Tiger Barb Fights

[shantanu]

Hello everyone,

Let me tell you a brief about my aquarium,
I have 6 tiger barb, 4 rosy barbs and 3 red eye swordtails (tangerine) in my 18x12x12 (Almost 10-15 gallon) tank.

The concern I am having is that recently I have noticed two of tiger barbs fighting with each other, as i observed closely, one of them has damaged his fins very badly and from couple of days he has started living in one of the corners of the tank, like as if he has isolated himself from the rest of the fish.
I noticed that he does not eat any food also (even when i separate him in a bucket for feeding). He keeps floating alone at same place in a corner of the tank.

I am getting worried about his condition, kindly guide me as to what to do, as I fear that he might eventually die in my tank if this behavior contineous.....
Please help!

Thank you

 

[jkarlson]

You might want to take him out and put him in a hospital tank, or rehome the very aggressive one. I also think you're overstocked. Rosy and Tiger Barbs can get up to 3 inches each and will fight for territory.

 

[shantanu]

thanks jkarlson,
Just now i saw that fish, and his tail seems compleately bitten away :'(
I do not hospital tank as of now, tomorrow i might rush for it, i am thinking of keeping a bowl as hospital tank.
thanks fr ur suggestion.
any other remedy apart from this ?

 

[jkarlson]

A bowl is not suitable. It needs to be cycled, and needs to have filtration.

Add aquarium salt to your water( i forgot the exact dosage but someone here should know and comment) and itll help heal his wounds. It takes time to heal though.

 

[JohnDyer]

Unfortunately your tank is overstocked. Tiger Barbs will reach 2-3 inches, and are fairly tall and broad, and rubies are the same. An 18x12x12 is 11 gallons (calculator in the top left).
Tigers will naturally fight among themselves. They are fairly hardy and can tolerate some fin damage, as long as they have a reasonable school to spread to pain. In a tank that small, though, it might have difficulty getting away or hiding.
I recommend returning all 10 barbs, and preferably the swordtails too, and doing more research on which fish can be stocked in your tank. If you made these purchases recently, the store will usually allow returns.

 

[SandraNewbie]

For a rough idea on stocking there are websites out there which have most species of fish and a lot of filters and will do the calculations for you (they're not perfect)

It registers your tank as being at 230% stocking level and warns that at 2.5 inches and swimming the barbs will outgrow your tank and the swrodtails as well (unless red eyes are a smaller swordtail I'm unaware of)

You really need to think about different fish for that tank.

 

[shantanu]

Ppl, thnks fr ur suggestions.
will look into it.
Kindly advice me, for my tank, what no. of tiger barbs rosy barb combination is ideal ?

 

[Essjay]

For your tank, the ideal numbers of tiger barbs and rosy barbs is none. They both grow too big for your tank. The swordtails grow too big as well. That's why the previous two psoters said you need to rehome the fish you have and get different kinds of fish that are the right size for your tank.

 

[shantanu]

ok,

The recent update abt my tank is, two of the tiger barbs died, one whose fins were damaged and one with only minor fin damage
Other fish compleately ate the latter one before i could notice it in the evening and could do anything.
I believe the remaining TBs are mostly female and they have started fighting with one more TB who i think is a male, (I fear if this is a female-male domination)
Also two of the red eye swordtail females too have taken corners of the tank, but no fin damage is observed.
I fear that the aggression level in the tank is increasing by each day.

Frnds, please suggest me as to which type of fish should i keep in my tank if I have to return all of these. (I am planning to do it on this sunday itself)

my tank size as i said is 18x12x12 (11 Gallon, 42 Ltrs).
Only a month back i purchased this tank along with all accessories (gravel, under gravel filter etc).

Thanks for ur opinions!

 

[shantanu]

ok,

The recent update abt my tank is, two of the tiger barbs died, one whose fins were damaged and one with only minor fin damage
Other fish compleately ate the latter one before i could notice it in the evening and could do anything.
I believe the remaining TBs are mostly female and they have started fighting with one more TB who i think is a male, (I fear if this is a female-male domination)
Also two of the red eye swordtail females too have taken corners of the tank, but no fin damage is observed.
I fear that the aggression level in the tank is increasing by each day.

Frnds, please suggest me as to which type of fish should i keep in my tank if I have to return all of these. (I am planning to do it on this sunday itself)

my tank size as i said is 18x12x12 (11 Gallon, 42 Ltrs).
Only a month back i purchased this tank along with all accessories (gravel, under gravel filter etc).

Thanks for ur opinions!

 

[Essjay]

If the tank was only set up a month ago, it is unlikely to be cycled yet. Have you been monitoring your ammonia and nitrite levels? The high levels of ammonia caused by putting so many fish in an uncycled tank could well have caused the aggression and the deaths.

If I were you, I'd return all the fish, buy a bottle of ammonia and a liquid reagent test kit, if you don't already have one, and do a fishless cycle. You should already have grown a fair number of bacteria so it won't take long. Instructions here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/

With an undergravel filter, you need to have fish that don't produce too much waste, but the tank is too small for the heavy waste makers so if you get fish suitable for the tank that shouldn't be a problem. Look at fish that stay small and are not fast swimmers (which need a much longer tank). Here is another link for you, a list if fish suitable for a tank your size. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/116208-recommendations-for-a-10-gallon/ You can also add ember tetras and celestial peral danios (also known as galaxy raboras) to the list. But you need to look at your gravel before getting fish like corydoras as rough sharp gravel can cut their mouths allowing infections to get in. Before you buy any fish, look on-line to find out how big they grow. To start with you should stick to the 1 inch per gallon rule (2.5cm per gall) which gives you 11 inches/28cm of fish. That's the adult length not what they are in the shop as most of them there will be babies.

Since you will have a while before the tank will be ready for more fish, have a look round all your shops to see what they sell. Make a note of the fish you like (small fish!) then ask here to see if they are suitable.

 

[shantanu]

thanks fr ur suggestion essjay!!

will do as suggested and will repost here!

 

[Mowbz]

Your problem here is most likely aggression.

Barbs are a nightmare. They scrap with eachother, and if in small enough numbers, will scrap with everything else in the tank as well.

The only real way to stop this happening it to increase the numbers until it stops, which your current tank, you ismply dont have the room to do. I now have over 20, and the fighting stays among themselves, which is fine, i let them get on with it. It doesnt last long and they dont damage each other.

Sounds like you have other problems to deal with first. As above, get learning and try again

 

[shantanu]

condition in my tank as of now...
only 1 red eye swordtail (female) remains, i have separated her out along with a bit damaged Tigerbarb in a hospital tank,
now my main tank has 4Rosys and 3TBs and frm past two days, i m seeing improvement in red eye swordtail female and fin damaged TB also,
my main tank with 3TB &4Rosys have become peaceful.
In hospital tank, i have added common salt, thus the injured TB is now feeling better.

Guys pls let me know if i keep Goldfish in my aquarium after returning all barbs, will it be fine?
because as one of the members said above, The undergravel filter tht i have require fish that will produce a little waste, and Goldfish produce a lot of waste?

will it be fine if i can keep the goldies ?

 

[Essjay]

You can't keep goldfish in an 11 gall tank. Fancy goldfish need 20 galls for the first one and an extra 10 galls for each additional fish. Plain goldfish should be in a pond not a tank. And goldfish are very messy fish, so messy they should have a filter rated for twice the size tank they are in.