HELP! Need advice on what to do with sick Tiger Barb

[Bioworldmaker]

I just noticed that I have 1 Tiger Barb which is having difficulties swimming. It seems my tiger barb is having problems with its swimm bladder, since it is constantly doing a nose stand while swimming sideways (the fish seem to be fighting not to flip belly-up).
I have another 9 tiger barbs sharing the same tank, who seem to be doing alright - at least, so far.

The dilema is whether I should remove the fish that has the problem or just leave it there with the others, since I don't have another tank to house the sick fish. I guess it is too late for the fish swimming sideways...


I don't know if it helps to find out what the disease is, but yesterday as I did a water change, I noticed tinny white worms in the water (about 0.5mm long and very thin, hardly visible). I can only think that came from tap water, since there was nothing new introduced in the tank.

HELP I need right now:

1. Do I remove the sick fish? Could that be contagious? If so, should I keep watching the fish or just ... you know...

Pls help!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Psyhampster]

If you haven't already, try posting in the FW Unhealthy Fish section. You may get more responses there.

 

[FancyGuppyGuy]

The worms are most likely planaria. As far as the tiger barb I would say the water change caused just that fish to swim that way. I have had tiger barbs and also have had a similar thing happen when changing water. I do not know the exact cause but maybe its caused ph the PH difference in the tap?? or perhaps a temperature swing?? The fish That I had acted normally within a day. If you fish still acts this way for several days then it might be a swim bladder problem.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Thanks FancyGuppyGuy... I am glad to hear your fish was alright. I guess I should just leave it alone and see if it gets better within the next couple days...

Thanks, Psyhampster.
I posted a duplicate there (sick/unhealthy section) and I'll ask an admin to either delete or move this one.

 

[An t-iasg]

I moved this post to the Unhealthy Fish forum, since this one already had some replies!

 

[QTOFFER]

Tiny white worms can be nematodes or planaria. They often occur when there is too much uneaten food in the tank. They're not harmful in and of themselves, but they are an indication that your water quality might not be great. What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? Poor water quality can stress a fish' immune system and make it vulnerable to disease.

Swim bladder disease is actually a symptom. But your affected fish are sick, and I would recommend separating them from the healthy fish. If you don't have a tank handy right now, you could transfer them to a CLEAN margerine tub partially filled with tank water, and floating in the tank. For the moment, I would keep an eye on them.

Check some of the recent threads about hospital tanks. Sometimes, I use a plain old clean bucket for the job. Just remember to get a small heater and an air pump/airstone..

 

[An t-iasg]

Bioworldmaker,
Here's a link about worm-like creatures in the aquarium: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/micro.htm

Have you added any new live plants or do you feed with live foods? Those are some ways that planaria can be introduced into the aquarium. Other possibilities could be nematodes or hydra. The link has pictures of some of them, and some may be more common to ponds than aquariums. Cutting down on your feeding and doing some extra gravel vacs will help eliminate them.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Thanks for the help!

Now, I know that it is most definetly not a hydra or anything that could have a picture taken by any means without the help of a microscope. It is really tinny. To give you an idea of size, it is about 10 times smaller than the leg of a sawbug (aka pilbug) if you have ever had the opportunity to look at these bugs before. And white. I guess another way of describing the thing is by lining a single row of salt maybe 2 grains wide and 8 grains long. Yep, that tinny.

Nothing new has been introduced in the tank for a really long time. The last time I fed them live food was about 5 months ago...

 

[Menagerie]

It's possible that these organisms have been in the substrate and are now so numerous in population that you are seeing them.
There's an article about QT tanks in the Articles section.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Thanks for the help

Thanks for all the help.

The fish is swimming normal again... Weird... But awesome!
I still don't know why that happened, but I feel much better now... =)