sugabeatz

I added a couple new fish two days ago, and now one of my albino tiger barbs is acting very strange. Yesterday, he was breathing fast and avoiding the rest of his school. Today, he is swimming irradictly with his mouth pointed downwards and shaking violently. I have never seen a fish do this in the 15 years I've had them. What is wrong with him?

Here is a link to a video of him

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore
I'm sorry your fish isn't doing well.
Is this a new fish or one you had already?
Your link doesn't work.

sugabeatz

I fixed the video. He is a fish that I have had for at least 8 months.

Lucy

Poor little guy.
What fish did you add? Did you quarantine the new fish before adding them? Is he getting picked on?

eiginh

I think he might be getting picked on or something seriously bad has been added to your tank.

sugabeatz

I added a 3 Harlequin rasboras, 2 glo-light tetras, and 2 julii corydoras. I did not quarentine them. I do not have the space for anymore tanks (nor a husband who is willing to put up with anymore tanks). The tiger barb is not getting picked on at all, and it seems like the other tiger barbs are worried about him (if they have feelings like that). They are staying close to him, wherever he goes.

sugabeatz

I have not seen the fish get picked on at all. The tiger barbs rule the roost, and usually are happy little fish with big appetites. The change did not come until I added the couple small fish previously mentioned. I need to figure out what disease this is, so that I can treat the tank so that no other fish come down with this. I would also like to save my tiger barb!

bolivianbaby

There is also the possibility that it's neurological. That's what it looks like to me, although I'm no expert in diseases of fish.

sugabeatz

Well, I just found one of the Julii Corys belly up barely breathing. So he must have been the culprit! Here is another video of my tiger barb....I really hope somebody can help figure this out soon. I can still go buy medicine for him for about another hour. After then, I will have to wait until tomorrow.

Lucy

I'm sorry about your cory.
Have you checked your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

sugabeatz

nitrate 40
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
hardness 300
chlorine 0
alkalinity 180
pH 8.4

sugabeatz

The other julii cory died today. He was swimming just fine around the bottom and then all of a sudden he's belly up and barely breathing. My tiger barb is still shaking and I am not sure what is wrong with him. The rest of the tiger barbs seem a little on edge as well. They are darting around the tank and breathing a little fast. I think that my yoyo loach might be stressing them out. He chases them when they are not together in their group of six. He never used to stress the tiger barbs out before. So I don't know now if my fish is sick or if he is doing this because of stress from the yoyo loach!!!!

samorris

I have an albino Barb that developed this exact same symptom today. He is one of nine barbs that I have had for ~8 months. They are the only fish I have had and all the water readings are normal. I think he is doing this because he may float to the top other wise, and it may be a bladder problem. At this point I will stop feeding them for a while and see if that helps. The other Barbs also seem a bit on edge as well.

samorris

After more research, I think my Barb has swim bladder disease. Most recomendations are to stop feeding and some say feed them peas without the skin.

sugabeatz

Well one of my scissortails died also. However, my tiger barb looks a lot better. I treated the water with some aquarisol, and then added 3 more tiger barbs when the treatment was done (2 standards and 1 albino). They now seem happier as a bigger group of 9 in total. It seems like the yoyo loach might be have been put back in his place. I found a LFS with better livestock and cleaner tanks. They also have many species of saltwater livestock, which is beneficial as I am just starting my nano reef. I'll keep you posted on the progress of my tiger barbs!

samorris

Sorry to hear about your scissortails, but glad to hear your tiger barb is better.