fish going up and down top to bottom FAST

[joephys]

You also need to find a good source. Just because they sell it out of a refrigerator, doesn't mean it has been kept at a proper temperature during shipment, and storage.

[jetta7495]

Hi Fishmama,

I have a few words of advice about the Tiger barb that I can tell you from past experience and from many things I have read as a result of my experience. I am not trying to discourage you from keeping them, just that you are aware of what you have. As with any pets, it may be harder for your children to understand now that they have named all of the fish and such, but as someone said in a previous thread, soon you are going to have to do something about the different types of fish in your tank. The tiger barb is a fairly aggressive fish, unless kept in a proper school(atleast 6) and a large enough tank for that school. They tend to be very playful in a school of their own and when they don't have any of their kind to chase around they will go after other slower unsuspecting tank mates. I suggest that you google "tiger barb" and read a few of the pages that come up, especially the sections on tank behavior or some of the comments from others who have kept them as well. I made the same mistake in my first tank, and the outcome was not pretty. I know that you are worried about the fish dying from the cycling, I would worry more about the compatability issue. I am only trying to keep you from waking up to some fish that are all chewed up or dead. Hope this helps. On another note I always do 50% water changes weekly(someone told me once,think of it like flushing the toilet for the fish). Good luck and keep us posted.

Chad

[fishmama]

cool2: thanks jetta---i've been biding my time just doing water changes and cycling the tank!!!


and now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well--it appears we have cycled!
so happy and we are getting good readings on everything for a couple of weeks now.

so i guess in all it 's been about 7 weeks or so since we started up our new 36 g tank.

i took the water to the lfs today to make sure i wasn't crazy....
and all was great.

so we got some friends.

we got 4 neons to add to the one we have.
no one is bothering them--they are schooling around
and it is fun to see. love the shoaling concept !! LOL

not sure what i will do next. wait a few weeks i suppose and see how this new addition pans out. hoping the tank can handle the new adds and
stay happy.

question:
i guess i can finally vacuum the bottom , right?

i have read a lot about the tigers..it's just that this one we have ---is docile. actually, the rosy barb is the most agressive one in the tank. she chases the silver long finned barb and i believe they are just playing. silver is never hurt by it at all. tiger doesn't bother anyone.

the black mollie and the x ray also just get along so well. i will try to increase the x ray next i suppose. maybe 3 of them? 0r should i increase to 5?


i'm also getting an albino pleco at some point.

just going slowly though, friends....loving having a happy tank.

do i have to have 5 of each or can i do 3 of the x rays and 3 mollies and
maybe just two more silver barbs and not another rosy? or does she need a friend?

i have lots of time to figure it out LOL....and i don;t want some scary nightmare to wake up to....couldn't this one docile tiger survive in this tank if i don't give her more of her 0wn kind?

thanks for all advice!
oh and the fish occasionally still go up and down fast but i think they are all okay right now.

[RTR]

Schooling fish are group animals, or perhaps you should think of them as herd animals - an isolated group or too small a group will be eaten in the wild. They cannot count, but the more of their kind around them, the more secure and safe they are. If you want to keep schooling fish, you absolutely must accept the fact that schooler must be in numbers to be secure and to live long and comfortable lives. Those neons you mentioned can live 6-10 years in captivity. But they will not do it in a highly mixed tank with incompatible fish around. Yous desire for "mix" and color is directly contrary to the needs of at least many of the fish you are keeping. Your choice - do it right and have long-lived healthy fish, or have a colorfull mix in tank and stressed and ultimately unwell, short-lived fish as so many novice tank-keepers do.

Many folks start up tanks. Not many stay in the hobby. Most of those that do last here learn not to impose their wishes or whims on the animals in their care, but to provide them with what they need and require to live well and long and comfortably. Both the choice and the long-term lessons you are teaching your children are yours.

I do not mean this to be mean or nasty, but to urge you to stop and consider what the tank means to you and your family, and what lessons it can teach and the pleasure it can provide. But those positives only come with and from a well-managed and well-considered tank, not from a jumble of momentary eye-candy.

[jetta7495]

I totally agree with RTR and we are definitely not trying to be mean or inconsiderate, we want you to succeed with this venture so that you will find as much enjoyment and many hours of relaxation in this hobby as we do, not the frustration and headaches that come with stressed fish that are always getting sick or dying. I always try to stress this very important information whenever I am in a lfs and I see a family with great hopes for their new aquarium, picking out all kinds of fish willy-nilly(eye candy if you will ) without previously researching their newest pets. It dismays me too at how some lfs, employees will not even care to ask if they are going to be putting them all into the same aquarium together, unless they themselves don't really know what are suitable tankmates for some species. I think much of our or at least my concern comes from the fact that I made many of these same mistakes when I started and that it was by my hand that a lot of fish went to the great fish bowl in the sky, down the toilet actually. I have been keeping fish 18 years now, I will actually say that unfortunately it has only been the last 2 to 3 years that have fully started to become a conscious aquarist, trying to fully understand what is happening to my fish and what is best for their well being. I was the classic OTS (Old Tank Syndrome) fish keeper and I didn't know that I was doing anything wrong till I read an excellent article by RTR himself, which changed my whole outlook on this hobby, thanks RTR. I think the main reason I am a member of this and other fish related forums is not so much because I have a lot of knowledge to share, but in fact to learn more about the wrong things that I am doing, and it seems the more I read about the more things I find myself doing wrong, or perhaps not the best way I could. I was just thinking about my first aquarium, 37 gal, the first fish I put together were 3 tiger barbs, 4 neons, 3 angel fish, 2 sword fish, 2 kissing gouramis, 2 tinfoil barb and a bala shark. Needless to say, the neons were the first to "dissapear" and it progressively got worse from there. If that wasn't bad enough, I brought home 3 oscars as replacements for the fish I lost, if only someone would have given me some heads up advice. Enough about me, time to get off my soap box now! You may now know why so many of us have more than one aquarium, to house all the fish from different social groups that just don't all work well together. Please read some more about all of the different fish in your tank and then you will probably see which fish you will need to rehome and what new tankmates will work best for you and your fish. Heck, just go get another tank and you can have a barb stank and a tetra tank, lol. I am so very sorry for such a long post and I do wish you the best of luck. Please keep us informed. Thanks.

Chad

[Trixie]

This is true. And I work in a pet store. I learn new stuff every day.

Usually my day consists of repeating "a goldfish in a bowl is a really bad idea" and then trying to explain about fish size and requirements. Or why you need to do regular water changes. I wish I had a quarter for every time I say "Fish pee and poo in their water. A filter does not remove this, you have to do regular water changes." Some people really don't care, and others just want what they want, regardless of whether it makes any sense at all.

But sometimes I make sense to people. I have made people "pinky swear" to get a bigger tank when the oscar that I just tried to talk them out of outgrows the 30 gallon that they are going to put it in.

Earlier in the week a guy came in to the store and wanted to buy a pair of silver mollies. I asked him about his tank, how many gallons, what kind of fish are in there, how often does he do water changes - all the usual questions. He just kept telling me that he knew what he was doing, he had been keeping fish since he was 10.. etc, etc. As I am putting the fish in the bag (I am not allowed to refuse a sale of fish to an adult) He casually mentions that he intends to use the fish as "dummy fish." Seems that all his oscars died that day and he was going to throw the mollies in to see if they survived the night. And if they didn't, he would just bring back the bodies to get his money back as per the store's guarantee. I told him that I didn't like that idea, and that I didn't want to sell him the fish. And at the very least, knowingly putting these fish in bad conditions to "test" their survival was not a good thing. I told him that I wouldn't guarantee the fish. He threw a major tantrum and started screaming that he had been a good customer of the store longer than I have been employed there, etc. The manager backed me up.
The good thing that has come of this is that when he sees me in the aquatic department, he turns around and walks out of the store. I am sure that the fish are happy about that, too.
Takes all kinds.

[wesleydnunder]

Good for you, Susan! Manager material for sure.

Mark

[jetta7495]

Bravo! Some people have no scruples. Keep up the good work.

Chad

[Bunny13]

Way to stand your ground Trixie. And it's nice to know your manager is behind you.

Also, in regards to the python, it has made my life a whole lot easier and now I'm not as messy when I do water changes. I got mine at Petsmart and I actually brought in a print out from Big Als which they honored. It's been hit or miss on whether the manager working will accept Big Als price b/c they are an online store but it might be worth a shot since their price was even lower then Petsmart's online price. I also brought in the Petsmart online print out incase they didn't accept Big Als.

[Trixie]

Thanks!

They really should honor the price as long as you can prove that it is current. That is the policy - and why there are "Lowest Prices Guaranteed" signs in the store.

[fishmama]

well obviously i am thinking about everything you guys are saying and about my incompatibilities and trying to make decisions.

will let you know what transpires.

i appreciate the advice of course. considering a tank for just mollie and neons and another for the barbs...

found out recently that although pet smart told me the rosy barb was a female it is a male and has been chasing the long finned silver barb because she is a female. didn't know males were the olnly rosy barbs that were orange. i thought the silver one was a different kind of barb but apparently
she is the long finned female version of the orangey one.

anyway...thinking about what i want to do.