Strange tiger barb behavior
- Thread starter isubrian
- Start date
Raechal
Fish Gatherer
Looks like flicking to me. Do they have any visible white spots that look like grains of sand or sugar or any of your other fish have them? It may be ich. Look for when they go to the bathroom and see if their poo is white. I just got an outbreak of internal parasites in my 120 gallon. My fish were flicking like your tiger barbs are and some also had white poo.
It is definately scratching, and if it is recurring frequently there is definately some irritant that is bothering your fish. Ich is one of many possibilities, including velvet (another protozoan parasite) or flukes or even elevated nitrite levels? You will need to look at some webpages or I would recommend buying/borrowing a book from your library such as A-Z of Tropical Fish or The Manual of Fish Health to more completely investigate the cause. Do not medicate just on a guess, as most medications can be very harsh.
If you identify the ailment, or your fish have other symptoms, feel free to ask on here again, as a good majority of the problems you may have have been dealt with by someone on here and you usually get pretty good advice. Advice on both what the problem may be and the recommended cures.
The info we will need to best help you is: Most recent water test results: the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests. The size of the tank. How long has the tank been running. What the current inhabitants are. What changes, additions you have recently made to the tank. How frequent your water changes are.
And finally, though these seem like big problems, after treatment, you will have to investigate the origins of whatever the problem is. Almost every problem is triggered by poor husbandry. That is, when the fish are stressed, their immune systems are weakened, so you have to look into whether the fish are stressed in their current settings or by something recent. Such as, did you do a recent waterchange with water that may have been too cold, accidently chilling to fish some? Some of the questions about stress can be answered by the size and inhabitants of the tank questions that were asked above. Such as, if you have a very aggressive fish bullying and thereby stressing the other fish.
If you identify the ailment, or your fish have other symptoms, feel free to ask on here again, as a good majority of the problems you may have have been dealt with by someone on here and you usually get pretty good advice. Advice on both what the problem may be and the recommended cures.
The info we will need to best help you is: Most recent water test results: the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests. The size of the tank. How long has the tank been running. What the current inhabitants are. What changes, additions you have recently made to the tank. How frequent your water changes are.
And finally, though these seem like big problems, after treatment, you will have to investigate the origins of whatever the problem is. Almost every problem is triggered by poor husbandry. That is, when the fish are stressed, their immune systems are weakened, so you have to look into whether the fish are stressed in their current settings or by something recent. Such as, did you do a recent waterchange with water that may have been too cold, accidently chilling to fish some? Some of the questions about stress can be answered by the size and inhabitants of the tank questions that were asked above. Such as, if you have a very aggressive fish bullying and thereby stressing the other fish.
isubrian
New Member
I checked tonight and don't see any white spots that might be ick. One of the fish that is doing this does have kind of a big belly...not sure if that is related or not, but thought I would mention it. I haven't run to my lfs yet to get the water checked, so will add that information when I get it. I do about a 10% water change every other week. The tank is 46 US gallons and it's inhabitants are:
3 bala sharks
4 tiger barbs
2 albino tiger barbs
2 silver dollars
2 clown loaches
3 ghost glass catfish
1 plecostomous
I haven't witnessed any bullying. The latest change I made was adding a few plastic plants, about 2 months ago.
Thanks for your help!
3 bala sharks
4 tiger barbs
2 albino tiger barbs
2 silver dollars
2 clown loaches
3 ghost glass catfish
1 plecostomous
I haven't witnessed any bullying. The latest change I made was adding a few plastic plants, about 2 months ago.
Thanks for your help!
10% water change every other week is not a lot for a tank which is stocked to that level. Let's see the water results, but flicking like that is normally indicative of irritation, and in clean water loving fish like Tiger Barbs, that is far more likely to be water quality issues then parasites.
isubrian
New Member
I got the numbers from my water and the only number that is not where it should be is my nitrates, which is around 140. The ammonia was perfect, nitrite was 0, ph was 7.8. What do I need to do to bring the nitrates back down? Also, what am I doing wrong that my nitrates are high? The lfs recommended using a product called Prime, which detoxifies nitrites and nitrates. The container recommends adding it to water before putting back into the tank after a water change, but says it can be added to the aquarium directly. Is this safe to use in my tank?
Thanks!
Thanks!
To lower your nitrates the best way is water changes. The end result of the nitrogen cycle is nitrate, so you have not done anything wrong, other than let the nitrates build up. You have to dilute that out of your tank. Nitrates that high are definately an irritant. At the barest minimum, you need to get that under 100ppm. Much better for your fish would be 50 ppm. And best would be somewhere in the 10 to 20 range.
I recommend several small water changes over the next several days. You said 10% every two weeks... I would say do that same 10% every day for the next week at least. Longer would be better. Next time you go to the LFS take a sample of your tap water to have tested to see if it has any nitrates in it.
On more permanent remedies for that nitrate level, plants will take up some level of nitrates. Unless you very heavily plant, it is unlikely you will get to 0 nitrates, but plants can help keep the level in the 10s to 20s, much healthier for your fish.
That, and if you do about a 25% water change each week (instead of 10% every two weeks) will help keep your level of nitrates managable
The chemical solution is normally only reserved for emergencies, and you are not at that stage yet. The partial water changes should patch everything up.
For example, in my 40 gal tank that is somewhat overstocked, I do at least 1 and often 2 25% water changes every week. The water changes plus the hornwort and java moss I have in that tank keeps the nitrates between 10 and 20.
I recommend several small water changes over the next several days. You said 10% every two weeks... I would say do that same 10% every day for the next week at least. Longer would be better. Next time you go to the LFS take a sample of your tap water to have tested to see if it has any nitrates in it.
On more permanent remedies for that nitrate level, plants will take up some level of nitrates. Unless you very heavily plant, it is unlikely you will get to 0 nitrates, but plants can help keep the level in the 10s to 20s, much healthier for your fish.
That, and if you do about a 25% water change each week (instead of 10% every two weeks) will help keep your level of nitrates managable
The chemical solution is normally only reserved for emergencies, and you are not at that stage yet. The partial water changes should patch everything up.
For example, in my 40 gal tank that is somewhat overstocked, I do at least 1 and often 2 25% water changes every week. The water changes plus the hornwort and java moss I have in that tank keeps the nitrates between 10 and 20.
The water parameters do not suprise me, and the Tiger Barbs will flick with nitrates that high. Really, anything above 40 is high nitrates, (although in some places it is like that out of the tap).
Your filter converts Ammonia -> nitrites - nitrate, thus the normal end product of your biological filtration is nitrates, and you change water to get rid of it.
A few water changes in relatively quick succession, then aim to up your regular changes to something like 20% a week. Once you've been at that rate for long enough for the nitrates to stabilise, get the test done again, then up the ammount if it is still elevated.
As an emergency measure, you could put in a denitrating resin, but you should never rely on that, it will also cost a fortune to keep replacing - although your lfs will love you of course...
Your filter converts Ammonia -> nitrites - nitrate, thus the normal end product of your biological filtration is nitrates, and you change water to get rid of it.
A few water changes in relatively quick succession, then aim to up your regular changes to something like 20% a week. Once you've been at that rate for long enough for the nitrates to stabilise, get the test done again, then up the ammount if it is still elevated.
As an emergency measure, you could put in a denitrating resin, but you should never rely on that, it will also cost a fortune to keep replacing - although your lfs will love you of course...
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