seems I missed a lot...have a question though

[Mari]

well...it seems this site has undergone a very big change.... But I do have a few questions because my barbs, after doing well for a long time, have gone downhill. first off, to refresh, I have 5 barbs and 3 red minor tetras in a 10 gal. aquarium. now, a couple of days ago, I noticed my barbs started acting strange...4 of them were all huddled in a small group, at the way bottom of the tank, under a plant... each of the four kept biting at each other, and seemed to be rubbing against each other and the plant. the fifth barb is staying far away from them all and is rubbing against the plants as well. now there is no dots to suggest ich, but I am wondering if that could be it, like the very beginning of it, or if it may be something else. I did a water change ( vaccummed the gravel) just in case that might be it, but it did not have any effect. the minors have no trouble at all. Four out of five barbs are not eating, and all the minors are eating. what can I do about this? I don't want to lose my fish.... I am going out to get medicine for ich, but I don't know what else to do.

[ravekiss]

Whats the temp in the tank...maybe turn it up to about 82. If it is ich starting, they wont be able to hold on to the fish and will be free swimming. The heat can kill them (the ich, not the fish) I think.

[Damon]

They are stressed, which leads to disease. The tank is way too small for a school of barbs (even a small school). They need to be in a 30 gallon tank as they need room to swim.

[yoink]

Originally Posted by Simpte @ 24th January 2005, 1:27 pm

They are stressed, which leads to disease. ****The tank is way too small for a school of barbs (even a small school). ****They need to be in a 30 gallon tank as they need room to swim.

I concur, tank is much to small for tiger barbs.

[Mari]

when I first got them, I was told it was okay for them, both by the lfs and a few people on this forum. I have had them since July and they have been fine up until now. before I got the medicine yesterday, I noticed a small patch of whitish on one of the barbs, and unfortunately I lost that one. I went out and bought Rid-ich and they seem to be doing much better today. I had to separate one of the 4 remaining because he was not tolerating the medicine, and today the three in the tank are eating, though not much, and the fourth one is doing better than yesterday. The tetras have been unaffected by the whole thing. I hope the meds continue to work and thanks for your help.

[Fishfirst]

Whats the temp in the tank...maybe turn it up to about 82. If it is ich starting, they wont be able to hold on to the fish and will be free swimming. The heat can kill them (the ich, not the fish) I think.

I'm just gonna raise my eyebrow in disbelief, sorry but that is entirely untrue... bringing up the water temperature encourages ichs life cycle... speeding it up and making it worse... unless you have meds in there to control ich, its not a wise decision... while if you do... raising the temperature will help get rid of the paracite because in the paracites second stage it is free swimming in order to find another host... this increase in temperature speeds up thier metabolism and thus thier time in this stage becomes shorter because they must find a host. Once attached the meds will take care of them.

[Mari]

Thanks for the extra info. I am not sure what to do with the fish I separated. He did not tolerate high amounts of medicine in the tank, so I have decided to try just a little bit of meds in his quarantine tank at a time, and see how he does. Does anybody have any suggestions? I want to try to save as many as I can...

[Fishfirst]

turn out the lights on the aquarium he's in and add some aquarium salt... its harder for ich to find a host that way... but I'm not convinced its ich... they had an odd behavior going on... probably stressed... Which one did you seperate?

[Mari]

well, out of the four in the tank; two large and two smaller ones, I separated one of the larger ones that reacted badly to the meds. he was bad to begin with but as I added the meds he seemed like he was having seizures...opening his mouth and shaking....and then rubbing against the plants and anything he could find. I am happy to say the majority of them are doing better with the rid-ich...it does kill other fungus too...which I'm thinking is what it is. Two of the three in the tank are eating, and this morning the one in quarantine is eating as well. I'm going to continue meds and hopefully it will be alright. Thanks again..

[ravekiss]

Originally Posted by Fishfirst @ Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:05 pm

I'm just gonna raise my eyebrow in disbelief, sorry but that is entirely untrue... bringing up the water temperature encourages ichs life cycle... speeding it up and making it worse... unless you have meds in there to control ich, its not a wise decision... ****while if you do... raising the temperature will help get rid of the paracite because in the paracites second stage it is free swimming in order to find another host... this increase in temperature speeds up thier metabolism and thus thier time in this stage becomes shorter because they must find a host. Once attached the meds will take care of them.

That was to be done after he came back from buying the medicine he was going out to buy BTW

[Fishfirst]

Sorry my bad... that'll teach me for skimming through a post

[ravekiss]

Hey thats cool...no need to apologize

[judya]

Also check the pH on the tank. Sometimes really low pH gives them skin problems that mimic disease.

[Mari]

Thanks again for your responses, I will check PH. For some additional info though I am now down to 3 , due to an unfortunate stupid mistake I made. The separated fish, which was recovering well, was in a rather small aquarium...I'm not sure what size it is, but I doubt it is even 5 gal. I was not planning on having him in there long, so I figured it would be okay for a short time. The mistake was that I, in a rush two days ago, forgot to leave the cover on the small tank, and I left. I was gone for about 6 hours, during which I remembered that I left the lid off and called my dad to do me the favor to cover it. apparently it was too late, because my dad found a stiff fish on the floor.... I feel so bad because he was recovering well...I was about to put him back in with the others. so now I have 3 barbs left, and they seem to be doing better , although It has been a while now and I am not sure what really is going on. I was considering increasing meds, the bottle says it is ok for tough cases. At the moment I am medicating once every 24 hours...i could increase to every 12 hours however, but I am worried how that will affect the tetras...what do you suggest? I hope all turns out well, because I don't want to lose any more of my little ones.