Tiger barbs - Fat, Pregnant, or Diseased

[ddavis1979]

Here are the best shots I could get at the time, but 3-4 barbs in the tank are really swollen in the belly area. The ones who are fatter seem to "gasp" some and aggression has been higher in the tank recently. But there are also some other factors that could play into behavior. I have taken the aggressive gourami out of the tank, and drastically changed aquascaping which stirred up some sediment.

Thoughts?

[skittlebrau]

One of my tigers looks very similar, not sure what's up!

[CrunchyLeaf]

I'm not sure what's wrong with your tigers, but I'm sure it would be helpful to others to post your water parameters, full stocking list, filtration and any abnormalities in your tank over the last little bit.

[mizzoutank]

how many total barbs do you have?

and what are the other fish?

microwave a pea or two, shell it and feed them with that. it'll help with any digestive problems.

[CrazedMichael]

Hard to tell without knowing the water params, but check for poo. Maybe they are constipated. If they are, try the above advise, feed peas

[ddavis1979]

55 gallon tank, 10 barbs in the school. 4 of the barbs look bloated in the belly, I have noticed the condition for over a week now.

0/0/20 for parameters.

I have had strange goings on in the tank lately. There use to be a gourami in the tank that "ruled" the tank, but I rehomed him due to aggressive behavior, in the past week. The tiger barbs did have a behavioral change when the gourami was removed, in that they became more aggressive. I also rehomed an algea eater that was getting too big and also showed aggressive signs.

Also, the Black Neon Tetras have been spawning like crazy, spewing eggs all over the place, which the TBs greedily eat up. I have had a slew of Black Neons deaths, some of which look like a result of TB aggression. Once they learned that eggs came out of these fish, I have found three that look like thay have had chewed up exploded bellies, althought I have not witnessed an attack. Two more Black Neons died, cause unknown. I also found two regular neon tetras that were bitten in half, I also assume TBs to blame, but dont have proof.

I have recently changed the aquascape around and I plan on doing a water change tonight. After taking the Gourami and algae eater out, I added 5 more cherry barbs, 4 black neon tetras, and 12 neon tetras to the tank. So there has been a lot of changes going on.