tiger barbs 10 gal. and pleco?

Question
Hello,
I currently have a 10 gal. tank with two tiger barbs (I know, I know.. hence my
following dilemma) and a pleco.  I have had the tank for 2.5 years and it
originally had 4 tiger barbs and one died when I first got the tank.  I replaced
it and then another died.. (I had a bully).  I did that until there were 3 happy
friends for a while and then just last year I saw one floating :( So now there
are three... I was hesitant to get another barb, so I ended up with a pleco
because I had seen my brother in law keep one a long time ago and he was so
cute.  I was told that it would be a good tankmate with the barbs.. but I don't
know if I can safely add another barb with the pleco since he puts on a big
bioload. I can't really upgrade the tank right now...help!  

Answer
Hi Yasmin,

I wouldn't add anything else to your tank.  10 gallons isn't lare enough to safely support the bioload of what you have, depending on the species of pleco.  Some stay small and only grow to 4-5 inches, some get to 2 feet long and in this case you should really re-home the pleco unless you are planning on upgrading to over a 100+ gallon tank anytime soon.

Your barbs are dying from one of the following reasons or both:

1) Test your tank water:  99% of diseases and deaths are directly related to water parameters.  You should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-20 ppm nitrates with a slightly acidic pH and a temp of 75-80 F.

2) Security factor: All barbs need a school of 6+ the thrive.  Without this they will pick on each other and other tank mates and eventually get stressed from the lack of a school and die.  They also get to be 4 inches each so a school of 6 would need at least a 20-30 gallon tank for just the tiger barbs.

The cheapest quick fix if you cannot buy a new tank (although I think you could get a cheap one on craigslist.com) would be to go to Walmart and buy an inexpensive 20-30 gallon (bigger the better) clear plastic rubbermaid container for a few bucks with a bigger hang on filter and heater.  It won't be the greatest thing to look at but it will be cheap and it will allow you to transfer your pleco and 2 barbs and add 4 more barbs in the interim.

If you decide to do this make sure that you transfer your gravel, plants, decos and filter media to the new set up to avoid the nasty cycling process that will also stress fish out and cause them to die.

Good luck : ) April M.