tiger barb newbie!

[babielo]

Hi everyone.. I just bought an Eclipse 6 from a local petstore.. and i just added in the tiger barbs yesterday. I have a heater, 3 step filteration and it has been running for 3 days now before the fish.. In the beginning the fish all crowded around on the bottom from stress of new environment and I was a bit worried. But.....when i turn off my flourencent light inside the tank.....they seem to swim around on the top and happily.. but when i turn it on..they crowd to the bottom behind a plant....

are they scared??

 

[BettaBoyz]

i'm sorry to say, but take back the barbs. you never mentioned how many, but two things; they can get pretty big for 'small fish' and they school. schools of fish are only complete with 4 as a bare minimum of fish, and 4 tiger barbs cannot fit in the eclipse. the eclipse six is best suited for a small school of small tetras, or a Betta or Dwarf Gourami. also, you MUST let it cycle at least 2 weeks before adding even one fish!

but welcome, welcome babielo! ^^ don't think i was snapping and being evil, just stating facts. the barbs would be happiest in a 15 gallon methinks =)

 

[mollie]

Hi, I'm even newer than you! and very green around the gills! (however not sure in fishy terms if that means very ill or naive) I haven't bought the tank and gizmos yet but been to several shops.
Hope the more knowledgable can sort us out!
Hope your fish are o.k
mollie

 

[Alien Anna]

I know it's not nice to come on this forum and feel that everyone's criticising, but we have to be honest and I totally agree with BettaBoyz.

Tiger barbs need to be in a school (with tigers you need at least 8-10 or they can turn on other members of the school and harrass every other fish in the tank). They also need swimming room and most people say that a 20 gallon is really the mimum size they can be kept in (and that's a species tank).

Also, tiger barbs won't survive cycling. If you are new to the concept of cycling a tank, please follow the link in my sig and read the background to it.

I wish I had something more encouraging to say but I agree you should take those barbs back to the shop - I can't see them surviving if you leave them where you are. Your little tank is great (once it's cycled) for some suitable fish - maybe a betta or a pair of dwarf puffers, or a school of minnows or whatever but you have to be very careful to get the right fish.

 

[SneakBetta]

Hi!
I also have an eclipse 6! It's a great tank, ain't it?? I also agree, take those fish back to the store. Did you cycle the tank before you put them in?? If you don't cycle the tank, the fish can't live healthy. There is even a chance of them dying. I would say in a 6-gallon, livebearers and bettas (remember, don't put more than 1 male betta in a tank) do good. If you do other fish, make sure they are small enough!! Good Luck B)

 

[babielo]

yeah i cycled the tank at least 3 days before i dropped the fish in.. the day later it was fine..nothing was wrong with it..however if i turn on the light for the eclipse,....... it growd to an edge and swim really fast.......


but if i turn the light off..they're normal again.

i have 6 tiger barbs in there...prob. an inch each

 

[aquamanis]

Hi babielo, I,m afraid those 6 TBs are in for a hard time over the next month or so. Unfortunately you can not cycle a tank in 3 days. It takes 3-5 weeks, sometimes longer. If you want to keep those Tbs alive, youre going to have to learn about cycling and fast. In about a week they will start to show signs of distress because of high ammonia and nitrite levels. Read through this article Safe Cycling and also read Alien Annas pinned article "avoiding new tank syndrome" (at the top of the beginners questions page). Once you learn about cycling, you will give your fish a better chance of survival. Don,t worry about the light for the time being as getting the fish through this cycling stage is more of a priority right now. BTW, I cycled my tank with 6 Tbs and they all survived. Good luck

 

[Jo]

i have 6 tiger barbs in there...prob. an inch each

Sorry babielo...I'm afraid that the barbs you have are just babies...I too want tiger barbs (just got myself a 37gal for them) but I'm afraid that whilst you have the correct gal per fish inch at the moment, they will gro (tigers get to about 2"/2.5"ish) and then you will be over stocked...

why not try with something like a betta (when I first started out I didn't fancy one, but have been reading the Betta forum(give it a try!) and they have got me hooked....they sound like great fish and will be very happy in a small tank...)

Then in a couple of months (or less if you're impatient!! ) you can think about possibly getting a bigger tank and getting a nice shoal of tiger barbs...the more space they have to "run around" the happier they will be and you'll have more fun watching them in a big tank...

Good luck with the tank and let us all know how it goes and what you decide to do!

 

[Alien Anna]

yeah i cycled the tank at least 3 days before i dropped the fish in..

That isn't cycling I'm afraid - what you did for 3 days was check the equipment was running. Please follow the link in my sig as that will explain what cycling really is.

 

[babielo]

they are ok now..i dont know why you guys wanted me to do all this stuff.........

one of the fish had ich, now its all gone

 

[aquamanis]

they are ok now..i dont know why you guys wanted me to do all this stuff.........

one of the fish had ich, now its all gone

Because they have seen many newbies loose thier fish because they didn,t know about cycling. The itch would have almost certainly been brought on by bad water conditions in an uncycled tank. Glad to hear they are going well now though.

 

[babielo]

Help! My fish are doing very well..but one of them is getting big...bigger than any of the other ones! ............i am afriad that it is bullying the other fish around...chasing them.. what can i do? Could i go to the petstore and exchange??

 

[Eelzor]

babielo

 

[IHaveANewHobby:)]

Your best bet is to take them back to the fish store, they will be better off there, because your tank is not cycled, with your tank not being cycled, taking them back to the fish store will acctually save their lives. Then while you are there pick up a freshwater testing kit. And keep coming here and we will help you through the whole ordeal of tank cycleing! I dont mean to sound sharp, but I would just hate to hear the fish died becuase you did not want to take the time to cycle your tank. Good Luck to you and if you need any help just ask us we are always here!



Good Luck!

 

[bgraber]

Ok heres the deal on cycling because I dont think you understand whats going to happen. Fish eat, fish poop. The fish poop is very bad. Your tank at the moment cannot handle the poop so what that means is in a week or so the fish will basically be living in a bunch of their own poop.. Not good huh? I guess ppl think that their filter takes this out but it dosen't. What happens is this good bacteria startes to grow after a few weeks and It eats the poop. Without that bacteria the fish are basically swimming around in a toilet They may look fine, but fish will look healthy till the very end sometimes. As far as the ich goes, it goes in cycles too. You may not see it now but it's probably still there. Just keep an eye on the fish and dont let the temperature fluctuate much and you may keep the ich away.. The poopy water is what you should be worrying about tho..