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 Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:31 pm
Hey guys I have a 40 galleon tank filled with various fish
It is apparently mating season for Barbs, and i have two golden barbs who have grown very large.
One of them, the smaller one, is missing scales from its right side fin to under its chin. The muscle is exposed and the two barbs have been fighting.
I moved the injured fish into a goldfish bowl with a air stone going and put in a little conditioning salt to clean out the wound. THe water is from the 40 galleon tank so its fairly warm i think 75-77 degrees.
I am asking what to do next?
Please any help would be great this is a first for me and i dont trust alot of sites so any advice would be great
Thanks smile
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:52 pm
1. do you have something else to put them in that would keep them in the tank, like a breeder thing?
2. do you have stress coat by API?
3. do you have a way to seperate the rest of the fish if they get injured?
other than those questions I don't have much advice, if you have a way to keep them in the tank then do that its easier to keep them in an already controlled area as long as their kept from the other fish it should be fine.
I doubt the injuries are going to kill them but are pics possible?
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:31 am
Horror Inc. Art Contest - Open to All
Like Bain said, it would be good to keep it in a larger tank. The normal protocol is to move it into an already cycled hospital tank, but seeing as you don't have one set up (not many people do) the best thing would be to keep it in the main tank, separated from the other fish. A separator would be better than a container in the tank because those will stress out an injured fish. You need to keep the fish very warm, at it's top heat tolerance. Salt is a good strategy as well. You did a good job in the heat of the moment. Those are the keys to treating an injured fish: Keep it separated, keep it warm, and give it a little salt. Some people omit the salt, but the first two things are crucial. With a little luck, he should be fine. The main thing is to make sure he doesn't get too stressed out, so try not to move him around too much. Being kept in the bowl might kill him though, so I'd look into getting a separator for your 40g or even a smaller tank if you have one.
Horror Inc.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:25 pm
I have nothing to add to Bain and Vanilla's advice.
But there may be some things you can do to prevent this from happening again. A 40 gallon usually should be large enough to prevent serious injuries from happening during conflicts.
I find it pretty strange that we're talking about barbs here, I've never heard of them being that agressive, since they are schooling fish.
Your school may be too small, most schooling fish need a minimum of 5 to establish a proper hirachy. A higher female to male ratio also helps preventing extreem agression.
Your tank may also be over stocked, causing fish to squabble over living space.
Other things you can do to lessen agression is feed less but more often, lower water temperature (after the fish is healed) and creating a more hiding places and natural barriers with plants and decorations.
Sometimes having a larger, but not overly agressive fish in the tank can also help lessening the agression of particularly nasty specimens.
Frequent water changes and reorganisation of the tank also helps.
I hope your fishy will be all better soon, but be carefull when reintroducing it, the fight is likely to start up again, and it will often be more vicious.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:55 pm
ok thanks
I put the fish back in the tank as the water temperature dropped in its bowl and the fish was way to stressed out. I found the stress coat and i found the meds for him ill treat him later today when the tank settles into its quiet stage of the day.
Yeh i dont have a hospital tank, no room lol but i have been thinking oh investing in but never really needed on normally the injured fish is picked off by other fish.
barbs are schoolong fish but like i said before these two golden barbs have grown fairly large compared to my cherry barbs so idk if that really had anything to do with it
but thanks guys
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:43 pm
Only advice I have towards the future of your barbs health, is to make a fish first aid kit containing essential medicine and supplies for fixing something like this.
and how many fish do you have in the tank and what species for all of them
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 4:43 pm
yeh i will do that, i think i have about 22 fish in there, species i could find out but it would take me awhile, most of them are a breed of tetra, then a gourami betta, daniels hockey sticks, cherry and golden barbs, and then catfish. If you more details i can give them.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:30 pm
Horror Inc. Art Contest - Open to All
Horror Inc. Art Contest - Open to All
I would be careful about using meds in a community tank. Certain fish and all inverts can be harmed. Stress coat is fine and is usually recommended, but if you're going to actually medicate, you'd be much better off doing so in a hospital tank. Honestly fish really don't need medicines. Heat and salt do an amazing job on sicknesses and injuries. There was a woman on a fish forum frequent who's cichlids ate both eyes off her Pleco. She just put him in a clean hospital tank, adjusted the heat a few degrees and shortly after he grew new skin over where his eyes used to be and healed right up. No meds at all.
If you do use medicine, take the carbon out of your filter. It will absorb all of the medicine before it gets to your fish. Then after you're done treating and your fish is better, put more carbon in to get rid of the medicine because you won't want it in your tank anymore.
Horror Inc.Horror Inc.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:14 pm
yeh unsure if i want ot medicate now the barb is looking better. the bleeding stopped and so has the fighting. So i might just put in the stress coat
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Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:29 pm
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Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:56 pm
Yeh he is doing better
the fighting is no more, for now
and now he is using that fin again so that is good
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