Help! How hardy are tiger barbs?
- Thread starter Dunken
- Start date
Whoa! 20ppm nitrate!!! Dude, water change time!!! You don't want your nitrates to be much above 5-6ppm! For 35 gallons I would do a five gallon water change (with gravel vac) tomorrow, then monitor your ammonia/nitrites/nitrates and do water changes until you have your nitrates under control. Also, test your tap water for high nitrates. Sometimes depending upon where your water supply is the tap water may have high nitrates to begin with and this will not be healthy to add to your tank. If that is the case, you will need to consider going to RO water.
I can't tell you if your barbs will be okay or not. Only time will tell. Do not add any more fish to your tank for at least the next three weeks. Even if you do get your nitrates down, you must monitor to make sure they remain stable. Only once stablity has been achieved would you want to cautiously and slowly add a few more fish.
~~Colesea
I can't tell you if your barbs will be okay or not. Only time will tell. Do not add any more fish to your tank for at least the next three weeks. Even if you do get your nitrates down, you must monitor to make sure they remain stable. Only once stablity has been achieved would you want to cautiously and slowly add a few more fish.
~~Colesea
Funny thing about nitrate levels over the last year or so. The recommended level keeps falling. Just last year it was recced to keep them under 30 ppm. then it fell to 20ppm. Most places with knowledgeable posters rec under 20 ppm.
I don't think I could do enough waterchanges to keep my tanks under/at 5ppm.
If they look OK, I would do a waterchange to keep the nitrates stable, and NOT mess with anything else. I think that if they were not going to be OK you would have seen signs of it already.
I don't think I could do enough waterchanges to keep my tanks under/at 5ppm.
If they look OK, I would do a waterchange to keep the nitrates stable, and NOT mess with anything else. I think that if they were not going to be OK you would have seen signs of it already.
wow 5-6 ppm, sounds like a full-time job 
ive only had my tank going for about a month and a half but i've kept mine below 20 ppm and they seem like there doing great havent lost one yet and they all are active and have good color so i'd say your fish would be fine with keeping it under 20ppm, just my opinion tho
luv--i know what your saying when i first started researching i heard it was supposed to be under 40ppm i thought i'd try to keep it under 20ppm just on GP...but now it seems alot of people say under 20ppm anyway...weird...but i guess the lower the better right? but i don't think i could manage 5-6ppm
--liz
ive only had my tank going for about a month and a half but i've kept mine below 20 ppm and they seem like there doing great havent lost one yet and they all are active and have good color so i'd say your fish would be fine with keeping it under 20ppm, just my opinion tho
luv--i know what your saying when i first started researching i heard it was supposed to be under 40ppm i thought i'd try to keep it under 20ppm just on GP...but now it seems alot of people say under 20ppm anyway...weird...but i guess the lower the better right? but i don't think i could manage 5-6ppm
--liz
Don't give up because one died. You had just got them - and sometimes they are stressed out / sick at the place you got them from. It can be hard to tell if the fish you are looking at is in tip top health, or on the edge...
From the reading I've done - Tbarbs are pretty tough. A bit nippy and scrappy, but they are a lot of fun to watch. I have 7 at the moment and they go through establishing the pecking order about once every couple of weeks. I can actually get them going if I prune, or rearrange some of the rocks.
When all the water issues are resolved - and if you think you want to stick with Tbarbs, get a few more. I believe they prefer to be in groups at least of 5 - 7.
From the reading I've done - Tbarbs are pretty tough. A bit nippy and scrappy, but they are a lot of fun to watch. I have 7 at the moment and they go through establishing the pecking order about once every couple of weeks. I can actually get them going if I prune, or rearrange some of the rocks.
When all the water issues are resolved - and if you think you want to stick with Tbarbs, get a few more. I believe they prefer to be in groups at least of 5 - 7.