Headstand Barbs ???

[krazzano]

I set up my 29gallon freshwater aquarium about 6 weeks ago now. I let the water cycle for about 5 days then added 2 mollies. I left the 2 mollies alone for about a week then added 4 tiger barbs. They did great for about a week then I started noticing 2 of the tiger barbs doing this like wrestling act; they go nose-to-nose and spin around trying to pin each other. I thought this was kinda odd so I tried researching some info on it. The next day I starting seeing one of them floating nose down and tail up off and on. It started acting really wierd and was attempting to swim on it's side and upside down and I could tell it was disoriented. I knew it was on it's way outta here. Subsequently it started dying as the loss of balance become worse and worse as it was just kinda flipping on its side midway down the tank. I removed him from the tank so he wouldn't die in tank. Since then I tested my water (which checked out ok, a little high in pH and a slight amount of ammonia), then I added (not all at once) 3 more barbs, 3 mollies, 2 cory cats and 1 pleco. I have had that community for about 2 weeks now. Just today however I started noticing 2 more of the barbs doing that nose-to-nose wrestling thing again and a few hours afterwards I started seeing one of them go vertical and float unbalanced with its nose down and tail up. WHAT IS THIS GOING ON HERE? I'm tired of losing barbs and don't want it to happen again. Researching this still has left me clueless. I have read everything from it being a strength match to see who will lead the school, to mating rituals, to Nitrate poisoning, to ammonia toxicity. Please let me know what this is and what I need to do. I've been water testing daily and notice that my ammonia peaks up to 1.0ppm frequently. How can I stabilize my tank, does it just take time? I'm educated but still kinda new at this. Also I'd like to know what other species would add diversity to this tank yet still hold their own against the barbs (I'm not fond of the tetras nor the sharks and catfish). Please advise and thanks for your help.

[NewfieFishGuy]

My 32g took about 6 weeks to fully cycle. That is, ammonia 0, nitrites 0. Until then, your tank isn't fully cycled. And I've seen each time I've added fish, I get a mini-cycle where ammonia and nitrites spike for a couple days. So, it sounds like your fish haven't experienced your tank with no ammonia or nitrites yet.

Sorry, can't really comment on the fish behaviour except to suppose that some of what you're seeing could be ammonia or nitrite related. But that's just me. I'm pretty new too. I saw some strange behaviours that have been gone for months since my cycle stopped. I'd suggest holding off on adding anything else until you get 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite.

[Puffer Pita]

Tiger barbs normally do the headstand thing when resting. Yous however are also suffering from poisoning. Do large water changes daily and use Prime to detox the water until the tank cycles. Read the article on the nitrogen cycle. Runnng the tank empty is not the same thing as cycling.

[Christine]

No offense intended at all, but I've seen this happen with other people (just yesterday in fact) and I am very curious about the reason. I am wondering - if you tested for ammonia and found that you did in fact have ammonia present why did you so greatly increase the population afterwards?

[krazzano]

Thanks for your replies. Well to answer a few your questions I know what you mean about the barbs dipping nose-down when resting but this was definately something toxic that occured. It's strange because it was only that one, all the rest look like their doing great. Also, when I began adding more fish my Ammonia and Nitrite were at 0. But I started noticing some spikes after doing so. So large water changes would be good to do and not make my problem worse? I figured if I start removing large quantities of my "treated" water and start pouring in gallons of "contaminated" water I'd be adding to the problem. I guess I will read more on water changes. I'd appreciate your continuing advice. Thanks.

[locojay]

Originally Posted by krazzano

So large water changes would be good to do and not make my problem worse? I figured if I start removing large quantities of my "treated" water and start pouring in gallons of "contaminated" water I'd be adding to the problem.

Ya, daily water changes are pretty much mandatory until your tank is cycled (IMO). I would do somewhere between 30% - 40%. Hopefully you don't loose any more fish but if you do avoid buying more until a couple weeks after your tank has completed its cycle. As said before that's amonia 0, nitrIte 0. Make sure you keep treating the water your adding to your tank with dechloranator. I'm assuming this is what you mean when you say "treated" and "contaminated" water.