# Help My Tiger Barb please



## surendharan (Jan 3, 2009)

I have a 20 Gallon (80 Litre to be precise) tank with 6 Green and 6 Albino Tiger barbs for about 7 months now. The tanlk is equipped with a filter, heater and air stone. I am yet to get equipment to test water parameters which my brother is gonna buy from, the US. Hence i do a weekly 25% water change and add blue medicine (given by the pet store) and littl;e aqquarium salt. I maintain the water @ 26-28 C. I feel my fish micro pellets every day, frozen peas (after microwaving them) and Cooked (microave) Ridge goaud on weekends

All is fine until 1.5 days ago when one my albino's started swimming as it was shivering and was always at the top of the tank with its nose in water tip gasping desperately. It did not turn upside though. The entire day till next day it did not eat and was there. I switched off the air stone and then it came down and was again shivering (temp is 26-28). Then suddenly it collasped to the bottom sideways breathing heavily. I quartantined it since 12 hrs now and it does the same still. I suspect aswim bladder infection howeer it has not gone upside down as yet and is not that fat. I added mashed peas. It aint eating them. Attached is the video. Pls help. 

Is it swim bladder. WIll Epsom salt help? if yes how to use? also any medicines available? if yes does anyone know if i can get that in INDIA hyderabad?

By The way rest of them are fine.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x9q4VfzGpKU" frameborder="0"></iframe>


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## Big Dog (May 17, 2010)

Why are you adding salt to the water in the first place?


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## surendharan (Jan 3, 2009)

I do not add salt every day.. Only when i do a water change of more than 50% or full water change. I add 2-3 *tea spoons* of aquarium salt as i believe its a stress reliever.


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## slurik (Dec 19, 2010)

Rapid Respiration is a sign your fish is not able to extract proper amounts of gasses from the water. This "Blue" medication given to you at the pet store could hold clues to your issues, however its only guess work without knowing what product you are actually using. 

With your tank creeping up in the high 20's, the amount of oxygen diffused into your water is reduced in comparison to a tank maintained at a lower temperature, 28 C is hitting the higher end of tolerable levels. This is why coldwater carp such as goldfish have difficulty respiring in aquaria, the water generally is warmer than they are adapted to, and resort to breathing at the surface. 

Simply put, colder water holds more oxygen than warmer water.

In respect to your blue medication, if you are using Methelyne blue you could be further depleting the amount of oxygen in the water. This substance is not actually an aquatic medication, but a coincidental remedy. The substance is meant to be used for gram staining slides, however it is also used for redox (reduced oxygenation potential) identification, and protozoan erradication. Lacking details, simply put, Its blue with enough liberated oxygen, it goes clear when oxygen is deprived from the fluid. However do not mistake methelyn blue becomming clear with "There is NO oxygen" there is just less than required to maintain your solution oxidized.

After watching your clip, I suspect your fish is not suffering a swim bladder issue. Those injuries are quite obvious. If a fish were at the surface with swim bladder issues, it would for all purposes be unable to remain upright, direct itself, or have much control at all of its navigation. More than this, it would unlikely retreat back down the water column, it would be either at the top or at the bottom, not moving between both, unless the current from your filter was throwing the body around, however your fish appears active and able to navigate well.

In summary I would suspect oxygenation is an issue in your tank, most likely from the heat. You can invest in a chilling unit, however they are quite expensive, or you can consider setting up fans over your tank to reduce the temperature down to 24 if possible, your barbs should not be in water exceeding 25C. 

Here are some links that should help better understand what im saying.

Tiger barb, Puntius tetrazona Profile, with care, maintenance requirements and breeding information for your tropical fish (T.Barb care guide)
Down the Drain (Redox experimentation with M. Blue.)
Methylene blue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (M. Blue disambiguation)
 Kordon's explanation of M. Blue in action in aquaria.


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## jhonesnaps (Dec 13, 2010)

Hi. I had the same problem with one of my goldfish. So I gave my Oranda a salt bath with two drops of curochrome twice a day for two days. I also separated the fish and fed quality dry food. I was so happy when my oranda survived and is know doing great. Good luck:goldfish::goldfish:


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## surendharan (Jan 3, 2009)

Thanks slurik.

I think you are right. I had to keep the temperature up as it is very cold here in this seaon. I however wil keep that in mind.

The pooor barb battled bravely till yesterday and died. *sad


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## slurik (Dec 19, 2010)

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your Tiger Barb, and as everyone will tell you, don't let it get to you, these things do happen. Regulating aquarium temperature is one challenge that will never truly go away, I have been keeping fish over 20 years, and 3 years ago moved to reef keeping. This summer I lost a Powder Blue Tang to heat during a heat wave coupled with a power outage which left me little means to chill my tank.

You did mention that during cooler months you found it far more difficult to keep your tank regulated, and I'd like to offer some assistance if this will help you in the future. 

The first tip i can offer you for your situation for colder months (I am Canadian, I know all about cold weather!) struggling to keep your tank stable without going too high can be far more easily achieved using 2 small heaters at each end of the tank instead of 1 larger heater regulating the whole tank.

Next it is best to keep your tank away from any windows at all, drafts can cause havok to your aquariums thermal regulation. Along with this, avoid having them in a direct line to a door outside. These 2 situations will often trigger your heater to turn on with a cool breeze to 1 side of your tank, which can then raise the whole tank temperature by 2 C, and sometimes more.

During summer months, I always keep 4x 2L soda bottles cleaned well and frozen into blocks in my freezer, so if in the event of power failure during a heat wave, I have some crude form of cooling, since the ice will stay frozen for a day or 2 if the power did go out.

And again, avoid windows in the summer, sunlight can cook your tank very quickly, especially in a tank your size. Direct sunlight on my 60 g caused a 2 C increase TODAY December 27th. Our outside weather is -11 C without considering wind as a thermal variable, in the summer you can understand that this effect is increased.

Hopefully this can show how the location of your tank, and a few hardware changes can greatly manage your aquarium temperature. Also I read a great review for a cooling fan built by Dymax just this week, have a gander if you struggle with heat issues in summer months. Dymax Vortex W-5 cooling fan review | Features | Practical Fishkeeping

Keep on truckin` my friend, these things happen sometimes and they serve as great learning mediums if we take advantage of the situation. It may seem somewhat crude, but learning from your loss will save fish you keep in the future, I promise you this. Fish keeping is a never ending learning curve, I still learn new things everyday.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

slurik said:


> In respect to your blue medication, if you are using Methelyne blue you could be further depleting the amount of oxygen in the water. This substance is not actually an aquatic medication, but a coincidental remedy. The substance is meant to be used for gram staining slides, however it is also used for redox (reduced oxygenation potential) identification, and protozoan erradication. Lacking details, simply put, Its blue with enough liberated oxygen, it goes clear when oxygen is deprived from the fluid. However do not mistake methelyn blue becomming clear with "There is NO oxygen" there is just less than required to maintain your solution oxidized. [/url]


I'd guess it's water conditioner (like prime) to take chlorine out of the water when you do water changes, which is a good idea. If you could tell us what it says on the bottle it should be easy to know. Most actual medications should only be used as a last resort in the case of infection.

Salt good to add to the water of some fish like guppies and mollies, I wouldn't use it with tiger barbs because they prefer soft water.

Salt is good for fish like guppies and mollies but I wouldn't use it with


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