FishProfiles.com Message Forums

awhile back I lost a couple tiger barbs suddenly... they looked to me like they were getting thinner and swimming weakly... I noticed that a couple of my remaining TB's are looking quite thin, and seem to swim sort of wobbly, nose down more than normal, almost as if they are having trouble swimming downward below the top 1/4 layer of the tank. Their color is very vibrant, more so than their tank mates. It also looks as if their "chests" for lack of more accurate terminology has simply vanished... in other words, their bottom line is nearly straight back from nose to tail, rather than the "V" shape common to Tiger Barbs, if you view them from one side.

Any ideas? Is this possibly a swim bladder thing? malnutrition? virus? All I have ever dealt with in my brief fishkeeping career is Ick and I have had no outbreaks sinec the initial one back in June.

Thanks for any input... water parameters are all good and normal.

It might be a swimbladder issue caused by constipation - try feeding some peas (take the outer layer off first), and see if they start to feel better.

><>

Depends what your feeding them, but tigerbarbs are usually greedy feeders, so I would suspect internal parasites. Some jungle labs antiparasite formula should sort that out.

I don't feed every day, I am careful not to over feed. They always get flakes, sometimes bloodworms, sometimes krill, often but not always algae discs... I try to get them a mixture of things.

I have noticed that all of my fish do great with feeding every other day, except for the tiger's! They become smaller and no longer swim in groups, all the symptoms are the same. All I can say is try feeding them every day. Feed them a little more than you are used to. They are voracious eaters. In fact I have found that their best use is to make sure that no food goes uneaten for more than the alloted couple of minutes time.
I think that your tigers are currently malnourished.
Give it a careful try. I find they do great with flakes or frozen blood worms.
Good luck.

________________________________________
The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable