Tiger Barb Extremely Fast Breathing

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JohnDyer

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Tank size: 55 gallons
pH: 7
ammonia: tiny amount (less than 0.01, but still showing up a little)
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 35
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 76

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
One (Male) Tiger Barb is breathing very fast, all the time, even while eating and sleeping. It doesn't appear labored like a dying fish, though. The anus seems to be injured. It is a good bit larger than the other's and is very dark. It's kind of hard to see because he moves so fast, but the edges seem somewhat torn.
I lost another barb a month or two back with the same symptoms, within 3 days of first noticing. It's been at least a day.
Symptoms first started occurring after a 25% water change.
The fish still swims around, but appetite seems diminished. I only have sinking pellets and flake foods.
The vivid red nose lost color, and the fish in general is paler.
None of the other fish are affected, as far as I can tell.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10% weekly, 25% monthly

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: None

Tank inhabitants:
2 Tiger Barbs (I will add at least 4 more when finals are over. I know 2 is not quite enough, but the other fish seem to be fine)
4 Male Guppies
6 Neon Tetras
1 Chinese Algae Eater
1 Buenos Aires Tetra
1 Cherry Barb
1 Japanese Amano Shrimp
Many, many Water Wisteria plants (More than 10 stalks)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
None
Exposure to chemicals:
Small amount of Ammonia remover with dechlorinated water during water change
Digital photo (include if possible):


Thanks for reading. I seem to have an affinity for long, boring posts.
 
I believe that tiger barbs are a bit more sensitive to low oxygen (O2) levels than your other fish. And if there was a slight oxygen defficiency the tiger barbs would be first to exhibit symptoms of it. Does he seem to stay close to the surface? You could try aerating the water slightly
 
I've turned to filter up to max. It's 350 GPH, so the other fish are a little stressed by the current. The barb isn't doing better atm, if he gets better in the morning I'll go buy an airstone and turn the filter back down.

I only have a small (About 2x3 inches) hole in the tank cover for the filter. Could this be causing an oxygen problem in the tank?
 
I don't see anything, unless it has something to do with his intestines. His anus looks strange, much larger and darker than the other barb's. I have no clue what it could be.
They fight among themselves quite often, so there are quite a few frayed fins. It seems pretty normal in tiger barbs though. They do occasionally nip at each other's anal fins, but I'm not sure how that is connected with increased respiration.
 
I only have a small (About 2x3 inches) hole in the tank cover for the filter. Could this be causing an oxygen problem in the tank?
No; as long as the filter is making the surface of the water move, you won't be low on oxygen.

The dark colouration and the heavy breathing are signs of stress; I very, very strongly suspect that it's being caused by bullying; tigers are savage little beggars, tbh.

You probably can't do anything except add more tigers.
 
I've been meaning to get more for a while now, but something keeps pushing it back. Now finals are just around the corner, and I don't have time to set up a quarantine tank and monitor them. It makes me feel like a terrible person :/:
I'm seeing some fin rot starting, it wasn't there last night. I don't have a second tank set up, so I can't isolate him for treatment. Should I even bother medicating? With him being as stressed as he is, it probably won't do much except disturb the others.
 
It's common for nipped fins to develop a tiny bit of rot on the edges; as long as it doesn't spread, just clean water should clear it up. If it does spread, you'll have to medicate. It won't bother the other fish.
 
I've been meaning to get more for a while now, but something keeps pushing it back. Now finals are just around the corner, and I don't have time to set up a quarantine tank and monitor them. It makes me feel like a terrible person :/:
I'm seeing some fin rot starting, it wasn't there last night. I don't have a second tank set up, so I can't isolate him for treatment. Should I even bother medicating? With him being as stressed as he is, it probably won't do much except disturb the others.


Unless you have to do plenty of water changes with whatever fin-rot medication you may decide to use, then i would personally go ahead on the fin-rot... his stressed out behaviour maybe easier to treat than fin-rot, and it is very less likely to spread. Unless there really is no other way to re-home him somehwere for treatment, you may have to start looking at some medications.
Best of luck with it.

Terry.
 
You can't treat stress directly. Really the only thing you can do is add more tigers and hope for the best; they're very likely to cause trouble with the rest of your stock though. Tigers really aren't suitable inhabitants for community tanks, IME.
 
The fin rot hasn't spread, which is good. His breathing has slowed down a bit, but I'm not sure if it's because he's getting better or he's ready to die. He still eating, still swimming, maybe a bit slower than before. I should be able to add more barbs this week if I skip quarantine. I think the LFS is good enough to risk it, only ever gotten 1 diseased fish.

Thanks for your help!
 
John, will be watching this thread as I'm considering getting 8 tiger barbs in my tank which currently have 9 lemon tetras, 5 beacon tetras & 8 harlequin rasboras & I'm interested to see how they get on with your fish.
Hope you manage to treat your poorly fish & all works out fine!
Oh, personally I would also get an airstone just to help airate the tank.
Cheers.
 

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