Mad fish!!!

[Maisy]

Hi everyone

Am new here and to keeping fish as well!

Needed to just ask a question though as I think my fish may be abnormal! Recently got a new tank and have now had it for 3 weeks and put a few barbs in last week. They stayed together in a pack for the first coulpe of days but now go completely mad all the time shooting around everywhere and go even more mad when the light is turned on. They always seem to want to eat and go to the top of the tank whenever I go near it. Is this normal behaviour?

Any help would be great,

Thanks guys

 

[sylvia]

What kind of barbs?

It's probably quite normal. They'll eventualy get used to the lights and the constant hunger is perfectly normal. Just keep their day/night anf feeding routine regular for a while to get them to settle down. They have stopped shoaling because they are alone in the tank and know there are no predators around as they've been there for a while on their own. They also wont usualy shoal if they can see each other so adding some tall ornaments will encourage shoaling though you still may need to wait until later (see below) and add another fish.

What size tank do you have?

When your tank is cycled and you finaly add a few more fish, especialy if they are tiger barbs, add something large and quite boisterous. This will get them to shoal again and limit aggression as it will force them to be more concerned about predators and keep them swimming together. If your tank will allow for it, also add some more barbs as they like being in large shoals.

If the barbs you have are something peaceful like cherry or golden dwarf barbs, you need not keep them in as large a shoal and some peaceful but slightly larger tank-mates and interesting ornaments/plants/decorations to block their vision should be enough to encourage them to shoal.

 

[Maisy]

Thanks for the advice at least the fish aren't mad!

I have a few cherry barbs and am keeping them in a 40 litre tank, I was thinking of getting another few fish any ideas of what goes well with them?

Thanks again

 

[sylvia]

How many cherry barbs? 40 litres is approximately 10 gallons I think so it all depends on the number of cherries you have.

POSSIBLE options are: cories, a bristlenose pleco, dwarf OR honey gouramies, livebearers like platies and guppies, some tetras, some rasboras and certain other barbs are also possible. All the fish (but for the dwarf gouramies with honey gouramies) are compatible with each other provided there is enough room left in the tank for the required number as many are shoaling fish or have territorial requirements.