"crooked" swimming rosy barb

[skiltrip]

I have a pair of rosy barbs. One of them started a bizarre behavior/problem just the other day. Let's see if I can describe it...

His body will crookedly "twitch" to the right, especially when trying to swim fast. basically his body curls to the right. Hopefully this is clear enough so you know what I'm talking about. When he's just floating still his body is straight, but when he goes to move the curling/twitching starts again.

I have the other rosy barb, like i said, 4 tiger barbs, and a firemouth cichlid in the tank, and none of them are showing any signs of anything, just this one Rosy barb.

What could this be?

- Kip

 

[Punkymom]

Have you witnessed your tiger barbs being aggressive at all? It's best to keep them in groups of 6 or even more. I don't know how big your tank is, but 4 tiger barbs just isn't enough company for those guys in some cases. When there are more, they get so excited to see one another...it's kind of funny...do you use aquarium salt in the water? This made my fish act funny like that...then they died. I decided to take the salt out and use it only for medicating. How long have you had the tank set up? Is it cycled? Sometimes fish can take the cycle, sometimes they can't. You aren't guaranteed a fish with an excellent immune system when you bring it home, just one that swims around like normal for a few days. I hope he starts acting normal. One thing that I found is that when fish start acting like this, they are obviously distressed about something. Being ammonia, or nitrites/nitrates. I find a water change is helpful, and it will help the fish's immune system.

 

[e-cat]

there could be something wrong with the swimbladder, or it ate too much, when i overfeed my catfish it will lie on its side, (i gotta stop doing that, but im a sucker for feeding him). i agree strongly with punkymom that tiger barbs do better in lager groups i had a school of 10 in a 33gallon with with some fairly placid tetras and they would follow each other in a line only occasionaly one would split grom the group too give a little run at another fish.

 

[skiltrip]

The tank is cycled, it's been running a little over 2 months. The tiger barbs have never messed with the Rosy Barbs. not once. I also have a firemouth cichlid in the tank, and the tiger barbs don't mess with him either. Everyone gets along very well actually. Could it possibly be that he annoyed the firemouth while i wasn't looking and he pummled him?

I do weekly 15 - 20% water changes, so I doubt it's a Nitrate problem. I am getting a test kit soon just in case though. And my nitrite and ammonia are obviously at 0, as the tank is cycled.

The rosy barb did actually take part in cycling the tank, so maybe he's just a little beat up from the experience. I don't know.

So far, a couple days since i first posted, he still swims the same way, crooked and twitchy, but his appetite seems fine.

- kip

 

[e-cat]

the fire mouth might have beat him up, and he probably will kill every barb in your tank over time.

 

[Punkymom]

I don't know about killing your barbs over time...Firemouths I've read are pretty docile as long as they have a cave to take over as their own. I've also read that some of the best tank mates for Firemouths can be Tiger Barbs. They can keep their own.

 

[Allivymar]

Actually, without the tests there is no guarantee the tank isn't going thru a mini-cycle. Usually, when a fish starts showing signs of illness or stress, the first thing to check would be those ammonia/nitrite parameters. Could be food missed during a gravel vac which is rotting (or someone feeding the fish without telling you! I've been there *sigh*), changes in the water supply (yep, sometimes ammonia shows up there; eeek!) or an unexplained die off of bacteria. Def pick those tests up as soon as you can!

 

[skiltrip]

I didn't clarify, I do have nitrite and ammonia tests, and everything is at zero. I was waiting for the Nitrate kit to come in.

It has since come in, I checked, and it's just below 25 mg/l, and I'm about due for a water change, so it should drop a bit. The instruction sheet in with the test kit said anything 25 or below is normal.

The rosy barb still does that crooked thing, but he's acting fine, not hiding, he's got a great appetite, and still hangs with the other fish the way he always did. perhaps he's just strong willed.

So far it's a mystery.