Dying Tiger Barbs

[BigFish01]

Well my ph has not changed. I was reading the color wrong. With the api 7.4 and 8.2 look pretty close. Both browns and i was reading the higher one. I do think though that it was my original acclimation method was what killed them. My lfs wouldnt be my first suggestion but they are all i have up here. Unless i want to drive an hour and a half... I have not had any problems with the fish that i bought from them that i know of on their end. I think it was my fault again on the seventy dollars worth of torpedo barbs that died... But they require a cooler tank than im running anyways and the ph is still a little high for them... All in all i learned a big lesson. I am from now on drip acclimating all my new fish for two hours or more.. Lol thanks again for your help everyone. When i get everything good will post pics!

 

[greenmumma141]

GL with the barbs, I hope it works out, I think you will really like them once everything is settled!!! GL!

 

[BigFish01]

So far so good with the new ones. They have all survived longer than the first half of the fifteen did. I'm pretty confident that I pined my problems... Very sad but it was a learning experience in my end. I really really like the look of the tiger barbs, and when i had the fifteen in my big tank it just looked stunning. Kept finding myself counting (trying to count i should say) them and they all schooled so nicely with eachother. and every time i would come up to the glass they would all gather right in front of me begging for food. Hopefully I will get the same luck with my new ones and the next load of them that i get.

I was thinking about getting silver dollars with them but i'm wondering if i should go with something different.. Any ideas??


I really like the Torpedo barbs but they like the cooler water and the clowns like the warmer water. What are your thoughts on them? They are expensive little buggers and I do not want to kill them off again. I'm pretty sure as i said before it was my lack of acclimation procedure that killed them also. . . . Do you think they would be ok in 78F water?

Eh Scratch that i think the tigers would harass them too much...

 

[greenmumma141]

Im not sure, as Ive never kept torpedo barbs before. I keep green and tigers together and I really like the green. They look great with the tigers and their "green" is really stunning. Their behavior is very similar but mine show slight differences which makes them interesting I think your new tigers will do the same, my tigers do the same, they're really great fish to have! My mum has 2 silver dollars in her tank with tigers and they get along fine, the silver dollars really do need a lot of space though, they are quite fast lol really cool though.....

 

[BigFish01]

I will have to give the green ones a look next time i go in to the lfs. How about rosies? Would they go with them? I have a 130 gal tank so i have loads of room. Thinking about a few different shoals vs the bigger silver dollars. But i like them too... Lol but i think a bunch of smaller fish would suit me better with my clowns

 

[snazy]

Quite possible the bad acclimation causing this. People don't pay attention to the first most important thing. Bad acclimation, stressed fish, possibly dead fish within days/weeks, possibly secondary disease outbreaks due to the stress, all blamed on the fish or the shop or whatever else comes to mind..I always drip acclimate and even my clown loaches didn't bring the dreaded white spot, hopefully I'll never have to deal with it for other reasons
Good luck with the new ones and maybe post a video or two once all settles

 

[BigFish01]

Im glad i figured it out now. I from now on will drip acclimate everything to be sure! Well we will see! Did a major w.c and cleaning on big tank last night. So next weekend the tigers are going in and i will be off to get more. My honey got me a hundred dollar gift card to the lfs so im gonna put it to use! Plus some more plants since i killed all my old ones! Thanks again and will post video soon!!

 

[greenmumma141]

Good Luck with everything!! Can't wait to see some pics of all the tigers, and whatever else you decide to put in!!! And Im a little jealous of the hundred big ones what a good present lol

 

[BigFish01]

It surely surprised me! She likes the tank but she sees it as an obsession ... Lol now to talk her into another tank...... Ha yeah right!!! guess 130gals will have to be enough for me. She worries about the tanks leaking too much. Hope that never happens.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Quite possible the bad acclimation causing this. People don't pay attention to the first most important thing. Bad acclimation, stressed fish, possibly dead fish within days/weeks, possibly secondary disease outbreaks due to the stress, all blamed on the fish or the shop or whatever else comes to mind..I always drip acclimate and even my clown loaches didn't bring the dreaded white spot, hopefully I'll never have to deal with it for other reasons

Good luck with the new ones and maybe post a video or two once all settles

Agree 100%. If drip acclimation is the proper way to go with marine species, who are remarkably more sensitive than most freshwater fish in the trade, and it is the way to acclimate sensitive species like GBRs, Discus, etc. Why not just do that with ALL fish new to your tank? It really isn't that hard... in fact, I think it is EASIER than the float and fill method. Of course, I suppose its not as easy as just floating and releasing, but that's not right on any level.

 

[greenmumma141]

Can someone explain a drip acclimation process in full to me please, I would greatly appreciate it

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Use this link, its better than I could explain it.

It shows both the "bag" method and the "drip" method.

 

[greenmumma141]

Thank you sir

 

[BigFish01]

Thats the exact link i used. My basement is very cold so i put a heater for a ten gallon tank in the five gallon buccket and tipped it on like a 45°angle to cover the heater with water. Tied a couple loose knots in a piece of air line tubing and started a syphon and tightendedt he knots until i got a drip rate of about two drips per second for two hours or until the oh matches exactly. Not hard really . Probably easier in a warm room though!!! I would say my basement is about 50°F. Had to wrap the back and sides in ibsulation to help hold heat in better. Works pretty good!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, that's the method I always use. I have my tank set-up in my dining room, so the temp is fairly easy to keep. I watch it though to make sure it doesn't drop too drastically. But, once you've done the drip acclimation process to get them used to the water chemistry, they can then be floated for awhile to get the temp to match. Using this method, my fish have always been very active when first added to my tank, rather than sulking.


It helps too that generally I had other fish of their type in the tank when I added them. I added some harlequins to go with the 3 I rescued from another tank, and as soon as they got into the tank, the first 3 came over to them, and my new shoal was formed - now 9 strong.
;-) Same with my panda cories...


I actually splurged for a dripper. Not a big expense, and I figured that it should last me the rest of my fishkeeping life. I'll be using it again soon as I set-up a 110 gallon with new shoals in about a week...