tiger barb bloating - dropsy?

[swanandmokashi]

I noticed 2 days back that one of my tiger barbs is bloating - its scales DON'T SEEM to be protruding , but looks like dropsy to me

Is htere anything I can do ?

Frustrated as to when I will stop losing fish - I do 20% water change every week , never overfeed and have lots of plants in there. Still keep losing them

 

[An t-iasg]

Sorry to hear this, swanandmokashi Try feeding a pea, just like you do with Nigel. If that doesn't help, try putting the barb in a QT tank and adding 1/8 teaspoon of epsom salt per 5 gallons. The salt may draw some of the fluid out that is causing him to bloat. You can add up to 1/8 teaspoon of salt per 1 gallon, but I'd put in the lesser amount, 1/8 tsp. per 5 gallons first. If you need to, you can add more. If you add too much, you'll be doing big water changes to get it out. So, start slowly and go from there. If that doesn't seem to be helping either, do a water change and try an antibiotic.

I know you take good care of your fish! How long have you had the barb? (I can't see your sig from the reply screen.) It probably wasn't that long ago, so I would maybe suspect a bad batch from the lfs. Do you see any aggression among the fish?

 

[swanandmokashi]

well some good news .. the bloated barb is starting to look normal now

Yeah it was new barb ..may be a good time to make case for a hospital tank with wifey

 

[Menagerie]

Definitely time for a hospital tank. Keep in mind that it only has to be set up when needed!