Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Lindseynick on November 02, 2012, 12:04:03 PM
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Hi I have a tropical tank and over the past 4 -5 months something is eating my fish, I have two clown loach, a snail, some assassin snails, a black widow tetra, two black neon tetras and one platty left all the others have been got at,I have two other fish but can't remember the name of them, I think they are tiger tetra or something, but one of these is the latest victim? Any suggestions greatly welcomed
Lindsey
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Tiger barbs?
When you say something is eating your fish, do you mean that you find dead fish with bits missing from their bodies or that you've seen live fish with bits missing that later died?
If it's the first case, it is most likely that the fish have died and then been eaten. The vast majority of fish will eat dead ones. So you need to ask why are your fish dying rather than what's eating them. What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? If you don't have your own test kit, take a sample of water to a fish shop that does testing, but get them to write down the actual numbers.
For fish live fish that have bits missing then die, I would suspect the tiger barbs (if that's what they are) or just possibly the black widow tetra. Both of these have reputations for nipping, though it's normally just fins not the body. These fish are particularly nippy if there aren't enough of the same species, enough being a minimum of 6, preferably more. I do realise you've had fish die which will have reduced their numbers, so I'm not critising you for not having enough, just that it's something to be aware of.
Can I ask, what size tank do you have? Either the volume or the measurements. I'm asking as you have clown loaches which need huge tanks - they grow very quickly in the first few months, reaching over a foot/30cm long eventually. If they are in a small tank, they could become stressed and stressed fish get sick easily.
And what fish have died so far, how long after you got the tank? Also did you do a fishless cycle? Fish that are subjected to high levels of ammonia and/or nitrite during a fish-in cycle can die well before they would normally.
If you can give as much info as you can, we'll be more able to get to the bottom of it.
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Hi thanks for the info, they are live fish with bits out of them not fins but body and gets bigger and bigger until we find them dead or very close. I think they are tiger barbs and it is one of them that is the latest victim. The tank is approx 80l and we told the pet shop man this who sold the fish to us and he said it would be fine?
Thanks for your help and advice
Lindsey
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The first thing to tell you is to take anything a shop says with a huge pinch of salt. There are some good shop workers around but the majority only seem interested in making a sale. Clown loaches, for instance, need to be in a shoal of at least six in a minimum tank size of 300 litres.
The tetras you have and platies are fine for 80 litres, but tiger barbs are pushing it, simply because they need at least 10 to play nicely with other fish. Tiger barbs live in huge shoals in the wild. There is a 'top fish' within the shoal and it gets to be top fish, then maintains its position by chasing and nipping the other tiger barbs. If there aren't enough of them, all the other fish in the tank become part of their shoal and they treat them like they would other tiger barbs. Unfortunately, the other fish can't cope with this behaviour.
So, your fish with bits missing could well be due to the tiger barbs. The only other thing might be an illness, but I don't know of any where the only symptom is developing holes in the body.
In your case, I would be inclined to see if the shop would take back the barbs and the loaches. Or see if any shop will let you part-ex them for other fish. See if any will take them, even if they just give you a credit note. Or advertise them on aquarist-classifieds website. Then see if the problems stop - you'll know for sure they were the cause then.
With only one black widow and two black neons, you either need to get more of those two till you have six of each, or maybe swap them too for a species you'd rather have. Maybe also another couple of platies - but be careful that you have either all one sex or more females than males. But I'd wait and see if removing the barbs (and the loaches) solves the problem of the damaged fish before getting more.