Is there something wrong with my Cherry Barbs?

[hortoholic]

Hey, I was hoping I could get a little help here from you guys because you are the best and most knowledgable and mostly because i do not want to kill my fishies. Let me start with the "stats" of the tank if you will:

Temp: 78F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20


The tank is 10 gallons and cycled. Although what concerns me is these two Cherry Barbs, The eat but swim very little kind of like "hovering" in one spot. There are Ghost shrimp, Zebra Danio, Guppies in the tank as well. Would anyone be able to tell me what is wrong with them and why they are behaving this way and any way to correct it?

It would be greatly apreciated,


hortoholic

 

[HUKIT]

Cherry barbs are schooling fish where you should keep 5-9 specimens with a 2:1 female to male ratio. I'm not sure how many danios and guppies are in there now but a 10 gallon tank can be overstocked quickly...especially with the guppies.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Cherry barbs are schooling fish where you should keep 5-9 specimens with a 2:1 female to male ratio. I'm not sure how many danios and guppies are in there now but a 10 gallon tank can be overstocked quickly...especially with the guppies.

+1. IMO you should pick between barbs, danios or guppies. Guppies will reproduce like crazy.

Your barbs will probably start nipping fins as well, they are more aggressive when they are not in a school. Also, did you cycle the tank with the fish in it? If so they could be damaged since it is very painful for the fish to go through that.

 

[hortoholic]

I added the barbs a few days after the cycle completed. If I add 3 more I will be a little over my stocking level but not that much. Do you think they will perk back up and start swimming again if they are in a group? I was not aware thet had to be in groups. But i am learning as I go along. The other fish are fine so I see no concern but it was kind of ocurring during the past few days.

hortoholic

 

[logansmomma1228]

I think you could add the other three, just keep an eye on your levels. What do you have for testing the water? Hopefully not strips, they are very innacurate. a lot of people like the API liquid test kit on here. Good investment for the long run. you can get it at www.walmart.com for 18$.

Anyways, if your levels start getting high just make sure you stay on top of water changes. honestly, you might want to look into getting a bigger tank in the future so your fishies have more room . But they should perk up and be less shy with a group.

And yes you will be overstocked IMO, if it was me I would go with one kind or the other (between the danios, guppies and barbs) . you could always see if your LFS will take some fish back.

Here is a link you might find useful: Cherry Barb

 

[krap101]

As I don't have exact numbers of each species, I can't say exactly, but if each has maybe 2-4, then the tank isn't *that* bad. The danios might want more room, but it's still not as bad as a betta in a cup or a goldfish in a bowl.

 

[hortoholic]

Thanks guys, you are the best! Right now, i have 2 of each species. I used the stocking calculator and if I add 3 more barbs, my current stocking level would be at 102%. Ill linto those kits as I have heard a lot of good about them. I'll add a few more and see what happens meanwhile doing my water changes and ill check my levels on a daily basis to see if the filter can deal with it.

I have attached the image of the stock level of my tanks residents. Note: This is calculated with the 3 added barbs. So i think it will be ok. I added some bio rings a few weeks ago and i think it is established so it might help out. In reality I want my tank to be understocked but I hope this will make them move about a little more since they tend to just stay in one spot.


Edit: I forgot to add the link, whoops! silly me

Aqadvisor

 

[Crepe]

Considering AQadvisor does things a tad conservatively I'd say you're good. What filter do you have?

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

when i 1st set up my tank i had 3 albino cherry barbs. they were doing the same as yours. i bought another three, and they are fine now. my olnly problem now is that when i bought them they were still juvis, and the guy at my lfs couldn't tell them apart, now i have 4 males and 2 females. but hey, one pair mated and she dropped some eggs, however, none survived

 

[hortoholic]

@Crepe I have a simple aquatech 5-15, and a Tetra Whisper 3i. Do not know if it is effective though.

@ilovemydragongoby I have two juvis and two adults basically. It is unfortuante..

Thanks again all!