Sick Barbs

[Eebie]

I have (or had) two tiger barbs, they were relatively healthy to start with until one of them started to swell up. Over a period of a week or so, it continued to expand and I was confused if the fish was pregnant or sick.

The fish has just died and now it appears the other tiger barb maybe heading in the same direction. This fish was smaller than the other barb, but I've noticed that his stomach is looking bigger than it has in the past.

It's not from over eating, because I've been only feeding my fish very small amounts once a day due to other reasons.

What is going wrong with them?
Is there any cure?

I also had two other sick barbs, one green, one golden, and they have also both died, but these two have just been hiding up the back, not eating and just generally getting weaker.
I have a feeling they have just never recovered from having some water quality issues. My nitrates were a bit high and I wasn't dechlorinating my water before adding to tank.
I just don't think they ever recovered from that.

 

[tstenback]

The swelling could be constipation. If they are not pooping then this is likely what is wrong. You could try feeding some form of vegetable like a boiled pea with the skin removed or veggie flakes or wafers. If it is not constipation then it is likely an internal bacteria or parasite that has damaged the fish's internal organs like the kidney. You may be able to treat this with parasite med. HTH