Trouble afoot!!! Newbie Help

[Psyden]

Hi Everyone,

Im kinda new to the fish scene, had a tropical tank when i was 13 but just bred guppies which was fairly easy. Now i have my own house i thought i could spruce up the place with a nice tank.

Anyway, i purchased a 60litre tank, ran a fishless cycle for a week then got myself 4 Tiger Barbs, a week later i got a pair of Dwarf Gouramis and a Plec. (And plenty of vegetation) Now the trouble has started.

I have 2 Barbs that like to lock mouths and dance in a circle, rather like 2 stags fighting, its funny but scary at the same time and i have a Male Gourami that swims on its own and when the female pays him a visit, he bites her and then runs off. Is this natural or do i have 2 male gouramis. I will try and attach photos for clarification.

Also does anyone suggest any future fish that would be happy in this environment or is it each to their own. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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Psyden

[X-Pande-R]

1 week isn't long enough for a cycle. How you tested your water before adding fish in???How many fish all up?? Generally You should have 1male 3 females....This is just a ruff number,this doesn't always go.Find out how many males you have in there, and try to get some females.Mean time your can move plants(ornaments) around to confuse the fish which should reduce the dancing

[Lexus]

The tiger barbs are trying to establish their rank, you need more though, like 5-8...
The gouramis are both males, it is near impossible to get male and female because the males are more colorful and more popular.
1 week is not long enough for a cycle, there are numerous posts on here about cycles, look em up through the search function.

[Psyden]

Ah! How can you tell they are both male from the photos?

Would you suggest me getting 2 females for the gouramis or taking one back? plus if i got 2 females would i need a blue one and a red/blue one?

And can i say get 2 green Tiger barbs and these will fit into the same school?

My filtration system is quite advanced, i have a suction pump with mechanical filter attached, pumping into a reservoir filled with more sponge (Mechanical Filtration) this flows into the next reservoir of activated carbon (Chemical Filtration) and drops onto a bio wheel (Biological Filtration) before emptying back onto the surface of the water. All in All, nitrates and ammonia are almost non-existent and the nitrites are quickly dealt with, with a 25% water change every week.

Does this seem like a good set-up?

Thanks in advance

Psyden

[Lexus]

Male gouramis, like your are more colorful, the females are almost impossible to get.
How big is 60liters?
You can have green and albino barbs with regular tiger barbs, but i would stick to one kind unless you have room for 2 schools.
With almost near nothing nitrates and ammonia this means the tank has NOT cycled yet, in a week these cannot rise and fall.... check out this post.http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/view...hlight=cycling

[Psyden]

Thanks for getting back to me again.

I monitored the ammonia conditions using a nitrate test kit and it did peak after about 6 days and has since dropped and is what i would think fairly low. Whilst i was running the fishless cycle i added a sponge from my brothers already established aquarium and for some unknown reason fed the imaginary fish a little bit every 2 nights to create waste, i also used filter start as well. Cant help been too careful!!

I live in the UK so was wondering what the supply of female dwarfs are like over here. The guy in the pet shop said he would get the 17 year old part time lad to pick out a male and female for me, so he may have had some but inexperience led to my downfall.

60l is a 15 gallon tank or thereabouts so isnt big at all.

Psyden

[Lexus]

I would add two more tiger barbs and watch the gouramis. They actually are two different kinds...
If they still bug each other get rid of one.

[osteoporoosi]

Tiger barbs can get fairly aggressive towrds the gouramis or even their own kind.
60 liters(15,7 gallons)
is way too small for them, tigers grow 5-6cm big. I suggest that you get rid of the tigers and the other gourami and replace them with
7-12harlequin rasboras.

[Lexus]

I keep my tigers with gouramis and everything in my sig, they are fine, the tigers at work are kept with gouramis too, there is no problem there IMO.