.

One of the main reasons why schooling and shoaling species nip and harrass each other is commonly down to their numbers. They do need to be kept in groups of at least 6 but preferably 8 to 10 would be better. This goes for both Tiger Barbs AND Gold Barbs but doubt if your tank is big enough to have 8 of each Gold and Tiger Barbs as well as Tetras alongside your Angelfish, catfish , as wewll as any other schooling species. Hence why you may see the gold barbs having a go at each other.

Now altering pH is something not to be taken lightly at all, in fact most do not recommend doing this unless you are knowledgable on how pH affects the water chemistry and how it also affects gH and kH. So tread VERY carefully and do a LOT of research before doing anything regarding altering pH.

Much easier to get fish that suits your water parameters rather than altering the water parameters to suit your fish.

FYI barbs do fine in a wide band of pH levels, from 6.0 to 8.0 (with water hardness from 40 - 350ppm) as long as the parameters are steady and do not fluctuate.

But Tetras and Angelfish do better in soft water from 6.0 to 7.0. So your reading of 7.5 is a little too high really for them imho

Unsure about the catfishes though most are softwater but not all, so some homework may be required here for you to do.

EDIT - Just saw that you replied with the 50cm height of tank while was composing my reply. Is that 50cm from the top of substrate to water level or is that from bottom of tank (under subrate) to water level. If from above substrate height then it might be ok but keep an eye on the angelfish, if the angel starts to swim more sideways than vertically then your water level is too low for them.
They do get stressed if they cannot swim vertically comfortably with space to spare FYI.