We failed at research..

HI all,

I bought my wife a 20 gallon tank for her birthday. I spent a day researching fish for a community tank and we went to the pet store to get some fish yesterday. I was basing the number of fish off of reading 1" of fish per gallon of water so here's what we bought lol..

5-Tiger Barbs
5- Neon Tetras
2-Mollys
2-Fancy Guppies

When we added them all yesterday they seemed to love their new home, everyone was all in their respective schools. The molly's didn't seem to be bothering the other fish (we knew they were a little territorial) and the barbs were happily chasing each other back and forth all night long.

So this morning we get up, turn the lights on and it seems all **** broke loose during lights out. Now there is 1 tetra that is not staying with the school and those pesky tiger barbs keep breaking off the school and pecking all the other fish lol.

I guess I missed the part about the barbs not being a good community fish but the pet shop owner said we should have no problems with these fish all together.

My wife loves the tank and it's really pretty. Just wondering if we should take the barbs out or just let it all go and see what survives. Any opinions are welcome.

 

I would take the barbs out and take them back to the store. The others should be ok I think.
You could add a couple of more Tetras they like bigger schools anyway.
Keep in mind that Tetras when they are comfy in a tank will break up their schools from time to time. It's a good thing.
But right now- they all are probably running a little scared from those barbs.

 

I agree, the barbs should go.

I made the same mistake when I started out, putting barbs in my community tank. They harassed everyone to pieces.

 

Don't feel too bad, your LFS failed you too!

 

I hate to get rid of the barbs because they are the biggest fish we have and fun to watch but I am calling the shop and requesting them to take them back.

Can anyone reccomend any larger fish that will go well in the tank? I will get a few more tetras I think but the tank really needs a larger "centerpiece" fish..

The tank is running at a steady 75' with the heater going and we have a live plant in there as well as some artificials. (For whatever that's worth)

 

HI and welcome to the forum. I love the pottery decorations and almost bought them for my own tank, but ended up not.

Your profile says you don't know about the nitrogen cycle. (The words nitrogen cycle should be highlighted and if you click on it, a new page will open up) Your tank hasn't cycled yet and before you lose any fish due to ammonia or nitrite poisoning you should know what to expect when cycling with fish in.

 

Yeah, I was just reading that... So much for the Tetra Safe Start that "works in seconds"???

So are all of these fish just going to die then? I guess I should not bring anymore home yet.

 

Welcome to Fishlore! is your tank cycled? If you don't know what that means, read up on the nitrogen cycle (should be underlined in blue, click on the words). It is the MOST important concept in fish-keeping. While you are taking the barbs back, you may want to pick up Tetra Safe Start(no substitutes) OR Prime. A liquid Test kit for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and ph are also essential, but don't test within 24hrs of adding a dechlorinater.
For using the Tetra Safe Start: do 3 50% water changes back to back(if no water changes or bacterial additives have been used), and add the entire bottle. Tank should be cycled in about 14 days.
For using Prime: do 20% water change every day, adding a full dose of Prime to the water every time. continue until tank is cycled.
Do NOT add any more fish until tank is cycled, but once it is a Dwarf Gourami, Honey gourami, or Dwarf Cichlid(and there are many) could make a good centerpiece fish.
I got ninjad TSS does work sort of work instantly, but there are still the fluctuations in ph and trace amounts of ammonia and nitrates that make me still consider it a "cycling tank".
bacteria doubles every 24hrs, but you have a fairly large bio-load in the aquarium.

 

Yeah, I was just reading that... So much for the Tetra Safe Start that "works in seconds"???

So are all of these fish just going to die then? I guess I should not bring anymore home yet.

Its not quite that simple but tetra safe start is good if used properly. Use a big bottle, do a big water change (get your ammonia under 1 ppm) with a regular dechlorinator. Raise your temp slowly to 85 degress as it will amke the bacteria grow faster. Keep an eye on your fish for the first week if they start gasping for air do a water change with prime. After 2 weeks start doing daily water changes with prime and testing for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates until ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 10 or above.

Method 2 would be to not to use any bacterial additive and do daily 25% water changes with prime until ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 10 or above. Some fish will die in either method though and some will get sick later and die due to the stress. Live and learn though. Also you are going want a bigger tank soon (this is addictive) so keep any eye on craigslist for a 55 or 75 gallon.

 

I agree with the Dwarf Gourami once the tank is cycled. A dwarf cichlid is also a good choice for the future- this tank is too new for them. I would have a tank at least 6 months old (and that's at the low end) for dwarf cichlids.

You could as an alternative- go with a Tiger Barb species only tank and take the others back. The more Tigers there are- the less aggressive they are.

 

if you used TSS, then you should be ok. the tigers on the other hand, not good. they are aggressive. I also don't think the two mollies are a good choice for a 20g. they can get bigger, plus are big waste producers. plus can be nippy. and with delicate neons, could be trouble.

hopefully the neons will be ok. they need more established tank....

so i'd do this: take the barbs and mollies back. then get:
*3-4 neons
*maybe 1 male guppy, 2 females. or just one male.
*either a honey gourami, or a dwarf gourami.
*and then you could add another schooling fish, like cherry barbs, or harlequin rasboras or gold pristellas.

welcome to the forum!

PS. don't do anything after you add the TSS for 7-10 days. don't test the water either. after the time is up, then test. and no water changes. i've used this like 4 times. and don't raise the temps to 85, there is no reason for this. your tank should be b/t 77-80.

EDIT again: sorry, you already have guppies. nevermind!

 

stumpjumper - what jerilovesfrogs said. I didn't realize you used TSS to get your cycle going. Sorry if I confused you any, but you still should read up on the nitrogen cycle.

 

LOL, what did I get myself into....

Upon looking closer at what we used, It was Tetra Aqua Safe that came with the aquarium, not Safe Start, so I'm going to get to the store and buy some safe start and a test kit.

Thanks for all the help.

We're still up in the air about returning fish, especially if some are going to die anyways. My wife likes all of them lol. I'm just wondering is maybe adding just a couple more tiger barbs to make the school bigger would make enough difference to calm the 5 down enough to keep the fins on the other fish.

 

if you used TSS, then you should be ok. the tigers on the other hand, not good. they are aggressive. I also don't think the two mollies are a good choice for a 20g. they can get bigger, plus are big waste producers. plus can be nippy. and with delicate neons, could be trouble.

hopefully the neons will be ok. they need more established tank....

so i'd do this: take the barbs and mollies back. then get:
*3-4 neons
*maybe 1 male guppy, 2 females. or just one male.
*either a honey gourami, or a dwarf gourami.
*and then you could add another schooling fish, like cherry barbs, or harlequin rasboras or gold pristellas.

welcome to the forum!

PS. don't do anything after you add the TSS for 7-10 days. don't test the water either. after the time is up, then test. and no water changes. i've used this like 4 times. and don't raise the temps to 85, there is no reason for this. your tank should be b/t 77-80.

EDIT again: sorry, you already have guppies. nevermind!

This sounds a little more promising lol.

I didn't want the mollies to begin with, wife's choice. She had a pair before that gave birth and she's all bent on keeping them. They don't seem to be bothering the other fish like the barbs are though.

 

It's not bonafide some will die. "enough Tiger barbs to keep your other fish safe" might not fit in your tank with other fish. Your wife might like them, but she may have to choose between them and the other fish(unless you like the finless and dying look).
Their aggression will get even worse as they get older.

 

yeah it's annoying that the two products are so close in name. you want safe start, to cycle the tank. well mollies aside, i'd still return the tigers. there are so many nice looking fish out there, that would be better. just think about it

I think it's a matter of time before the barbs really start to misbehave. of course this is just going on what i've heard, and read. i've never had any. not sure if I would lol. it's ok. fishkeeping is intimidating at first, until you get a couple months under your belt

 

Well I got rid of the Tiger Barbs and against all of the advise we had to get a few more fish.

I'm confident I can keep them alive and will be checking things daily to make sure the water stays good.

We added 2 Silver Barbs and 2 female Golden Gouramis. I think the tank is at capacity now. Maybe a little over with 2 gouramis but if they grow too big we will probably look into a larger aquarium lol.

The fish are all getting along now. The gouramis are really fun to watch. The one seems to be a little aggressive towards the other but not bad, it just bumps the one and chases it but they love getting in the caves and playing hide and seek.

I appreciate everyones advise and I know we probably shouldn't have added more fish yet but we couldn't resist. We'll see how it goes.

Ohh and nobody in town had Tetra Safe Start so I had to get a Jungle product called Start Zyme, it sounded like the same thing so I added that today and also nobody had liquid test kits. I had to spend $24 on stupid strips to start. If they are accurate at all the water is ok right now, maybe a little high on the ph though, somewhere between 7.8 and 8.4.

 

well i'm sorry to say, strips aren't great.....so most people say. i've only used liquid. and the stress zyme is not the same it has land based bacteria, that will die off, if you do not dose the tank with this product all the time. TSS is a one time, aquatic bacterial additive. i've had to mail order all of mine. pain, yes, but worth it.

and i'm curious about the "silver" barbs. do you have pics? i'm just hoping you didn't get tinfoil barbs lol. the gouramis....well i'm not positive how you tell the difference b/t female and males.

but generally there are only a few gouramis that are ok together. the others can be pretty aggressive.....like the golds. just keep an eye on them. and yes, they are very likely to be too big for your tank. I think maxing at 4" each. a dwarf or honey gourami would be better. plus dwarfs have some very pretty coloring. \

oh and don't worry to much about ph. it's not that big a deal

 

My bad, they are White Tetras... Not sure where I came up with Silver Barbs.

I know I'm wrong but it seems like a couple 4" fish would be ok in a 26" wide tank... What will happen to them?

They are small now and I'm already on the lookout for a big tank. I want to get a 50+ gallon. Something big enough to have a nice quantity of fish in it. This 20 gallon already seems small.

 

this is where the inch per gallon rule isn't very good. it's more useful for small fish, like neons. it's about swim space mostly. plus with more aggressive fish, the smaller the space, the worse it could be.

well I know i've seen a ton of 55gs on my craigslist. I wish I knew about that site before I got my 75! and yes, 20g's seems small pretty quickly so does a 75 lol. but each has their advantages, and disadvantages. =]

 

You know those fish got along perfectly all day until the minute I turned opff the lights.. The gouramis are trying to eat the Neons.. Buggers..

Keeping the Gouramis though, they seem to actually have a personality.

I wish I would've thought of CL too, I have over $200 invested into this 20 gallon tank and they have a bunch of nice tanks for sale for $150..

Live and learn lol. My luck though I'd buy a leaker.

 

My luck though I'd buy a leaker.

If you find a good deal on CL have them fill up the tank prior to you picking it up so that you can inspect it for leaks. The honest people selling stuff there would probably be more than happy to do that in order to sell it.

 

If you find a good deal on CL have them fill up the tank prior to you picking it up so that you can inspect it for leaks. The honest people selling stuff there would probably be more than happy to do that in order to sell it.

With the amount of money you can save on CL- take a chance.

I recently resealed a tank with my husband and there was nothing at all to it.
The reason we resealed it- it was a salt tank and you can see the seals were flaky and a bit worn- Saltwater tanks usually do this after time. We weren't sure if it leaked but we resealed it to be positive.

You can many times look at the seals and check out the wear on them and that should give you a good indication of possible leaks. Don't forget to check the seals along the bottom as well.