Fish nipping reaching a dangerous level

[7Enigma]

Hello all,

I'm in a bad situation right now that does not seem to be getting better. My largest gold checkered cherry barb (looks like a cross between a gold barb and a cherry barb) has recently become the brunt of some serious aggression.

At first it started as intimidation and chasing around the tank, but has gotten progressively worse to the point where I feel the little guy needs some help. His dorsal fin and tail fin have always shown a small amount of nipping, but yesterday I got very worried when I saw his "gill fins" (forgive me for the proper term) were all but nipped off. On a submarine these are used to rise and lower the boat when moving, and I'm concerned of possible disease/death. He/she (I think its a she) still gets around the tank fine and is eating as normal, but I've got to do something quick before it dies.

I have no QT tank and no friends to take the fish for a recovery period so here are my options:

1. Let it be (I don't like this option in the least)

2. I have a small breeder cage that floats at the surface of the water. This was used previously to "re-educate" a problematic tiger barb that was terrorizing everyone in the tank. I could put the damaged barb in here so I know it won't get attacked but I'm concerned what effect the small enclosed space will have, as well as the stress from capturing it (still not so great with the net work).

3. Suck it up and buy a small QT tank (say 5-10gallons), take one of my filter pads from the established tank and PFS, plus maybe a small plant that requires almost no light (java fern), and instant cycle the tank and use this for the barb. I know this is the best method (and I do have a spare unused but very old whisper filter), but the added space and wife-approval-factor might make this a non-option. I assume I would need to get a heater for the tank but that (and the tank) should be the only added costs.

Here are my thoughts.....Try option 2 for 5-10days to give the little guy/gal a resting period and hopefully see some regrowth, and hopefully when reintroduced to the tank will be better accepted. If that does not work, then go the QT tank route. Does this sound like a viable strategy?

Thanks all in advance,

justin

 

[RoK]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Zagz]

I would do the QT method. Less stressful and you will have a QT tank on hand if ever needed in a hurry.

 

[Guest]

I would not advise #2. IMO the breeder cage is to small and will could potentielly cause more stress.

QT IMO. It is a cheap and great investment

 

[RoK]

Well yes, the 3rd is the best option. If it is not possible though, I would think #2 would be better than #1; if he/she is really getting beat up.

Another choice could be to part with the barb but you'd have to be willing to do that.

 

[7Enigma]

So I bagged the damaged barb last night without injury (took 2 nets and some coaxing with food), and put him in the breeder cage. This was right before lights out, so hopefully he calmed down during the night. This morning when I got up the lights were already on and the barb was trying to get out, but he ate well, and I know he didn't get nipped (hopefully no bruising if he was hitting the sides).

Today after work I'm going to bite the bullet and check out PetSmart for a small 5 or 10gallon tank. I'm still torn on which to get, as the 5 would be more manageable if I ever need to dose meds, but it does limit the size/amount of fish to put in it. I guess I'll just have to see what they have in stock and go from there. I'm also concerned about my tank stand. While it is made to hold a 20gallon on top and a 10 on the bottom, I'm worried about the extra weight as I swear it seems to be leaning a bit forward (got to get a level to see if I'm imagining this or its real).

The more I think about it, a 5 gallon might be the perfect size for the single barb and cory (if I can ever catch this bugger!).

 

[Guest]

I picked up a 5 gal hex kit from walmart for 19.95 last week....

 

[7Enigma]

Was this just as a QT tank or as a full setup? I've heard the components of those Walmart kits are horrible (ie heater/filter).

 

[Zagz]

Usually can get a 10 gal kit for around $30. Not the best filters etc, but usually good enough for QT tank. If stand seems to be leaning, put wood shims under the front to level it back.

 

[7Enigma]

Thanks Zagz. I've got the whisper filter and I'll be taking about 5lbs or so of substrate from the main tank, along with a plant or two, and a filter pad from the main tank as well. I'll see if I can find an easy way to squish the filter pad somewhere in there (since the whisper's use those charcoal sleeves).

So I'll just need a small heater (probably 25-50watt). And I'm really beginning to lean towards a 5gallon for ease of everything (not the least being water changes! ).

 

[7Enigma]

Go figure! So I head out to PetSmart to pick up a 5gallon tank to house the nipped barb and they have 2.5gallons which are way to small for my liking (I would have a tough time even putting a betta in one of these), but no 5 gallons (unless I want to pay 35-45 dollars for some Hex kit). So I grab the best 10gallon they had (all had so much silicone for the seals that they looked awful. $9 total!

Got home, went out back and washed the tank out with tap water and a paper towel. Then I filled the tank and let it sit for a couple minutes to make sure its properly sealed. After that I drained it using my gravel filter and went upstairs.

Turns out my stand that claims to be for a 20gallon on top and a 10gallon on the bottom is a bit misleading (got it from Big Al's). It can most definately take a 10gallon on the bottom, but th dimensions of the rought iron are very close to a 20 gallon. What that means is if you put a 10 gallon in there, the best you can do is have 3 sides properly placed, the other would hang in the air with no support. So after being an idiot and filling the tank halfway with gravel and tank water from the 20 gallon, I decided I needed to fix this.

Drained the tank except for the gravel and a little bit of water. Took the tank off, used some particle board from a desk, cut it to size, and now I have a sturdy base for the tank to sit on that evenly distributes the weight. Oh and this was after leveling the tank since it was off by a bit, and I didn't want any chances after adding another 100lbs of tank/gravel/water to the mix.

So then I cleaned my pathetic whisper filter, threw out the AC that came with it, and ran it overnight with nothing in their but the baggy. Added my dechlor, baking soda (so the KH is similar to my normal tank), and a small amount of ferts. I don't know how the fish would react if I took him from a heavily fertilized, moderately hard water situation, to a soft water with no ferts, so I figured the best thing to do would be to make the conditions similar to the tank. Next water change I'll probably continue to dose the baking soda, but I'll stop fert dosing. I don't have any plants in this 10 gallon, and don't plan on having a tank light on (it is bright enough in the room for the fish to see, and tell the difference between day and night).

Then using the cardboard from the tank I made a makeshift top, cut to the size of the tank with a cutout for the filter. I then used a black trashbag and taped it to the cardboard so it would get soggy, and prevent evaporation from the tank. Not to mention keep my 2 cats away from it since its at about their eye level!!! Let's hope I don't come home to someone fishing...

So today I plan on putting the barb in the 10gallon. He's currently in the 20 in the breeder cage, so I plan on draining some of the water from the 20gallon (about time I get some back to back water changes, already at 50% from yesterday), putting him in the bucket, and slowly adding in tank water from my QT tank. Unless you folks feel its better to just go from one tank to the other (they are 2feet apart)??

Thanks for reading the long post

justin

EDIT: Oh and PetSmart ticks me off so much when it comes to pricing. I forgot to go on their website and price the heaters, so I go there and they have REDICULOUS prices on the heaters. LIke 25-35$ for the 25-50watt models. They were also out of stock on most of the wattage ranges I needed, but I bet their website has them for 1/2 as much. I still have to get a heater, but the heat wave we are currently in pretty much makes the heater useless (I doubt my main tank one has turned on in the past week).

 

[joannde]

Justin - I admire your gumpson. And now you have an absolutely perfect QT / hospital tank. Good luck with the barb - if your tank parameters (including temp) are very close you could probably just go from one tank to the other, but if it were me I'd probably still acclimate as normal just to be safe. Someone recently told me they use a glass jar to catch fish for transfer - sounds alot less stessful than a net, so you might want to give that a try. Just make sure the jar is super clean - I'd probably clean it out with white vinegar to get rid of any soap residues also

 

[7Enigma]

joannde,

Thanks for the kind words!

So I finally got the heater yesterday, a 50watt Steath like the 150watt I have for the 20 gallon. Price paid.....$17.99.....price instore....$27.99. I didn't get a good answer when I asked why the prices were so much different (somthing about needing to be competitive with online distributers as well as shipping and handling costs ). So while that price is still a couple bucks over what Big Al's or other online retailer would be, I needed to get this QT up fast as I don't like keeping the barb this whole time in the breeder cage (though his dorsal fin looks to be healing well).

I've had a tough time getting him to feed as he wants to eat someting outside of his cage. I found out he will quickly eat a sinking shrimp pellet, which size for size probably has the most calories and protein of any of my foods, so I've been giving him 1-3 small pellets per day. Yesterday I also gave the tank a pea treat (for constipation reasons), and fortunately the barb in the cage also had a bite so I'm sure he's fine.

Today when I get home the heater gets cleaned and put in the QT tank, I'll temp match the tanks (both are sure to be over 83F with the recent heatwave in PA here. Then I'll start the acclimation procedure, and hopefully by tonight the barb will be in his own 10gallon tank relaxing...

justin

 

[joannde]

sounds like a good plan !

I usually feed peas every sunday - everyone gets peas including the bettas once a week. Everyone goes CRAZY over them too !

 

[7Enigma]

So last night I had another issue. I noticed my gold checkered cherry barb (the male from the pair that I removed) looking distraught. He normally courts and nips the barb that was removed to the QT tank. I watched him for a while and noticed a tiger barb with 3 white dots on the tail. OH NO! I had what I thought was a case of Ich about a month or two ago and even though I never saw any external white spots, it seemed to stop the fish from flashing and scratching up against stuff. So back to the heat the tank goes. I have not noticed yet whether the fish in QT has ICH, but I would prefer to wait on treatment until it gets healthier.

On to my main problem. Tubbs, my female cat, watched me put the nipped barb in the QT tank. This tank sits below my current tank, about a 1/2 foot in the air. Now normally my cats pay no attention to the fish, but being so much closer to eye level I caught her batting at the glass! She's heavy enough that the water in the upper tank was affected. I spent the next 20minutes taping with paper the sides of the tank so she couldn't see in (she was locked outside the room during this time). I open the door, she comes flying back in, and starts lifting the paper to the size so she can see in.

I was sure her attention span would have caused her to forget, but apparently not. So I took her out of the room again, played with her for a bit with a light and string, and now she seems to not be interested, but I'm scared I'll come home and find my 20gallon tank on the floor! Let's hope not....