Another newbie here... and a question

[ronin]

I originally had 2 gold barbs (a male and a female from what I can tell by the coloring) and 2 bronze cories, and recently added 4 albino pristella tetras to our tank. I thought gold barbs were supposed to be relatively peaceful? Cause the male one keeps nipping at all the tetras even though the tetras are much bigger. Is there any way to stop this behavior or is this just an anti-tetra barb? He leaves the cories alone for the most part when it was just the 4 of them in the tank. Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

 

[The-Wolf]

Try posting this elsewhere to get a reply
By the way to the forum

 

[boozybears]

Welcome to the Forum ronin!!

repost your question under the beginners' forum so more people will read it and respond!
Val

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum.

Like dannio2004 just said, post this elsewhere (beginner's forum).

Repost an introduction here so we know a little about you.

The answer to your quetsion is to add more barbs so they nip each other and not the other fish. For this to work, though, you need a big, cycled tank. We need to know all the tank inhabitants and the size of the tank.

Join our school.

 

[wetwetwet]

HiYa and welcome ronin

*moved to TCC*



www

 

[sinistral]

In addition to what tempestuousfury wrote about tank size and adding some barbs, I'd be curious as to how recently you added the tetras. If it was very recently, it could be a bit of territorial behavior as well. If so, this tends to get better with time.

 

[ronin]

Hi all and thanks for the welcomes. Strange, I had originally posted this in the newbie area but it didn't seem to receive any response until someone moved it to TCC...

Anyway, this is our first tank (purchased last Saturday) and it's only 3 gallons (the Eclipse System 3) although we're looking into upgrading probably to a 12 gallon as soon as we can figure out if we can clear out enough space to put it.

As I mentioned in my original post, we had 2 gold barbs and 2 bronze cories in the tank from the beginning and added the 4 tetras a few days ago. I think it probably was territorial behavior as sinistral suggested since everything seems to be ok now. Still chasing around during feeding time every now and then but it's not just the barb doing the chasing anymore.

I know we shouldn't have put in so many fish while the tank is still cycling but it didn't occur to me to look online for info/tips until the last few days. They seem to be doing fine though, but I'm doing a ~20% water change daily since ammonia level is hovering ~1ppm range. Recently started using StressZyme as well. How long does it usually take for nitrites to start appearing?

 

[sinistral]

Glad to hear the nipping behavior has improved. I hate to say this so directly, but I am pretty certain there are some issues with the tank as it is that you may wish to address. I'm glad to hear you are considering a larger tank, because 3 gallons is too small of a tank to support 8 fish, each of which could potentially grow to 1.5-2 inches. One of the issues is waste dilution-- 3 gallons unfortunately isn't enough volume to keep nitrogenous waste at a safe level with the amount of waste these fish will produce. Another related issue is that it will be hard to keep water conditions stable in a tank that size-- these might range from abrupt temperature swings, changes in pH, ammonia and nitrite spikes.

One other issue I might point out is that cories don't tend to be terribly good fish to use to cycle as they are rather sensitive to nitrogen.

I don't have any experience with the Eclipse line of tanks, but my understanding is that the filter systems aren't terribly strong or efficient; perhaps someone with more experience than me could corroborate or denounce that.

I'm quite convinced you and your fish will be happier with a larger tank. Bigger isn't always better, but with aquariums it tends to be Most people recommend 20 gallons or larger for your first tank, but if you can't make the space then 12 is certainly better than 3.

It sounds like you have done some research so far, which is great! Also, doing daily water changes of 20% is a good intervention. I'd recommend returning the cories or placing them with a friend who has an already cycled tank until you have either upgraded your tank or completed cycling the 3g. To be honest, I'd recommend doing the same thing with the tetras. Then, you can complete the cycle in the 3g and keep just the barbs and possibly a pygmy cory or two, or upgrade to a 12g or larger and get all your fish back

It's hard to give such hard-line advice, but my feeling is things will work out better in the long run with this approach. Hope that's more helpful than not~

*Edit: I forgot to address your question directly! Waiting for ammonia and nitrite spikes is often the bane of a fishkeepers existence. The cycle as a whole depending on what method one uses can take any where from a couple of weeks to 6 weeks. From what I remember nitrites show up when ammonia starts declining (as the first bacterial colonies grow in). Nitrogen-metabolizing bacteria are slow growers, so this can take 2-3 weeks to start happening, but your mileage may vary.