Praecox Rainbows With An Injured Barb?

[xautomaticflowersx]

Hi there. For this to make sense it would probably help to read this thread first: Tiger Barb Bullies
Or for the short version:
I had 5 tiger barbs. Two barbs were bullied and lost their pectoral fins completely. I made sure the water was pristine and dosed the tank with melafix, but one of the injured barbs became very thin over the course of about 5 days and tonight it has died. I have three remaining healthy barbs and one barb left with no pectoral fins and no pelvic fins. Clearly I have some aggressive barbs.
Because there are only 3 healthy barbs left and one injured barb, the injured one is still getting chased around and nipped. If I were to add more barbs to ease their aggressive tendencies they would just gang up on the injured one and then that one would probably die too. Basically, I don't want to keep tiger barbs any more. I love them... they are a beautiful fish, especially the green ones. But I can't stand having my fish ripping each other apart, hiding, stressing and eventually dying.
I think I might take the 3 remaining healthy barbs back to my lfs and just keep the injured one so it's safe. I'll keep it alone (well, not quite alone as I have 3 polkadot loaches and a bunch of amano shrimp too) for a while to make sure it's going to survive. If it survives, could I keep a group of praecox rainbows in there with him? I've always liked praecox rainbows and the injured fish can still swim pretty well considering his fin-loss. During feeding time he dashes around and keeps up with the healthy ones, but they still nip him and keeps out of their way. I know that praecox rainbows are fast swimmers, but I've heard that they are peaceful too. Do you think they'd bother an injured tiger barb?
Like I said... if I get the 3 healthy barbs back to my lfs I'll keep my injured barb alone for a while (maybe a month) to make sure he's actually going to survive, so I have no immediate plans to run out and buy a load of fish. I'm just exploring the different possibilities for keeping some more peaceful fish that are still attractive like the barbs. It would be nice to think that the little injured barb could live with some different fish who aren't going to bother him too much. That said, just because he's injured it doesn't mean he's not still a bully barb... I wouldn't want him to fin-nip the rainbows. Are they fast enough to keep safe from him?
Thanks so much in advance. I could really do with some advice! Suggestions for other tank-mates are also welcome!

P.S. See signature for tank dimensions.

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Actually, having just read a lot online about praecox rainbows it seems that if you don't get the balance quite right with them regarding males and females and numbers of fish they can be aggressive towards each other. I want totally peaceful!

I'm going to be boring now and suggest that I just get a group of cardinal tetra! Would the injured barb hassle them do you think?

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Anyone?

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

I guess nobody has any ideas about tankmates for my injured barb once I've sent back my three healthy ones to stop them bullying him

I suppose I'll have to play it by ear.

 

[minxfishy]

I keep lots of rainbows, including 6 praecox, 3 males and 3 females, Ive not heard or seen praecox being bullys, nippy or frankly any problem to any other fish.

So a shoal of 6 would be nice in that sized tank, male to female ratio isnt really a problem, they are fairly easy to sex, the males have red tipped fins, whilst the females are orange.

My only concern would be for the other fish once the TB has recovered as he could then become a bully himself, TB's are nippy things and usually the only way to combat that problem is to keep them in a shoal of at least 8 minimum, that way they tend to keep themselves to themselves, no one fish tends to get picked on and they leave the other alone.

Cardinals would be fine, little sensitive sometimes, but again no problems as like the rainbows, watch the TB once it gets better and grows.

 

[boeingtech]

hi, barbs should be kept in groups of aleast 6 so that their aggression is spread amongst themselves. You could go for more peacefull barb's like rosy barbs. I have 4 living quite happily together with no problems.
Don't quote me on this i am no expert but i am sure that 1 barb on it's own might get a bit nippy.
Hope you sort things out soon

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Thanks for the responses!

minxfishy - Thanks for the info about praecox rainbows. I'm also concerned about the injured barb being nippy once he heals... even though he's lost some fins he's still a tiger barb after all.

boeingtech - Originally I did have a group of 6 tigers, but bullying has caused two to die and one to be left alive but injured.

I'm still not sure what my best option is. I had a group of 6 and they were still really aggressive with each other, causing fin loss and eventually death to two of the group. I'm surprised this injured one has survived really... but they seem to be leaving him alone now.

I'm pretty sure that he'd fin-nip if he was kept on his own with different species. So it seems like I only have two options.

1) I take my 3 healthy barbs back to my lfs. I euthanise the injured barb (because that's what they'd do at the lfs) and I start from scratch with a more peaceful community
2)I slowly add more barbs to increase the size of the group upto 8 and hope that they aren't as aggressive as they were with the group of 6.

Either way the options aren't great. It's basically mean if I euthanise the injured fish when he doesn't appear to be getting any worse. But at the same time, is a group of 8 really going to behave all that differently to a group of 6? And my group of 6 pretty much all wanted to kill each other! So it's risky getting more barbs. Particularly now that there's an injured, weaker one for them to pick on.

I know it's my decision to make, but I'd appreciate other people's opinions on the matter. Which option would you go for? Or can you see a better option?

Thanks.

 

[minxfishy]

My option would be a second tank

Seriously, I never had a problem with my TB's, I had 10, mixture of colours and although they used to chase each other to sort out their pecking order, which was a daily non stop frenzy, there were never any injuries and I never once saw them even look at another fish.

But as yours are causing trouble, then maybe it would be best to return the 3 healthy and the less healthy one to the LFS, if they choose to euthanise then thats up to them and the onus isnt on you having to do it. Maybe they wont, as they probably return it to a tank full of other TB's and the fish will recover in time. Double check that its ok to return them 1st as some wont take fish back.

In all honesty, I dont think you should up the numbers to 8 or higher as the tank isnt really large enough for that amount of full growns tigers anyway.

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

My option would be a second tank

Seriously, I never had a problem with my TB's, I had 10, mixture of colours and although they used to chase each other to sort out their pecking order, which was a daily non stop frenzy, there were never any injuries and I never once saw them even look at another fish.

But as yours are causing trouble, then maybe it would be best to return the 3 healthy and the less healthy one to the LFS, if they choose to euthanise then thats up to them and the onus isnt on you having to do it. Maybe they wont, as they probably return it to a tank full of other TB's and the fish will recover in time. Double check that its ok to return them 1st as some wont take fish back.

In all honesty, I dont think you should up the numbers to 8 or higher as the tank isnt really large enough for that amount of full growns tigers anyway.

Tell me about it... I need a little separate 10g tank just for my injured barb!

Thanks for your honest opinion though. I worked at a branch of a 'well known UK lfs chain' and I know how they euthanise fish... so I'd rather do it myself properly using clove oil so that it's as humane as possible. To be honest, I don't think a fish with no pectoral and no pelvic fins is having much of a decent life being picked on all the time. And it's not really fair to keep a gregarious fish on it's own with different species... it's going to end up being insecure and either hide all the time or become aggressive.
I think I've made my decision, as harsh as it may seem. I'll probably pop out in the next day or so to get some clove oil for the ill fish and give my lfs a call to see if they'll take back my three healthy barbs. Thanks for the advice and opinions. It's never nice to have to euthanise something... I've had to do it before with different animals, but it's always a hard decision. In this case I think/hope it's the right one.

 

[minxfishy]

Its not nice to have to do it, but sometimes necessary.

Let us know what you get instead of the barbs, especially if it is rainbows, as I love em

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Indeed, I think it's the best thing to do in this case. And thanks again for offering your opinions.

I will keep you posted on what I go for, rainbows or not! Though I am still leaning in that direction!

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

<sigh>

I haven't been able to go out and get any clove oil the last few days because of the snow (we've got LOADS here), so I still have my 3 healthy barbs and the injured one. In the last couple of days the injured barb has made a massive turn-around. I can see loads of re-growth on his pelvic fins and the stumps where his pectorals used to be look more 'rounded' at the edges as though they are regrowing to an extent as well. Plus his colour is picking up a bit... before his base colour was almost grey, whereas now his coppery sheen seems to be returning. Also he's swimming with the group a lot more and they aren't paying much attention to him.

Which is great in one sense, because he's obviously getting better. But it's also really annoying because I'm now really torn again... I can't exactly euthanise a fish that's clearly recovering! Maybe I jumped the gun a bit before, having seen the other one go downhill so fast and assuming that this one would too.
My other 3 healthy barbs really are the picture of health and beauty and I'm having trouble with the thought of rehoming them now too! I love tiger barbs, they are one of my favourite fish. And the ones I've got have been with me since I raised them from pale little inch-long fish to adult-sized, glowing, colourful specimens.

So, I'm now resolved to just sit tight and wait and see what happens with the injured barb, instead of rushing into things. If he continues to recover and becomes healthy enough I will add a couple more barbs to the group to make it a better number (6) and just hope that everything settles down once more. Hopefully soon the vallisneria and the extra crypts that I added will start to take off as well, which will help to break up lines of sight and give them extra hiding places etc.

So no rainbows for now! We'll just see what happens! Thanks very much still for all the advice. I'd still love to keep some rainbows one day... maybe when I have the space for another tank.
Or maybe sooner than I think depending on this injured barb!

EDIT: Due to a spelling mistake!

 

[minxfishy]

Well its good news that he is recovering well, hopefully things will settle down now, would be a good idea to up the numbers for sure.

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Well, we'll see how things go in the next week or so and then I could add a couple more barbs. If things don't go so well, I'll probably be joining the rainbow-keeping community!