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Old 04-06-2011, 09:56 PM
 
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Decided to use my old 20G tank so I set it up and put 7 Tiger Barbs and 5 Serpae Tetras in it. Even tho they are two different types of fish they both school together and I notices that one to two of the bards will nip at the tetras for no reason. The barbs are more active while the tetra just follow them around but I wonder what I can do to prevent all the nipping. Don't have any shelter for them since it would take up a lot of space at the bottom where they all stay but would it do any good when they just follow the bards around even when getting nipped at?
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Old 04-06-2011, 10:19 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
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tiger barbs and serpeas are both well known fin nippers...so this behaviour is not unusual (and not a problem unles syour getting alot of torn fins (which can lead to infection)

personally however i would remove the serpea
tiger barbs easily reach 2" in captivity (though 3" is not completly unheard of so id add 3 more tiger barbs or 1 "feature fish" a single dwarf gourami (related to betta fish) would work in that tank...(gourami can be quite agressive and usually do well with barbs)
or go with a "clean up" crew of a couple of corydora (they tend to be ignored by barbs)

i WOULD add something as a hidey hole/territory establisher...caves, rocks, a sunken ship, ect...(i use clean NEW untreated terracotta plant pots) and plants, tigers like cover, they like things to "claim" and dart in and out of ect...
even if you decide to keep the serpeas, id still add hidey holes and some plants (real or fake) to proide natural cover and territory for the barbs.

tiger barbs have a very bad reputation as fin nippers and they are, but typiclaly target slower moving or "quiet" fish so their tank mates need to be active. ive found from my personal expereince having plenty of hidey spaces also helps.

also barbs arnt normally "bottom" dwellers, their natural placment in most tanks is mid to upper level, so if your barbs tend to stay low there not comfortable, check your water and if parameters are good they are telling you they are not happy with their environment, id put money that more cover would make them act much more naturally.

i love tigers, i have 9 (3 "normal" 3 green and 3 albino) along with my parrot cichlids (and a dwarf pleco and 4 skunk botia (though i never see them) and i have found when i remove the plants and caves on cleaning day the barbs get stressy and in responce tend to get more nippy than usual...
they do seem to like to "play chase" too...

eventually they, and everyone else in the tank will be moving to an even bigger tank and ill be adding to the group of tigers, they are great "little" fish but can be kind of finiky about their environment, while not delicate they get moody...

i akin them to the bipolar folks of the fishy world lol

hope this helps.
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Old 04-06-2011, 10:44 PM
 
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Thanks for the reply!! I plan on getting a little home but am wondering if they will do ok in my goldfish tank that houses 2 regular goldfish that were getting to big for the 20G I am using right now for my new fish. I tested warmer water with my goldfish and they seemed fine at 76F for 2 weeks before I took the heater out to put in my 20G which is overkill since the heater is designed for tanks close to 100G. Just that my goldfish mouth is bigger than some of the barbs I got so I just am scared they will get eaten or something.

If I feel the need to move them then I will move the heater back to the 75G tank and get it warmed up, but don't know how my goldfish will feel with the new company. That is the cheapest method other than getting a bigger tank to house them in or buying a 10G to separate them.
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Old 04-07-2011, 10:02 AM
 
Location: North Western NJ
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i wouldnt house any other fish with goldfish, goldfish need a different temp range and are incredibly messy fish, unless you are maticulous about keeping your tank increidbly clean, its likely whatever tropicals you put in there wont make it...

not to mention your goldfish may end up fin-less...

i think if you added plenty of hidey holes in the 20 you should see some of the agression levels drop and enveryone be alot more compatible...
i know alot of people who keep tigers and serpeas together...

ive personally never had good luck with serpeas in general. try adding some deco before moving them around and see what happens after a week or so (they will need time to establish territory)
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:52 AM
 
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Ok thanks for the advice. My fish seem to be getting use to the tank now since when I woke up they were spread out in the middle section of the tank. Also this tank might be old but I cleaned it out with cleaners and got a new filter for it so it has not been cycled yet. The water is a bit cloudy now but all my water test kits come back with 0 to 0.5 ppm in ammonia with some nitrates popping up as well. I might have to do weekly water changes in till it clears up.
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Old 04-07-2011, 03:02 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
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i would definalty do water changes to get the cloudyness under control, watch it carefully as you could have a very sudden spike in the next few days.

sounds like it might have just been new tank stress though
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Old 04-07-2011, 06:22 PM
 
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Ok I have another question. My friend just got some neon tetras and for some reason they just like to well...float. Its been 6 hours since he got them and he has the temps right since he also has some barbs in his tank but for some reason one of the neon's will go to the end of the tank and try to keep going into the glass and then it lets the current take it. He says the fish will just stop moving its fins and just float and it usually sinks to the bottom and stays there and it might start up again or get sucked into his bubble stone and get tossed to the top where it will sink again. He got 6 and already had 1 other do the same thing. It leaves the main group and floats around. Is this due to stress and will it cause all of this neon's to die?
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Old 04-07-2011, 08:10 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
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neons are incredibly delicate little fish...
he could loose them all, ive never had much luck with neons, they have to have aboslutly perfect parameters from temp to ph to harness, even trace amonia will kill them. there also suseptable to soething caled neon disese.

neons and larger barbs dont usually get along, barbs are too rough on the little guys. they can sometimes be housed with cherry barbs but most other barbs will eventually eat neons.
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Old 04-07-2011, 09:56 PM
 
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OK thanks, he has already flushed 2 down and found from other sources that neon tetra disease has no cure and it can also infect other fish mates and bring down whole tanks if left untreated. Only option is to house the infected in another tank till they die or put them down yourself. You can tell if one has it if it looses its color and goes off on its own since that's a sign somethings wrong with the little guy. So far he says the other 4 are ok but he will keep an eye on them. Sad since I hoped to get another 75G and put 15 of each of my current fish and 15 neon's in there as well but most people go through many before they can stabilize a big group of them and they are not cheap, 2.60 each where I get them I some stores sell them at 3.90 a pop O.O
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Old 04-07-2011, 10:55 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
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neons are beautiful but just too delicate for my tastes...
you might look into cardinals, (ive had better luck with them) but if trying to add to the barbs, id look into the black neons (they seem to be incredibly hardy and larger than the little neons)
congo columbian and beunos aires tetra typically do well with barbs

if you like the color of the neons you might like the denison barb
male odessa barbsare also quite attractive in full color

and any of the rainbow fish typically do well with barbs. (more expensive and more of a feature fish as they get quite large, but they are quite beautiful!)

i do understand the draw of those neons, but there are definalty other just as beautiful fish that arnt quite as delicate lol.
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