Long-finned Rosy Barbs gasping and won't eat

[jcorno]

I'm sorry my first post is going in Urgent Care, but I'm getting very worried about my 2 barbs. They haven't eaten in at least a week, and the female has started gasping for air. The male will occasionally suck in some food, but he spits it right back out. When I noticed they weren't eating, I started looking around and saw some people advise clean water, so I did a thorough clean. It turns out I hadn't been cleaning my gravel well at all, and one or two of my plants had shed some leaves that I didn't see. Basically, it was filthy. So I did a very thorough cleaning of the gravel, and did 20% water changes every day for 3 days. So now all of my levels are perfect. Ammonia sensor shows safe levels, nitrate is about 20 ppm, nitrite close to 0 ppm (well below 0.5), hardness is just under 120, alkalinity is around 150, and pH is right at 7. I keep the temp between 76 and 78.

I tried adding some aquarium salt because I heard it helps with breathing, but she's still gasping, and neither one will eat. I also did a thorough inspection of both fish for signs of disease, and they look really healthy. Fins, scales, eyes, all OK. The male is still really energetic, swimming around like nothing's wrong. I did notice just now that the female has long white dangling feces, but she doesn't look bloated.

They're in a 3-month-old 10 gallon tank with a pleco (bulldog; he's tiny). The barbs have been there since the beginning, the pleco since mid December. (He's fine as far as I can tell). I feed them TetraMin tropical crisps or TetraColor tropical granules (wanted to try something different with the granules; they've never eaten them). I feed the pleco spirulina disks. The tank has a whisper filter that dumps water on top for aeration. It has a mesh/charcoal filter, which I've changed.

I'm running out of ideas, and I'm not sure how much longer they've got. Can somebody tell me what's wrong with them?

[cocoa_pleco]

add oxygen. Do they seem bloated? try to feed bloodworms

[jcorno]

I don't think they need more oxygen. The filter seems to stir up the water pretty well, and I can see it pushing a lot of air bubbles into the water. Also, the other barb isn't having trouble breathing.

They don't look bloated at all. I can't see any problems physically with any of them, other than the trailing feces on the female, which is still there. It seems to be gradually getting longer.

[cocoa_pleco]

I'd say internal parasites then

[jcorno]

I lost the female barb last night. I gave them all a general parasite treatment on Friday (Parasite Clear; it was the only one that said internal parasites and didn't need to be eaten), and I started them on a 5-day course of tetracycline. Yesterday afternoon she was hanging around the bottom of the tank tilted head down. It looked like she was eating, but by evening she was dead.

So now I have the male barb in there alone with the pleco. They both seem to be fine, but the barb still isn't eating, and I'm worried he has the same problem as the female. I'd like to do whatever I can before he gets as bad as she was. Does anybody have any suggestions? I'll continue the tetracycline, of course. I can repeat the parasite treatment if necessary. Should I treat him for constipation even though he doesn't look bloated? Or should I just try different food to see if he'll eat that instead? I've tried two different kinds so far, but just flakes and granules, and he doesn't even notice when I put them in any more.

Also, I understand it's not healthy to leave rosy barbs alone. But if I replace the female, I'm worried the same thing will happen to her. What should I do there?

[minabird]

So now all of my levels are perfect. Ammonia sensor shows safe levels, nitrate is about 20 ppm, nitrite close to 0 ppm (well below 0.5), hardness is just under 120, alkalinity is around 150, and pH is right at 7. I keep the temp between 76 and 78.

jcorno-

What are your ammonia readings? If ammonia and nitrite are not 0, do a water change. These 2 toxins, even at the "safe" levels, can be deadly to fish over time, especially since your fish are gasping for air just under the surface. a tell-tale sign of either ammonia or nitrite poisoning. If you are using test strips, I recommend you switch to the type of test kits that use liquid reagents instead. These are much more accurate than the test strips. They are also more expensive but are worth it due to their accuracy. Since you don't know for sure if they have an internal parasite, I'd stop those treatments. If you can, post a pic of your barbs so we can take a look at them to see if they have any external symptoms we may be able to help you identify what is exactly wrong with them. Also, try a different food to see if they'll eat that.

[Glasstapper]

You said your barbs have been in your tank since the beginning and that's been 3 months, right? The first 6 weeks your tank was set up, your tank went through cycling. Typically, cycling is very rough on fish, and even though sometimes they make it through the process, it still damages them enough to severely shorten their life cycle. I don't think they have an internal parasite, and honestly I don't think meds are going to help at this point. It sounds as if they were poisoned from ammonia and nitrite spikes from your cycling, and they are feeling the effects of it now.

I'm sorry to hear about your fish, but I'd bet if you tried to add a fresh pair of barbs, they could possibly fair a bit better now that your tank is cycled.

And don't forget to siphon your gravel and clean up your plant debris weekly with your water changes. That's the most important advice you could ever follow.

[Lady Hobbs]

I think a weekly water changing schedule is in order and possibly changing more will help until your fish can recover sufficiently. A 10-gallon tank is very condensed and much harder to keep clean and the water perfect than that of larger tanks.

Your fish may not be suffering from what they are going thru right now as much as what they went thru during the cycling process. It can take a while for all the stress they suffered to show up.

Just clean your gravel to get the nitrates down more and do a water change of possibly even half.

[jcorno]

The male barb ate the food I gave him tonight for the first time weeks. It was his regular food; he wasn't too interested in the fancy new stuff I got him. He seems pretty healthy, and he's perked up since I added a new female to keep him company. I'm gonna stick with the weekly water changes, and maybe take out some of the gravel (I have almost an inch in there; I didn't know you weren't supposed to use that much). Thank you all very much for your help.

[cocoa_pleco]

a inch is good for gravel

[kimmers318]

You should be fine with the gravel...leave it be, at this point you don't want to do anything that may disturb your beneficial bacteria and that is one of the places said bacteria likes to thrive. You probably did lose the tiger barb due to the cycling like was mentioned. Get that liquid test kit, post your water readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and we will lead you from there.
Take this as a good lesson learned, it is much safer to fishless cycle, doesn't take that much time, is not hard to do, and you end up with a much happier tank!

[jcorno]

I got a liquid ammonia test kit. Total ammonia reading was well below 0.25 ppm. That was the first reading on the chart after 0. I don't think it could've been more than 0.1, probably closer to 0.05. That's in a pH 7 tank at 78°F, and I did a 20% water change 3 days ago. Nitrate reading was below 20 ppm, nitrite very close to 0 (0.5 ppm is next on the scale). Does all of that sound OK?

[cocoa_pleco]

its getting better

[kenyth]

I know this may sound crazy in this age of "anti UG filterism", but this is why I like to use a combination of power AND under-gravel filter. IMHO, power filters just don't have the biological filtering capacity needed as they come out of the box. You can add various things to the reservoir to help, but you'll never get the bio capacity of using an UG filter. Surface area is key in bio filtration and it's hard to beat your entire gravel bed. Also, a UG and the air pump together are cost effective as they usually run only $25 bucks. Cheaper than most alternatives, like cannister or sump filters. The media will also last many many years and is cleaned by your regular water change/gravel vacuuming maintenance schedule, so it's easy to maintain.

Other advantages? You can add another type of water conditioning cartridge to your system while still using your charcoal one in the power filter. You say you want even MORE biological filtration capacity? Add more gravel and upgrade from the bubbler to powerheads and/or add more stems.

The only people who can't really use a UG filter are those Aquaria gardeners who HEAVILY plant their tanks and need a substrate suitable for extensive root systems. Light plantings can be easily remedied with pots, using floating or weak root system plants, or plants that attach to decor such as rocks or driftwood.

[Lady Hobbs]

Glad to hear you fish has improved. As Minabird pointed out, any levels of ammonia or nitrites are toxic to fish as well as high nitrates. Get yourself on a weekly schedule for tank maintance of gravel cleaning and water changes. I change about 40% of my tank water weekly in all 5 tanks. Well, not the 10 gallon. That's my hospital tank and thank heavens I seldom ever have a sick fish.

Gasping is almost always a sign of ammonia poisoning so keep that water clean and you should have no problems.

[Chrona]

I know this may sound crazy in this age of "anti UG filterism", but this is why I like to use a combination of power AND under-gravel filter. IMHO, power filters just don't have the biological filtering capacity needed as they come out of the box. You can add various things to the reservoir to help, but you'll never get the bio capacity of using an UG filter. Surface area is key in bio filtration and it's hard to beat your entire gravel bed. Also, a UG and the air pump together are cost effective as they usually run only $25 bucks. Cheaper than most alternatives, like cannister or sump filters. The media will also last many many years and is cleaned by your regular water change/gravel vacuuming maintenance schedule, so it's easy to maintain.

Other advantages? You can add another type of water conditioning cartridge to your system while still using your charcoal one in the power filter. You say you want even MORE biological filtration capacity? Add more gravel and upgrade from the bubbler to powerheads and/or add more stems.

The only people who can't really use a UG filter are those Aquaria gardeners who HEAVILY plant their tanks and need a substrate suitable for extensive root systems. Light plantings can be easily remedied with pots, using floating or weak root system plants, or plants that attach to decor such as rocks or driftwood.

It's a 10g tank, you don't need that much biological filtration unless you heavily overstock the tank, which you shouldn't do anyways. A power filter with some bio-media like sintered glass will do an amazing job, and it's much easier to maintain than an UGF.

[cocoa_pleco]

10g's arent as big for biological as 20-infinity gallons and ponds. Thats why most 2g tanks come with just a ugf though i got a 3g today with carbon and polywool

[kenyth]

It's a 10g tank, you don't need that much biological filtration unless you heavily overstock the tank, which you shouldn't do anyways. A power filter with some bio-media like sintered glass will do an amazing job, and it's much easier to maintain than an UGF.


True, but erring on the side of caution and over-filtration doesn't hurt. UG filtration for a ten gallon is very cheap, and many people with 10G tanks do overstock it. As I see it, overfiltering on a small tank is even more important than on a larger one. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.