sick tiger barb not joining pack

i set up a tank and decided i wanted tiger barbs to be the main attraction. so i added 6 and they all are doing great except for one that just lays near the bottom of the tank opening and closing its gills and looks sick.

it doesnt swim for long distances but will try to join the other pack at times. i also noticed that the sick barb happens to be the only one with no orange in its coat. does this mean anything? is there anything i can do to help him recover from this? does it sound like shock or some kind of disease that may harm the other fish?

incase you want more information on the tank

55lb 1 algie eater 1 swordtail 6 tiger barbs 6 live plants and a rock

maybe he will be better after a days sleep, im just posting because this is my first go at this and dont know much about barbs. thanks for any advice.

At this point, it could be bacterial, parasites, or your water parameters being somewhat different than the stores tank the fish came out of (osmotic pressure shock). What is it doing today? ...........

sad to report i found him connected to the filter.. he died when i was out buying him more plants he could hide in so he would be in peace, too bad.

the other five seem to be doing really good, very happy fish. but now im left wondering how many i should add to my 55 gallon tank.. when they become full grown i dont want them to be crowded but they sure seem to have fun in schools...i am also giving away my swordtail to live in a bigger tank with a beta. i think he wants more room to swim.

also, do you know if adding a albino tiger barb to the group is a good idea? any chance he would be rejected from the school?

thanks for your reply

On 19 May 2005 11:57:07 -0700, 'Frank' < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >

All the barb's generally get along.

A fish the size of a barb that can't get off the filters intake is a really weak fish. I would sure keep a close eye on the other fish for a few days... As with most schooling fish, barbs do the pecking order thing so there *might* be a chance it would be rejected from the school. If it is, it wouldn't be because it was an albino and the other ones are not - - - smaller, or being the new one might be why it would be rejected... I sure wood wait a couple of weeks before adding another fish to the tank - you still don't know why the last one

he did die as soon as he was put in and was weak from the start, the others have never acted like him and seem to have no problem with the filter at all.. so i would think he died from either shock or was sick at the store? they were picked from such a large group it was hard to notice. i have also been testing my tank for ammonia daily since it happen.

do you think i should eventually add? i really do like these fish so i'll have to resist overstocking them, maybe i should just settle with 5 or 6 in the future? but i read they prefer groups of 8-12 so im not sure where to stop with a 55 gallon tank... they do occasionally fight eachother, but leave everything else alone.

thansk

On 20 May 2005 21:35:56 -0700, 'Frank' < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >

I have 15 tigers and 10 rosy barbs in a similar tank.. with a couple of small other fish. I have had them for 2 years with no fatalities. I have a wet/dry bio filter setup.

I never had any luck with tiger barbs not being aggressive in a community tank after they are about a year old. But then, I never tried over 5 or 6 at a time! A planted 55 gal. tank with good filtering, I don't see why you couldn't put 25 barb sized fish in there....... Frank

so far so good but they are still young, if it comes down to it ill remove the others. they say not to mix tigers with slow long finned fish, do you remember how many you had and what they gave the most problems to? may help me in the future i plan on keeping the tigers, my new favorite fish.

wow 25? i know a person who is addicted to overstocking and killing fish, so i have stong feelings about avoiding this. i would like to still give them the opportunity to break away from the school for some alone time, they tend to do that. i will just add slowly and watch, if too many are added i have a feeling they may fight eachother when they get older..

when i was a kid i had two oscars outgrow a 150 gallon tank, so i eventually let them go in a lake near my house. funny story but my friends father a year or two later ended up catching a oscar in the very same lake! he then put it in a 100 gallon tank and it later died.

i did end up adding 1 albino tiger, i felt like i had to replace the deceased, so now im back to six and plan on waiting. he had no problems joining them right after being added and seems very healthy. one plus on the over stocking issue is that most people seem to agree that barbs like bigger schools.

thanks

On 21 May 2005 15:49:59 -0700, 'Frank' < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >

cool, too bad theres not a group where people can post pics of there tanks. my tigers love the plants so i just added them everywhere and the tank and fish seem to mix great. they swim inside them, hide, and like to nip at them. hopefully i have enough light, i have a normal 55 gal cover light with two other 10 gallon lights over the two openings of the 55 cover.

There is. It's called alt.binaries.aquaria.