"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
I've got six Cherry Barbs in a 10 gallon tank with 4 SAEs, three Otos and
a few snails. I know it's over stocked, but the SAEs will be moving on one
day. I normally feed the Barbs freeze dried Blood worms and let the rest
of the crew feed off the Algae. I occasionally feed the clean up crew some
Algae wafers, although I think it's affecting their efforts. But the Barbs
have been less than thrilled with their food lately.

My first thought was that the Nitrates might be getting too high, as I
only change the water every 10 days or so. But they tested at less than 5
ppm after tonight's water change. So I guess the little buggers are
getting bored of their food? I did feed them a few frozen Blood Worms last
week, that I give to the fish in the large tank on weekends. No one seems
to be suffering, so I guess they're expecting the good stuff now! Although
I'm a little surprised by this behavior in barbs.


Any significnat recent temperature changes to the setup..? I've had CB's go
really sluggish on a semi-rapid change (eight hour power loss in winter, 10
gal tank like yours, equaled a 3 or 4 degF drop in tank temp over those 8
hours)... a 10 gallon doesn't give you a very big heat sink against rapid
water temperature changes. Have you been seeing colder evenings lately?

FYI my cherry barbs seem no worse for wear.

DaveZ
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