Hi I'm New

[Ma84]

Hi everyone,

I've recently bought my first aquarium, a juwel lido 120 and have 5 cherry barbs in there (2 male 3 female). They've only been in since yesterday but they seem very aggressive. Everything I've read prior to buying them suggests they're peaceful and good community fish. But From what I've seen so far this doesn't seem to be the case.

Most of the day yesterday the males were nipping at each other, and now the two males are constantly chasing one of the females. They don't bother the other 2 females that much. Has anyone else Had this problem, or is this normal?

Also they don't seem to be eating flake food (if any sinks they have a nibble but they don't appear to swim to the top for it)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Did you 'cycle' the tank at all? If not,then it could be an Ammonia and/or NitrIte issue. If so, please post a full set of your water test results which will help with the answers to your question.
When my Cherry Barb first went into my tank they displayed their natural behaviour of developing a 'hierachy' order, IE; they suss each other out to find out who is the dominant male. I have 3 male and 4 female, similiar in the numbers you have...so, unless it is a new, uncycled tank, keep a very close eye on them and act accordingly.

Terry.

 

[Ma84]

Hi Terry, thanks for your reply.

I've had the tank running for about a week to let temperature stabilise. Been checking the water every few days just to see If parameters remain the same. They've remained pretty much the same since I set it up. Obviously ammonia etc were at 0 as there were no fish in there but ph has remained constant at 7.2 and the temp at 25C.

The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are still registering as 0, so If there is any present im guessing it's fairly low.

I've noticed that one of the males gets close to the female and pushes her onto her side? Those two seem to be fairly calm in and around the plants, when the other male gets close they then start going at each other.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Ok, what you have here is a fully 'un-cycled' tank, your parameters are reading '0' because there is no beneficial bacteria within your filter, maybe spend a little time reading up on 'fish-in' cycles in the beginners section, that will tell you everything you need to know.
Without wanting to sound rude/objective, the behaviour of your Cherry Barbs is secondry at the moment, unless you start to do daily water tests and water changes they will, unfortunately, die within days/weeks.

Terry.

 

[Ma84]

Thanks for your response. I understand the nitrogen cycle and cycling, and am testing on a daily basis. I'm also aware that I'll need to perform regular water changes to keep ammonia levels down when cycling with fish.

I accept that the behaviour might be secondary to keeping ammonia down, but I understand the process of cycling with fish and what's involved. I just can't understand their behaviour considering (based on what I've read) that at present all the water parameters are suitable. Ill give them time to settle in. Like you mentioned it may just be that they're establishing a pecking order.

Thanks for your advice.