New to the hobby, in MD

**gsxrated98** · 01-30-2013, 12:22 PM

Hello everyone. I'm very new to the hobby, me and my daughter got our first tank about three weeks ago. I have a 20gal high tank, and we currently have 3 Green barbs, 3 Tiger barbs, and two salt and pepper catfish in the tank.

I'm having some issues getting the tank cycled, I know I've overloaded the tank with fish, so I'm playing catchup. I ordered two sponges from angelsfish yesterday to help speed up the tank cycle process.

I have had to take one of the fish back, a tiger barb, who was being a bully to all the other fish in the tank. As for his replacement, shes doing pretty good so far. Shes still finding her place in the school, but the overall hostilities in the tank have greatly decreased, and a few of the other fish are no longer stressed out.

**KingFisher** · 01-30-2013, 12:29 PM

Hello and welcome to the forum!

**funkman262** · 01-30-2013, 12:30 PM

Welcome to the forum. Do you have a liquid test kit to check your status on the cycle? I would suggest using Seachem Prime to detoxify ammonia and nitrite until the tank has completed cycling.

**Hardy85** · 01-30-2013, 12:38 PM

Prime and an API Master Test Kit should be the next two purchases you make. Will save you $ in the long run. I'd recommend having a tiger barb only tank.

Good luck, and enjoy the hobby

**gsxrated98** · 01-30-2013, 12:48 PM

I already have the API Master Test Kit, and I have the water declorinator stuff that came with the tank. I've been running water tests about ever other day. My Nitrites and Nitrates have either been 0 or slightly elevated. Though I have been keeping a close eye on the ammonia levels. They have been hanging around .25, but I had to do a water change the other day, as they shot up to .5

I have a secondary 10g tank right now to get the water ready for water changes, and to use as a sick tank. I got it because of the aggressive barb I had. I removed him to help calm the main tank down. It helped, but about 10 minutes after returning him back to the main tank, he started back up.

**funkman262** · 01-30-2013, 01:01 PM

You should check which dechlorinator you have as some are just that (remove chlorine/chloramine) while other such as Prime also detoxify ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Are you on city water? If so, do they use chlorine or chloramine? If they use chloramine, a normal dechlorinator will simply break the chlorine-ammonia bond and remove chlorine but leave you with toxic ammonia. And you should also test your tap water for ammonia.

**gsxrated98** · 01-30-2013, 01:25 PM

I have well water. When I did the test off the well, it was pretty clean.

I'll have to check the bottle to see if it does more then just break down the additives to the water. I did pick up a secondary ammonia treatment, so I have been using that. I have live plants in the tank as well, hoping they can get a footing, and help as well.

**funkman262** · 01-30-2013, 02:22 PM

Cool, looks like you have everything under control

You should post a pic of your tank.

**Gogi** · 01-30-2013, 03:26 PM

Welcome to AC

**ddavis1979** · 01-30-2013, 03:29 PM

Welcome to AC, I am in VA, neighbor.

Tiger Barbs are famous for being fin nippers. I wouldnt say aggressive because its not like they are defneding territory or eggs, but the results are the same as aggressive behavior. My observation of my tiger barbs is that they are just curious bullies by nature. The best soluition for Tiger Barb Bullies is upping the numbers in the school. 10-12 Tiger Barbs tend to be enough so that they are only picking on themselves. But be aware that if any fellow tank mate shows signs of weaknessm (eg. stress, fin rot, bacterial infection) the barbs will tend to focus their bullying on the weak fish.

I am sure this sounds all negative but TBs can also be great fish to keep. Very active and very robust, hardy fish. They are good survivors and good eaters, and will be more entertaining than many other community fish.

Enjoy!