Strange behaviour in my cherry barb

[KatzeSlaugen]

my one cherry barb is acting weird. he just hovers over the tip on my driftwood and he is always in the same spot. the rest are swimming all over and playing except for him. he is a male (idk if that helps) and he seems fine other than he doesnt move much at all. i did notice today that when i changed the water all the little bubbles were sticking to him so he has a bunch of tiny little air bubbles stuck to him in places.
i treated for fin rot about 2 weeks ago and since i dont have a QT i treated everyone because a few of them had it. it treated for fin rot, eyepop, and velvet. i know he had fin rot but thats gone now. it looks closest to velvet (from the pictures ive googled anyways) but i dont see how as i treated inadvertently for it?

any help would be greatly appreciated

[gm72]

Water parameters? Ratio of male to female cherry barbs? Other tank mates? Tank size?

[KatzeSlaugen]

29 gallons
ammonia around .25
nitrits around .25
nitrates less that 20
(tank is in the last stages of cycling)
tankmates are 3 other cherry barbs ( 2 female one male)
4 other golden barbs ( 3 female one male)
they all school together
4 cory cats
2 dwarf flame gouramis
1 pleco

[gm72]

Well we've got a few problems here. If the pleco is of the common variety then he needs a bare minimum of a 55 gallon tank. You should not have any ammonia or nitrIte in an established tank, so this tank is either not cycled or too overly stocked to handle the load.

Now on the good side you have a good ratio of male to female barbs, so nice job there.

[KatzeSlaugen]

as i said its in the process of cycling the ammonia and nitrit are almost gone now and i expect that within a week it will be completely done. im aware of the pleco problem but as of now he is only about an inch and a half long so he will do fine in my tank until he gets bigger at which point i will rehome him. those were not either of my questions though as i already knew both of those.

anyone have any ideas what is wrong with my barb?

[abaigael04]

I think it is your water. Are you doing daily WC's until your levels are good?
How long has tank been set up? What size tank is your filter rated for? It looks to me like you may be at max. stocking but some of those fish are dirty IMO.
edit: I think there is something specific that is called re: the air bubbles, but I don't know ...
Do you happen to have any pics?

[KatzeSlaugen]

yea i do daily water changes of about 50% each time. the filter is rated at 160gph and for a 30 gallon tank i dont ahve pictures but i will get some right now for you. the air bubbles arent always there but after i do a water change there are sometimes little ones all over him. he looks kindof..well...sickly

[KatzeSlaugen]

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thats him in his little spot he loves to stay at its hard to tell in the picture but compared to the other barbs he looks skinnier the other ones are plumper than he is. he doesn't seem to eat much but i know he is eating because of what i see him well...extruding so to speak.

also he hasnt grown a whole lot since i got him over a month ago, but the other 2 and the golden barbs have grown

[PostalPenguin]

Could he have an internal parasite? If he doesn't look as plump as his brethren yet still eats he might have something inside him. Might consider anti-parasite treatment.

[KatzeSlaugen]

thats what i thought at first but wasnt sure and seeing as how i wont have a job til i graduate highschool i wasnt going to treat for something that wasnt there. i dont think he eats nearly as much as the others just because they all eat like pigs and he just sits there while they eat. are there any external signs that would let me know? or should i just go ahead and treat anyways to see if it gets better?