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Chrisb2011

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
55
Location
Glossop
Hello all I am new to this forum and am extremely happy I found this as I am having a few problems with one of my tiger barbs I bought 3 the other day and one of them seems to exclude himself from the other two I just went and checked on them now and 2 of them are lay next to each other settling down for the night and the other is at the side of the filter lay on his side which dosent look to good tbh I mean I no they can sleep unusual but is this normal? Thanks in advance :)
 
they shouldn't be laying anywhere... they should be swimming around.

Did you cycle your tank before adding the fish? Please post your most recent water test results:

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH
Temp

Also, what size is the tank, what kind of filter are you using? What kind of tank maintenance are you performing?
 
Hello there thanks for the quick response i have had the tank set up for a little over 1 week and I took wrong advice from a Pets store as they said it's fine bassicly just buy some fish and put um in I can't remember exactly what they wer of the top of my head but it was done today
Nitrate was slightly high aslong with ammonia I am putting 15 ml of water conditioner in everyday and doing another 25% water change on Thursday as I did one today and I did the water change then got the water tested it is also a 125 litre tank and I think it's the fluval v3
 
Do you have the actual numbers for the tests? That would help.

It would be strange that nitrates would be high after 1 week, especially if ammonia is reading high. Have you read any articles yet on cycling and the nitrogen cycle? That would be a good start.

If ammonia a/o nitrite is testing at 0.5ppm or above, you need to perform a 50%+ pwc. While the tank is cycling you will probably need to do this at least once a day if you want the fish to survive. It sounds as if the ammonia is already impacting their health based on your description. The one swimming sideways probably won't be alive much longer I am afraid.
 
I mean he can swim fine and he seems in good shape my friend had some and his stayed at bottom of the tank a lot and he said his had unusual sleeping habits aswell
 
Will do tyvm for your speedy reply greatly appreciated just hope he's still with us when I wake up tommorow :)
 
I was being facetious... the sarcasm meter was pegged to the right. Your fish aren't going to survive much longer if you don't heed the advice I posted above. You can wait for some other opinions if you like... but for further trouble shooting we need to know test results, tank size...

In the mean time, a 50% PWC now will help keep the fish alive another 12 hours or so I am guessing (depending on what the ammonia and nitrite readings are).
 
No, I would recommend a 50% water change today, and a 50% water change tomorrow as well (for real, no sarcasm :) )
 
I'm going to bed now as it's 1 in the morning here what would u recommend honestly then and how to go about it btw that's a picture of my tank I will take ur advice in the morning and do what u say
 

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i agree with everything that fort says. except that maybe if your ammonia or nitrite levels are too high, i might consider doing two 50% water changes today and then continue doing 50% water changes per day untill your issue is resolved.

you definately got some bad advice from the local fish store, you're getting some good advice here, you should definately reconsider the approach your taking. its not very humane. ammonia and nitrite are highly toxic to fish... you have sentenced them to death... not cool. you bought a pet and now you need to be responisble for it.

i would recommend that you go over your buddies house and get some of his filter media and add it to your filter. that will help jump start the nitrogen cycle. i would also recommend that you take your fish over to his house and leave them in his tank untill you get your things straightend out.
 
do a search on fishless cycling. you can get your tank ready for fish without the risk of killing them. all you need is a fishtank, ammonia and filter. after two weeks, you tank will be ready for fish. if you get enough filter media from your buddy it may be ready ina few days
 
Chrisb2011 said:
Hello there thanks for the quick response i have had the tank set up for a little over 1 week and I took wrong advice from a Pets store as they said it's fine bassicly just buy some fish and put um in I can't remember exactly what they wer of the top of my head but it was done today
Nitrate was slightly high aslong with ammonia I am putting 15 ml of water conditioner in everyday and doing another 25% water change on Thursday as I did one today and I did the water change then got the water tested it is also a 125 litre tank and I think it's the fluval v3
Click to expand...

Fort is giving you sound advice. Basically, to break it down and make it easy to understand, every new tank needs to grow bacteria to process fish waste...this process is what everyone refers to as "cycling". When testing your water parameters, you will see the fish waste register as ammonia. Once some good bacteria starts to grow and break down the ammonia, you will get a NitrIte reading. As more good bacteria begins to grow, the nitrItes will be converted into NitrAtes. Any reading over .25ppm of Ammonia and NitrItes can start to stress/harm your fish. NitrAtes are not as harmful to your fish and any reading under 20 is ideal while up to <40ppm is acceptable. Once you consistantly get 0ppm readings for Ammonia and NitrIte, then you know your cycle has been completed. Until that happens however, it is up to you to keep track of your daily ammonia and nitrIte levels. Anytime they are over .25ppm, you need to do a partial water change to lower them. This may mean daily or even 2x daily partial water changes. Anytime you add fresh water to the tank, it will help your ammonia and nitrite levels to go down....which in turn means healthier fish. If you don't have a test kit I highly recommend getting one as soon as possible. The most reliable way of testing is with a liquid test kit which can be found at many Pet stores. (API Freshwater test kit is a very popular brand.) Once you are able to test your water and let us know just what your water parameters are, we should be able to give more specific advice that can help your current situation. It definitely sounds like your fish are under a bit of stress...Tiger barbs are usually very active fish and should not be hiding behind your filter.

Also just curious, but what sort of "water conditioner" are you adding?
 
Going to do another 40/50% water change tonight after work at 10pm all fish r still with us this morning thankfully
 
Just bought the Api freshwater master teat kit thanks for the heads up £21 pound brand new eBay £33 on my pets store online shop thought if let u guys no may save yourself some pennies in future :)
 
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