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well, i guess it had to happen eventually

today i lost my first fish. i now have 10 tiger barbs, not 11. when i first got my fish about 2 months ago i noticed that one was smaller than the others, and for a while they seemed to be growing together. but then in the past few weeks the smallest lil guy seemed no longer able to eat. he would TRY to eat but it looked like he couldnt. he'd suck in a flake of food, then spit it right out. then he'd do it again and again and eventually he'd stop. everyone else would have little fat bellies, but he got thinner and thinner, and eventually his stomache looked concave. then he started just floating along instead of swimming, like he didnt have energy. just floating along near the top of the tank, hanging out in the vals away from the shoal. then today i cam home and tried coaxing him to eat with bloodworms as a treat, but no dice. a few horus ago i found him being held against the filter intake, unable to swim away... when i pushed him off he didnt move, was just floating on his side. he looked dead there and then but i put him in the freezer in a little cup of water just in case. i hope it wasnt too painful for the lil guy.

anyway, any ideas of what may have done it might have been? maybe some sort of parasite was preventing him from eating? remember, he tried to eat but it was as iff he couldnt swallow the food. the other fish are all healthy and seem to be doing great. any thoughts/ ideas would be appreciated.

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Back in the saddle!

Sorry to hear about Lil' Pete. It could be some kind of parasite. I've recently had a tiger barb (I've had them a few months) start getting thin to the point that I didn't think he would make it, he still ate but stayed very skinny. I finally got my hands on Pepso food (I believe Jungle makes it) and within 2 weeks I have noticed a major difference in his appearance. He is still on the thin side, but it is getting harder to distinguish him from the others.

Steph

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

I've heard that a product called Octozin by Waterlife can be used in the early stages of the disease but i dunno how effective it is.

thanks for the suggestions. im wary of putting chemicals in the water though. plus the other tigers seem fine and healthy. everyone loses a couple fish, i guess. it's kinda taught me a lesson about keeping fish healthy. tigers are pretty hardy fish and you think that, since they made it past the cycle, they'd all be ok, but you always have to be on the lookout. i'm gonna buy a quarentine tank this weekend before i add any other fish, just in case.

and in case any one was wondering, water parameters are:
ammonia: 0
nitrie: 0
nitrate: about 10ppm

i do weekly water changes between 30-50 %. as far as i know im looking after water quality pretty well. is there anything else i can do to make life less stressful for the rest of the fish? an airstone maybe to help airate the water?

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Back in the saddle!