Pale Tiger Barb

[injektion]

ok so i'm still quite new at the whole fish thing but i've been reading the forums and doing everything that i'm supposed to do (fishless cycling, proper ammonia, nitrite/nitrate levels, etc.) i have a 50 gal freshwater tank with a few live plants and a piece of driftwood with sand substrate.

anyway, after about a month of constant monitoring of the tank, i went to buy some fish. i got 4 tiger barbs, 1 siamese algae eater, and a red spotted shrimp (i think thats what my lfs called it although i can't seem to find anything about this shrimp). after about a week and a half one of the tigers died. this was completely unexpected because they all looked pretty healthy (another one has a reddish dot, which i'm assuming is a wound, on its right side but i think it got it from a jagged edge on the piece of wood and so far its still kickin it). anyway, before that tiger died i noticed that it was pretty pale. i didn't really think much of it because it looked fine otherwise. then this morning before going to work, i went to take a look at them and i saw that the pale on was dead lying on its side on the floor bed of the tank. so when i got off work i looked around the forum and googled every possible thing i could think of and came up with nothing.

was it just getting old or is there something wrong with the tank or the fish? should i be concerned about the other fish as well? help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

first port of call, what are your stats for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[injektion]

ph: 7.9
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrates: approx 0

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok so water quality is good

how long had they been in your tank before displaying any symptoms and dying? If it's just a short period of time then it's likley they were carrying a disease/infection from when they were in the shop and it's just manifested itself now.

 

[rabbut]

Those symptoms are none-specific, so you could be looking at anything realy.

If they are new fish, they may just have died due to stress from being moved, and the wombd could be just that, carused when netted from the tank. I presume it just looks red all over? Is there any white surrounding edges to it?

Loss of colour, and otherwise unexplain deaths can also be internal bacteria or internal parasites. Open sores with a white surrounding edge can be bacterial also..

Any other fish loosing colour? How long have you had them? Any new aditions to the tank? Water stats are fine, so we can rule out ammonia or nitrite poisoning, unless this is latent symptoms...

Never treat any fish untill you have a solid diagnosis. Though I suspect something bacterial may be going on in there, I am not yet advising treatment, as I haven't finished ruling out other possible caurses

All the best
Rabbut

 

[injektion]

the wound is just a red dot with no white surrounding it. im guessing this is relatively good?

none of the other barbs have the paleness i saw in this one. i've had them for about 12 days now and the last thing i added was the red spotted shrimp, which was about 10 days ago.

thanks for the quick replies. much appreciated!

 

[rabbut]

Certainly doesn't sound like an infection.

Best thing you can do at this stage IMO is to sit on it and watch what happens

 

[injektion]

k i'll keep watching them and see if anything changes.

i've also noticed that my shrimp isn't very colourful compared to the ones that my lfs has. their's are much darker with tiny red dots all over them whereas mine is quite pale and see through with very small unnoticeable red dots. this may sound stupid but my shrimp seems to be changing its colour according to the sand substrate. i say this because the shrimp at the store sit on black gravel.
he/she also hides a lot and when it comes out, its usual routine is to look around the tank, find a corner and try to swim up as high as it can. is this unusual behaviour?

 

[rabbut]

Fairly, or it could indicate something going on with oxygen content. Any fish "gasping" at the surface? Paling of colour could also indicate that it is about to shed. These are sencitive to many medications, so they are something we need to know about if we need to make any future medications

All the best
Rabbut

 

[injektion]

nope none of the fish gasp for air.

 

[rabbut]

I'd sit back and watch Doesn't sound too serious

 

[Aqua Boy]

I have a tiger that is pale but is not dead so just wondering if I should worry???

Aqua Boy


PS how do I resize my picture of the crabs

 

[Aqua Boy]

here are some pics

big one has orange color on top fin behind black stripe and has orange color on bottom fin also has orange on top and bottom of tail

has no color on top fin behind black and has very little color on bottom fin and has clear tail

what is a matter with him

 

[rabbut]

I he "pineconing"?, IE, where the scales raise? It's hard to tell from the picture....

He looks rather plump in the abdomen area. Is he going ot the toilet correctly.

Sorry OP, bit of a thread hy-jack going on here...

Aquaboy, try posting in your own thread, as then members know your situation better, as all the information is there

All the best
Rabbut

 

[injektion]

haha that's not a problem at all. his topic kinda fits into mine anyway.

so i've been looking at them for a while now and one of the barbs are starting to go up to the surface for air i'm guessing. i'm starting to get a little concerned now