Help Needed - Tiger Barb info !

60 ltr tank
1 Heater
1 filter
1 aerator with air-stone
1 Bog wood
2 Plastic plants
1 Crashed plane ornement
1 Ceramic ornement with small plant.
temp 24 - 25 c
3 Tiger Barbs
3 Green Barbs

Hi all

These fish have been in the tank for 9 days.
Feeding well, very lively, with 2 of the green barbs going head to head quite a bit, is this a pecking order thing?

Have been observing their behaviour and have noticed that they seem to shy away and hide when i put the hood light on, its a blue moon effect bulb.
Is this normal behaviuor or is the bulb wrong? still have orignal standrd bulb.

Ph is still a problem, @ 8.
Will be treating later with ph down and then running a full water test.

One of the tiger barbs i have noticed has changed colour to a faded white, almost see through, if you get what i mean. Is this due to stress, from the dominant green barb or more likely due to ph levels which i know is too high or nitrite level?

I did 25% water change last night and rinsed filter media in the removed water.

Treated the fresh water with aqua plus and added some cycle to the media.

Will have full tests results in morning.

Any help would be great.
Regards
Keith.

Hi Keith,

How long was your tank setup before you added the fish i.e. is your tank cycled? Do you understand the nitrogen cycle?

With a small tank like this 60L it's gonna be difficult to keep the water chemistry balanced but not impossible though. You need to make sure ammonia & nitrite levels are 0ppm and nitrate levels are kept as low as possible. P.H 8 is not too excessive but has it been rising? If so then you need to get it under control as it's at the upper end.

Good luck...

Ph is still a problem, @ 8.
Will be treating later with ph down and then running a full water test.

Don’t be in a hurry to use ph down till you’re sure of your readings
What are you using to test the ph? Strips or drops?

Hi all
Update on tests

Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0.00 ppm
Ph 7.8 ( Using API test kit , which uses drops and colour chart.)
Added some ph down last night.

Ph has been constant at 8.0 untill water change and adding ph down.

I did a fishless cycle using a product called cycle, for 8 days before adding fish, tiger barbs have been in the tank for 10 days now.

Any advice on this and the behaviour of the barbs which i posted earlier.

Reghards
Keith

Hi Keith, i've kept and bred Tiger Barbs for a long time here's a few tips. Tiger Barbs need very soft acidic water, i've always kept mine in a ph of 6.2, you should adjust your ph as soon as possible it reduces stress and they will thrive. The temperture of the tank should be a steady 24. The way you describe the carry on of your fish is, it is probably a stressed female. Males are more colourful and have a slight bit of red in there noses. Females can be quite drab looking and that faded colour your seeing is 100% stress related, they go very pale.

If the ph lowering doesn't work and you feel she is still stressed, best thing to do is remove her to quarintine or its back to the lfs. Also note they are terrible fin nippers so don't add anything slow moving or anything with long fins, i.e Angels. Need any more help pm me and i can put you in the right direction.

Also mate you need to get that Ammonia down. And just as a precation remove the crashed plane and bits and pieces like that till the tank is fully settled just incase they are affecting the water, also makes more room for the fish.

Small piece of bogwood maybe instead of the plane,it could help lower the PH due to the tannic acid.

Gavin

Yeah spot on Gavin bogwood should be left and airstone should be fine.

hello this is Cees here from Pets and POnds in Dungarvan. There doesn't seem to be a problem with your PH its a bit high but nothing to worry about also its not a nitrate problem as then all your other fish would suffer and be gasping for air on the top with closed fins, nitrate syndrome. Its a problem that Tiger Barbs are quite aggressive with other fish and among each other, there is always one who has to suffer, the paleness is caused because the fish wants to be invisible which all fish do when they are under stress. Beautiful coloured fish can become pale grey when you try to catch them out of the tank or if they are chased by other fish, so I think the problem is the fish themselves among each other. Tip: put some plants, tall leafy ones that the fish can hide in to ease stress.
To lower your PH a simple trick is you can filter your water through peat, this is a natural way to lower the ph instead of using chemicals. We have a filter medium called PeatPlus which is exactly for this purpose. You add it into your filter and it does the job naturally. I personally find Tiger Barbs to be beautiful but a nuisance in any kind of community tank as they are bullies and fin-nippers spending all their time chasing other fish with long fins such as Angels, Gourami Guppies etc. They will eat them to the bone. Needless to say the fish suffer and die thats why we don't sell Tiger Barbs in our shop as they immediately limit extremely your choices of other fish in your community tank. If you want stripey fish go for the Barbus Pentazona similar but much more peaceful.