shaking tiger barb

I have a nice tank set up and no casualties in the 4 months it has been set up. All levels are normal. Within the tank are 4 tiger Barbs, The largest of the 4 is being chased by the medium sized barb who I have noticed has started to hide in the low plants and frantically shake his tail !!! Is there something wrong or is this a behavioural trend or even a mating sign ???

 

The one that's being chased is stressed that's why it's hiding. This can lead to disease.Do you have anyplace to move it to? Maybe add some more plants to hide in?
Carol

 

Thanks, The fish does look very stressed, as I mentioned its one of the smaller of 4 barbs that is chasing the others continually, it has only been doing it for the past few days. Why has the fish suddenly become aggressive when it has been quite placid for the past 4 months ??Would it be easier to take back the aggressive fish ??

 

What size tank s this and what else is in it? Could you post your water testing results please? Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate?
Carol

 

The tank is 63 litres with 4 tiger barbs all under 2 inches , 5 neons , 3 swordtails ( 1 male 2 females ) 3 golden barbs. Plenty of hiding places and plants... The only disrupttive fish and only in the last week has been the 1 tiger barb, it only seems to chase the other tiger barbs.. Assistance gratefully recieved

 

That's just a little over 16 gallons, so your tank is stocked. Maybe the best thing you could do for the tank is to give away the aggressive fish.
Carol

 

Shaking Tiger Barb with two videos

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
removed

 

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.

 

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.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

I added a 3 Harlequin rasboras, 2 glo-light tetras, and 2 juliI corydoras. I did not quarantine 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.

 

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

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!

 

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.

 

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.

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

 

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

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

 

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!!!!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

 

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