I just added a red tailed black shark to my 25 gal, when I got him home and looked at him he had lost all his color (he was fine at the store). I just figured that he was stressed from the ride home and that is color would come back. Now I just looked in the tank and one of my tiger barbs seems to have the same problem, all his stripes are gone and there is no orange on his fins. My 5 other tiger barbs are all fine. Is he just stressed about the new addition or is there something else I should be looking at? Thanks
New fish help
- Thread starter Expresso
- Start date
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 5
PH 8
The tiger barb looks much better this morning, all the stripes are back and his color is great, the shark is still a bit faded, but I'm guessing he is adjusting to his new home, he evicted the danios out of the cave and has been hiding there all morning. It is water change day so I hope he doesn't get stressed out too much over that.
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 5
PH 8
The tiger barb looks much better this morning, all the stripes are back and his color is great, the shark is still a bit faded, but I'm guessing he is adjusting to his new home, he evicted the danios out of the cave and has been hiding there all morning. It is water change day so I hope he doesn't get stressed out too much over that.
Everything looks ok except that Ph. You're going to want to get that a little lower. I have 5 tiger barbs in one of my tanks, with a Ph around 7.3 and they look just fine. Generally with Tiger Barbs, they like to have a Ph in the low 7s even a little below that. Try to get that down, and you should see some dramatic improvement.
the redtail shark will also want it's water a little less in Ph too. If you can get it down to around a 7.0 - 7.2 you should see them acting just fine, and more active.
I would also recommend a small water change to try and get the rest of the nitrite out of there. Even as small as that is, it could be irratating them.
the redtail shark will also want it's water a little less in Ph too. If you can get it down to around a 7.0 - 7.2 you should see them acting just fine, and more active.
I would also recommend a small water change to try and get the rest of the nitrite out of there. Even as small as that is, it could be irratating them.
Last edited:
IMO the color will come back when they adjust to their new environment. Also, on some tanks the lighting will give the appearance that the fish (esp. black ones) have faded.
Also, I wouldn't mess with the pH. You are likely to create more problems for yourself and stress the fish further via pH swings. The fish will adjust.
Also, I wouldn't mess with the pH. You are likely to create more problems for yourself and stress the fish further via pH swings. The fish will adjust.
One more vote for _NOT_ messing with the pH. 8.0 is a fine pH. Mine is 8.4 and I almost never worry about it (I kept Angels and neon tets in a tank once (I know... it was evil of me... 
, and that was the only time I lower the pH a bit with some driftwood).
Stable pH is _Far_ more important than "proper" pH. Fish are very adaptable, so long as we don't make them adapt too much.
, and that was the only time I lower the pH a bit with some driftwood).Stable pH is _Far_ more important than "proper" pH. Fish are very adaptable, so long as we don't make them adapt too much.
Do not adjust the pH! Fish adapt to a wide range of pH values, and always prefer a stable pH (albeit higher or lower than the magical number 7.0) over a pH that is 7.0 part of the time and 8 the other part of the time, as the chemicals (Proper pH) you'd ilkely use to alter the pH would only doso temporarily. Chemicals like Porper pH are designed to separate the aquarist from his/her money, nothing more, nothing less.
Also, fish sometimes fade due to lighting, time of day, diet, etc. Give them all some time to acclimate. When I buy fish from Petco (there, I admitted it), they almost always come in colorless as the Nitrate level in all of their tanks is usually around 80ppm, a wee bit on the high side if you ask me. Also, their tanks have non-adjusted pH values of 7.6 to 8.0, and my tanks have DIY CO2 injection with significanlty lower pH values closer to 6.6 - 6.8.
Also, fish sometimes fade due to lighting, time of day, diet, etc. Give them all some time to acclimate. When I buy fish from Petco (there, I admitted it), they almost always come in colorless as the Nitrate level in all of their tanks is usually around 80ppm, a wee bit on the high side if you ask me. Also, their tanks have non-adjusted pH values of 7.6 to 8.0, and my tanks have DIY CO2 injection with significanlty lower pH values closer to 6.6 - 6.8.
Thanks for the quick replies, it has been 2 days and the black has returned the red isn't as vibrant yet but it is getting better, and the tiger barbs were ok the next day I think he might have been a bit scared of the big bad shark but everyone is getting along now, the tiger barbs even go into the sharks cave to steal her food, she isn't comming up for food yet but I put shrimp pellets into her cave so she has some there. I have to do this when the others are eating cause they are pigs and will follow me to the cave and snatch up the food. And I'm not going to touch the ph, I heard that she will adjust to it like we adjust to different climates.
