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I have a 30 Litre tank good water conditions and had 6 tiger barbs and a catfish in tank. THis morning I noticed that one of the tiger barbs had a large white spot on back. Took out of tank this afternoon and put into smaller tank with aerator in case contagious (used existing tank water). On closer inspection noticed that white spot had disappeared (maybe a scab?) and what is left looks a lot like a bite on back. Large piece of skin missing and red dot in middle. Also fin and tail very raggedy. He is smaller than other Barbs. Do you think he has been attacked or has a disease? Should I put him back in tank or leave him seperate? I am a novice hence any help would be appreciated.

I should probably add that water conditions last week were terrible. Something I did threw the tank out of whack and I had a massive ammonia spike (off the chart). Tank is 3 months old and was cycled. I was testing weekly and doing small partial water change weekly and fish had been doing well. Then out of the blue ammonia spiked. Not sure if I overcleaned or what however It took a week to stabilise. Hence thought might be disease due to that however I am also concerned that one of the other fish attacked it. I do not want to treat with medication unnecessarily as I am not sure he could withstand it.

keep the sicky separate from the others. add some decorations form the main tank in with him/her. go to your LFS and get some melafix. dose the sick one accordingly. keep it alone for at least two weeks after the symptoms dissappear.

good work though. not many novices have a QT tank at the ready!

-Brandon

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

It looks like the medical problem is well under control

I would like to help you why the sudden spike.

It can happen several ways including where you live.
It "could" come through your water supply. This is difficult to control but can be done. Dechlorinators can be added, water stored for a week this helps to eliminate any gasses in the water. I have to take all my water from a very hot instaneous water unit. This is to kill a nasty in the water. This nasty can kill your good bacteria over night.

Filtration it MUST be cleaned in the old tank water other wise the tap water "can/will" kill the good bacteria in you filter material.

Filter materials should never be changed completely. By doing this there is no good bacteria in your filter at all and you have to go through the cycle again.

Most of this can be prevented by careful control of your water supply.
It is always advisable to add a Bio Booster at every water change there are plenty around from the "Cheapie" to the high quality products. I only use Seachem Stability. I add a prescribed measured amount at every water change, by doing this it keeps the good bacteria in a healthy condition.

I hope this helps you to understand the importance of water and filtration in your tank.

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Keith

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Thanks for help. So far so good. He is quite active, spot seems to be healing however he is not eating which is a concern. On the spike issue I have 2 filters in tank - just internal sponge filters so I clean sponge in syphoned tank water. Always dechlorinate and add stability with water changes. I do water changes weekly as was recommended by manufacturer. Have even tested tap water for ammonia (reading zero). Not sure what I did however still not perfect reading today as ammonia was slightly elevated as was nitrite. Doing daily one third water changes at moment and feeding every second day to ensure ammonia does not spike again. Have added product which claims to lock down ammonia today however not sure whether this is good idea as have been told it may inhibit ability for ammonia to be broken down and hence lead to false readings. Interested in your thoughts.