my new gold barbs are beating the life out of my striped barbs it seems,with the bloodylooking wounds, ripped fins and tailfins,black stripes fading to grey, the 3rd barb got super skinny, and new catfish died!i dont know how to stop them, i hate playing the hand of god, & i know i should seperate them, but i have not enough money for another tank at the moment. please read my problem, this situation and please help me. give me some sort of advice!![/B]
the petstore chick suggested to start with 4 sm/md tiger barbs because they were good starter fish.they did the shy thing, then were swimming quickly back & forth.my fish were gorgeous. their stripes bold black, their fins getting bigger, themselves growing faster than i thought, one was tiny one was fat and the other 2 looked normal.but they were all active and looked healthy,playful & happy. their water still quite clear, they were playng in plants, and what looked to be tag,and their water in my 30gallon stayed around the 74 mark.i think they were pretty comfortable & content.
so,jan.16,almost 2 weeks after i bought my tigers,jan.16, i went back to petsmart figuring they weregood size, healthy, active,eating well, that i could add a few more fish. luckly it was the same chick there that was before.i ended up getting 1 pictus(spotted)catfish(because she said they grow to be 4in, and dont really stay in schools), and 3 gold barbs(she suggested 3 when i asked how many because they are schooling fish).she bagged them, i took them home, yauda-yauda, same rutine. now these fish were gorgeous too. the new yellowy barbs were slightly longer than the tiger babes, and the catfish looked absolutly thin,lovely and smooth.the catfish kept to himself right away. he was in 1 of the 4 corners alot, rubbing himsely up and down the glass sides, and the skull often.the yellow barbs were quick to start exploring, in the different aqua decor ment for swimming through & hiding.when it was feeding time, of cours my striped babies knew from their constant pattern that it was time, so the swam instantly to the 1 corner where i always drop it.(i figure if i put them on a squedual then i wont confuse them, and they can adapt-every day around 8am,4pm,11ish/12ish at night.it works for them.)the new ones of course didnt know the squedual yet, but seemed to be hungry enough to race for it. the catfish ate a little bit, but not as much as he probly should have, i let it go figuring fish can have "not hungry days" too.now before i bought them i clarified that the tropical flakes i bought for my tiger barbs, these yellow barbs and the catfish eat too, & she said yes.
the next night,jan.17, the catfish had only been nibbling at a tinny bit of food wile the gold barbs feasted like scavengers on steriods, and i think my tiger barbs got a bit intimitated, they were eating less too, and seemed that(all 4 of them)stop swiming around and having fun, just staying in the 1 area.i started seeing the yellows' agressiveness to the tigers when they would bump into them, and try to separate them from eachother then nip at them.this looked only innocent and playfull for the first wile, like cats and dogs nipping eachother and bodychecking.
2 of the 3 hyper new yellow barbs ambushed the catfish, and started nipping at him like crazy. i of course flicked the tank,making them leave him and go back to wher the food was mostly falling.the gold barbs became more dominent over the 4 TBs, and the catfish. i felt really bad about that.
i woke up,the morning of jan.19, & firstthing i did was walk over to my tank, look inside, and gess who i dont see?oh wait there he is on his back on the rocks, motionless, hard-looking, with the littlest tiger barb to close to him for my comfort. i tapped on the glass to scare the little thing away from the corpse then i yelled for my mother to get down to my room because i could barely look at him without crying, let alone picking his dead body up with a net, but i knew for the sake of the other fish i had to get him out of there asap.it concerned me that the littlest one wouldnt leave him alone.and it nauseated me that my mother couldnt get his corpse to stay in the net, uhhgg, it kept floating up..i was crying, when she wanted my help her get him out of the net,he stuck himself to the fabrick.when i saw her yanking at his sticky body, trying to untach him from the net over the toilet for several pulls, i vomited into that toilet.she ripped him from my net leaving behind his whiskers and a goddamn fin! i didnt feel right using the washroom right after that, so i didnt.i was feeling so sick all was thinking was how much it would suck living in a tank with a deadness lingering from a dead fish with an unknown time of death, so i vacumed it with the hand tank pump,rinsed all of the plants, and decor, then i fed them their morning meal.
the night before the morning that i found him, i watched "cabin fever".it is a horror movie, not too scary but, realistic.a guy has this bloody disease, he dies,in the lake, where their water suply is, drinking the water gives a girl this disease,her friends lock her in a shed so they dont catch it, etc.bottom line, they all end up dying 1 by1.and since the day after his death,i noticed similar symptoms from the littlest striped barb that wouldnt leave the corpse alone, such as not eating that morning or afternoon, straying from the group, not doing much swimming,of course i was relating it to the movie,i was afraid i would lose him too.sure enough when it was their supper time, i went to my room to feed them, & seen him in the purplish plant that all the fish enjoyed swimming through.caught, or had floated into, whatever he was super pale, barely able to see his stripes at all, and i cryed again.this time, though, i knew he couldnt have been dead for more than 20 mins.i had her take him out again and i decided to throw out the plant his body was in, just because i find that a bit gross, like sleeping on a couch that someone died on.you might of acted different, but i almost wanted to give up, put the remaining 3 TBs, and 3 GBs in baggies, take them back to the pet store and say "dont bother refusing, i dont want a refund,i just dont want to be responsible for another death, take tham back...etc"but i was told "it happens".
before you read on, know that right now all three of my remaining tiger babies, no matter how critical conditions, and my three golden barbs no matter how superior and indefenently thriving with attitude, they are all alive, the reason i am entering this online fish talk thing and giving you the reader a nice long detailed backround of my fish experience so far so that i can get help and advice for the current problem i will now lay out for you.
PLEASE READ THIS PARAGRAPH, IF NOTHING ELSE!!!:
so the next day,jan.20, i seen a little bit of pushing going on from the yellow guys to the striped guys.and the yellow barbs were even pushing eachother around. but all three of my tiger barbs even thought they are semi-aggresive supposedly, they show absolutly no aggresive behavior, they nolonger race for their food, or swim around, the just hide in the skull,barrels,and the new decor peice i bought for them today.since the 20th i started noticing changes i didnt like, and i do want to no why they're happening, what they mean, how did it happen and how do i help them; like the biggest TB, who has even shrunk abit, has his front fins ripped, there is only little tiny red peices on either side which im guessing is the bloody remainder of his fins, the now littlest has these black dots that look like their inside of him because you can faintly see them on both sides, but only has a peice of 1 of his fins ripped, that looks as though it was bitten, but i dont think any barbs have teeth..do they?, and the middle sized TB has it the worst, his tail fin is ripped, it looks like almost half of it was offed, and his front fins just started looking like little red nubs, yesterday and the 20th, they looked like 2 big puffs of white cottonballs on either side of him, and i really dont think thats normal.all of my tigers are slower and have random red spots on them by their fins that look like blood, and their yellowyorange colour has faded, not as bright, and the last 2 days their stripes keep getting lighter,going grey.and all 3 yellow ones are thriving, being the alfa guys, the super bosses of the tank...they are still swimming fast, eating normal, growing...all the things fish should be doing,it makes me feel uncomfortabe, and it does not give good consiense to know 3 fish are being bullies to 3 other fish,its like gangs, i dont know what to do...do i get more fish?if so what kind,how many?should i leav them at it and just become more depressed by watching the tigers not stand up for themselves and the yellows be a little more than "semi-"aggressive...???
i need advice from anyone...i need help
the petstore chick suggested to start with 4 sm/md tiger barbs because they were good starter fish.they did the shy thing, then were swimming quickly back & forth.my fish were gorgeous. their stripes bold black, their fins getting bigger, themselves growing faster than i thought, one was tiny one was fat and the other 2 looked normal.but they were all active and looked healthy,playful & happy. their water still quite clear, they were playng in plants, and what looked to be tag,and their water in my 30gallon stayed around the 74 mark.i think they were pretty comfortable & content.
so,jan.16,almost 2 weeks after i bought my tigers,jan.16, i went back to petsmart figuring they weregood size, healthy, active,eating well, that i could add a few more fish. luckly it was the same chick there that was before.i ended up getting 1 pictus(spotted)catfish(because she said they grow to be 4in, and dont really stay in schools), and 3 gold barbs(she suggested 3 when i asked how many because they are schooling fish).she bagged them, i took them home, yauda-yauda, same rutine. now these fish were gorgeous too. the new yellowy barbs were slightly longer than the tiger babes, and the catfish looked absolutly thin,lovely and smooth.the catfish kept to himself right away. he was in 1 of the 4 corners alot, rubbing himsely up and down the glass sides, and the skull often.the yellow barbs were quick to start exploring, in the different aqua decor ment for swimming through & hiding.when it was feeding time, of cours my striped babies knew from their constant pattern that it was time, so the swam instantly to the 1 corner where i always drop it.(i figure if i put them on a squedual then i wont confuse them, and they can adapt-every day around 8am,4pm,11ish/12ish at night.it works for them.)the new ones of course didnt know the squedual yet, but seemed to be hungry enough to race for it. the catfish ate a little bit, but not as much as he probly should have, i let it go figuring fish can have "not hungry days" too.now before i bought them i clarified that the tropical flakes i bought for my tiger barbs, these yellow barbs and the catfish eat too, & she said yes.
the next night,jan.17, the catfish had only been nibbling at a tinny bit of food wile the gold barbs feasted like scavengers on steriods, and i think my tiger barbs got a bit intimitated, they were eating less too, and seemed that(all 4 of them)stop swiming around and having fun, just staying in the 1 area.i started seeing the yellows' agressiveness to the tigers when they would bump into them, and try to separate them from eachother then nip at them.this looked only innocent and playfull for the first wile, like cats and dogs nipping eachother and bodychecking.
2 of the 3 hyper new yellow barbs ambushed the catfish, and started nipping at him like crazy. i of course flicked the tank,making them leave him and go back to wher the food was mostly falling.the gold barbs became more dominent over the 4 TBs, and the catfish. i felt really bad about that.
i woke up,the morning of jan.19, & firstthing i did was walk over to my tank, look inside, and gess who i dont see?oh wait there he is on his back on the rocks, motionless, hard-looking, with the littlest tiger barb to close to him for my comfort. i tapped on the glass to scare the little thing away from the corpse then i yelled for my mother to get down to my room because i could barely look at him without crying, let alone picking his dead body up with a net, but i knew for the sake of the other fish i had to get him out of there asap.it concerned me that the littlest one wouldnt leave him alone.and it nauseated me that my mother couldnt get his corpse to stay in the net, uhhgg, it kept floating up..i was crying, when she wanted my help her get him out of the net,he stuck himself to the fabrick.when i saw her yanking at his sticky body, trying to untach him from the net over the toilet for several pulls, i vomited into that toilet.she ripped him from my net leaving behind his whiskers and a goddamn fin! i didnt feel right using the washroom right after that, so i didnt.i was feeling so sick all was thinking was how much it would suck living in a tank with a deadness lingering from a dead fish with an unknown time of death, so i vacumed it with the hand tank pump,rinsed all of the plants, and decor, then i fed them their morning meal.
the night before the morning that i found him, i watched "cabin fever".it is a horror movie, not too scary but, realistic.a guy has this bloody disease, he dies,in the lake, where their water suply is, drinking the water gives a girl this disease,her friends lock her in a shed so they dont catch it, etc.bottom line, they all end up dying 1 by1.and since the day after his death,i noticed similar symptoms from the littlest striped barb that wouldnt leave the corpse alone, such as not eating that morning or afternoon, straying from the group, not doing much swimming,of course i was relating it to the movie,i was afraid i would lose him too.sure enough when it was their supper time, i went to my room to feed them, & seen him in the purplish plant that all the fish enjoyed swimming through.caught, or had floated into, whatever he was super pale, barely able to see his stripes at all, and i cryed again.this time, though, i knew he couldnt have been dead for more than 20 mins.i had her take him out again and i decided to throw out the plant his body was in, just because i find that a bit gross, like sleeping on a couch that someone died on.you might of acted different, but i almost wanted to give up, put the remaining 3 TBs, and 3 GBs in baggies, take them back to the pet store and say "dont bother refusing, i dont want a refund,i just dont want to be responsible for another death, take tham back...etc"but i was told "it happens".
before you read on, know that right now all three of my remaining tiger babies, no matter how critical conditions, and my three golden barbs no matter how superior and indefenently thriving with attitude, they are all alive, the reason i am entering this online fish talk thing and giving you the reader a nice long detailed backround of my fish experience so far so that i can get help and advice for the current problem i will now lay out for you.
PLEASE READ THIS PARAGRAPH, IF NOTHING ELSE!!!:
so the next day,jan.20, i seen a little bit of pushing going on from the yellow guys to the striped guys.and the yellow barbs were even pushing eachother around. but all three of my tiger barbs even thought they are semi-aggresive supposedly, they show absolutly no aggresive behavior, they nolonger race for their food, or swim around, the just hide in the skull,barrels,and the new decor peice i bought for them today.since the 20th i started noticing changes i didnt like, and i do want to no why they're happening, what they mean, how did it happen and how do i help them; like the biggest TB, who has even shrunk abit, has his front fins ripped, there is only little tiny red peices on either side which im guessing is the bloody remainder of his fins, the now littlest has these black dots that look like their inside of him because you can faintly see them on both sides, but only has a peice of 1 of his fins ripped, that looks as though it was bitten, but i dont think any barbs have teeth..do they?, and the middle sized TB has it the worst, his tail fin is ripped, it looks like almost half of it was offed, and his front fins just started looking like little red nubs, yesterday and the 20th, they looked like 2 big puffs of white cottonballs on either side of him, and i really dont think thats normal.all of my tigers are slower and have random red spots on them by their fins that look like blood, and their yellowyorange colour has faded, not as bright, and the last 2 days their stripes keep getting lighter,going grey.and all 3 yellow ones are thriving, being the alfa guys, the super bosses of the tank...they are still swimming fast, eating normal, growing...all the things fish should be doing,it makes me feel uncomfortabe, and it does not give good consiense to know 3 fish are being bullies to 3 other fish,its like gangs, i dont know what to do...do i get more fish?if so what kind,how many?should i leav them at it and just become more depressed by watching the tigers not stand up for themselves and the yellows be a little more than "semi-"aggressive...???
i need advice from anyone...i need help
I don't know how thin you meant by this.