Bellshill Belgians Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Hi, I'm hoping some experienced fishkeepers might help me with my Tiger Barbs. Something is wrong with my setup, I've lost two today and two more in the last week. History - 200L planted tropical tank, has been set up approx 6 months, temperature 25.5 celcius (can be up to a degree higher in the afternoon), filtration Fluval 304 (hardly ever fiddled with, seems to go well). I do have a brush algae problem, I dosed flourish excel at the label dose recently to try and control and I think the current problem started around then. I have managed to kill my twisted val with it and the BBA is now regrowing. The water has had several partial changes since then, I usually change 30% - 50% weekly. The other inhabitants are a school of 6 Zebra Danios and two approx 7cm bristlenoses. I have 11 tiger Barbs left, 3 of my originals (approx 5cm and 8 of 10 2cm new ones I bought last week). I have previously had 3 more Tigers die but not in the last 5 months. Prior to dying, the barbs "hang in the water", stop eating and look miserable for 1 - 7 days. It is always the same, instead of swimming as a school all over the place they separate out. It is hard to describe, physically that look normal, as far as there is no white spot, fungus or tatty fins but they are quiet and sort of hide with their noses lower than their tail. They can swim off normally if disturbed. I thought my redtail shark was giving them a hard time so I took him out a week ago to see if that would improve things, no change. I test my water every 1 - 2 weeks and the ammonia & nitrite are always zero, nitrates always less than 20 (in the 5 - 10 range today) and the pH is always 6.0. I am on rainwater and it comes out of the the tap at 6.0, I have never used any pH changing products. I feed tetramin flakes as my staple, supplemented with bloodworms, earthworms, brine shrimp, novotabs and wardleys shrimp pellets, peas and courgettes. Hope this is enough info for someone to help me as it breaks my heart to see my fish die as I do my very best to care for them well. I have two other tropical tanks with no problems. Thanks Joanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Tiger barbs are notorious for requiring high oxygen levels. I discovered this when I put 5 into a 20L holding tank overnight prior to someone picking them up - the next morning they were all belly up. I then added a venturi valve to the internal filter (so more oxygenation) and kept 7 barbs in the same tank for a week with no problems. Especially in a planted tank where you restrict your surface movement for the benefit of the plants (and plants dont supply a huge amount of oxygen contrary to mass opinion)... I would recommend creating a lot more surface movement, and worst case scenario is that your plants growth might reduce. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 I don't know anything about tiger barbs but, if as Morc says, they do require higher oxygen levels then warmer weather will most likely be increasing the temperature of your tank, which in turn will decrease the level of oxygen in the water. I dose flourish excel in my tank with no problems but I also run an airline 24/7. Val melts with the use of this product, and because plants increase the oxygen levels in the tank, less plants will mean less oxygen. To get rid of bearded algae you need to dose daily. Of the fish in your tank the bristlenose will most likely be the best indicator if your oxygen levels are decreasing as they will surface more often and with a major loss of oxygen in the water they will sit at the top with the tips of their noses out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellshill Belgians Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Thanks for your suggestions. I neglected to mention I have a 5cm airstone bubbling 24/7. It is not attached to the filter but runs off a separate air pump. I think there is reasonable surface movement and I have never seen the bristlenoses anywhere near the surface. According to my research, Tiger Barbs are supposed to the pretty hardy, I'm sure something must be wrong I just can't tell what. The danios are about as healthy and happy as I've ever seen fish. The stocking rate is pretty low too. Thanks Joanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 I thought Tiger Barbs were pretty hardy too, but I had a small school of 6 earlier in the year. They all died within a couple of months. No visible signs of illness. Just one by one, turning up dead. It was only them and 2 bristlenoses in the 90 litre tank so... perhaps they are not as hardy as we thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 They also prefer cooler waters, like 26-27 degs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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