I think one of my cherry barbs is sick!

Hey guys, feels like every week now I’m having a fish problem

I just noticed one of my albino cherry barbs is acting funny, he’s breathing hard and tilting forward like he can’t balance.
Here’s a pic of him and the tank.

 

Looks like it might be a bullied Barb.

 

How long has this fish been in your water ?

 

Looks like it might be a bullied Barb.

I thought so maybe, s/he is the most submissive.

How long has this fish been in your water ?

I’ve had the barbs since the end of October last year.

 

Since October, then they / it will well and truly be a custom to your towns water. Unless you have started adding RO water or a lot of powders recently sorry I am at a loss as to what’s up with the little guy?

 

Since October, then they / it will well and truly be a custom to your towns water. Unless you have started adding RO water or a lot of powders recently sorry I am at a loss as to what’s up with the little guy?

I use well water, I’ve tested it, basically close to perfect. No ammonia, nitrite and 5-10 nitrate. No chlorine or metals either.
The most recent change was a food I’ve never fed to that tank, I feed them daily, Fluval bug bites color flakes, Omega betta pellets, and hikari wafers for the BN. On Sunday I thought I’d try Fluval bug bites algae wafers, maybe he ate too much of it? I saw them picking at it this morning as today was the first day I put one in the tank.
Should I try feeding them a pea? Maybe that will help him clear out his system?

 

A healthy fish of that size can easily go 7 - 10 days without adding food.

I have had other species eat more than they should and had some success stopping all food for a week.

That tank is old enough to have established natural foods ( algae etc .)

If it was me I would not feed for as many days as is humanly possible. I believe it’s harder on the human than the fish to stop feeding altogether?

Keep an eye on the big tetras to make sure they don’t get stroppy. They are in small numbers . When you can no longer hold back on the food feed only a tiny amount.

 

A healthy fish of that size can easily go 7 - 10 days without adding food.

I have had other species eat more than they should and had some success stopping all food for a week.

That tank is old enough to have established natural foods ( algae etc .)

If it was me I would not feed for as many days as is humanly possible. I believe it’s harder on the human than the fish to stop feeding altogether?

Keep an eye on the big tetras to make sure they don’t get stroppy. They are in small numbers . When you can no longer hold back on the food feed only a tiny amount.

Okay I can do that, I notice the cherry barbs nibble on some of the plants.
Yeah I def feel it’s gonna be harder for me than them!
It’s really hard to ignore their begging. After the fast I’ll start feeding bi-daily?
The tank is over a year old, it has green spot algae on the glass sometimes.
Thanks for the help! I think I’ll add some more Indian almond leaves too, just for general health!