sick tiger barbs?

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raceguy333

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 8, 2004
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i brought home some tiger barbs today. everything was looking just fine. i acclimated them to the tank then netted them and put them in. i didnt notice it at first (they were chasing each other around so much it was hard to see) but now it appears that they are constantly swimming downwards. there are 6 in the tank and it appears that atleast 4 maybe 5 of them are doing this. is this normal for barbs? i have never had them, but this seems a little unusual to me.

thanks for the help!
 
receguy333...

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!! :D Sorry it has taken so long to respond to this post. It is fairly common for Tiger Barbs to swim in a 'nose down' attitude....it does not indicated that they are sick. Mine do it all the time....in fact...they sleep that way as well!

Hope this helps!
 
[center:c1d911f103] :smilecolros: Welcome to AA, raceguy333!! :n00b: [/center:c1d911f103]
Sounds good. Just for safety, what are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?
 
:oops: no test kit..

but 5 of the fish are looking great. they are eating and lively. the sixth disappeared over night. he was a lot smaller than the other guys and there is no body anywhere in the tank.
 
Well, it's definitely possible that the others "whacked" the little guy---sorry been watching too much Sopranos. I'd watch them safely the next few days just to make sure nothing is wrong but I tend to lose about one tiger barb for every 3-5 I put in.

Fruitbat is right though, the nose down thing is completely normal. My tiger barbs are usually in one of 2 positions---crazily swimming about chasing one another or nose down. I wouldn't stress too much about it.
 
The second is for marine aquariums. The first test looks fine.

I would leave the barbs at 5 and just watch them for now.
 
Menagerie said:
The second is for marine aquariums. The first test looks fine.

oops, didnt even read the first line of the description i guess.. it was pretty late last night :?
 
Barbs sleep nose-down, but if they're swimming in place like that and look stressed - as though they are fighting to prevent floating upward, it could be high Nitrites or some other problem with the water. Mine did that when the tank was cycling, but not anymore.
 
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