spooky Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 I was feeding my fish earlier today (with the standard flake food I usually feed them) and one of my tiger barbs suddenly started flapping around on its side and then shot to the top of the tank as though it was a cork. It appears to be suddenly lighter than water. I had perviously noticed that some of my other tiger barbs had seemed to have been fighting excessive bouyancy, but usually when I checked them again an hour later they were fine. Any ideas what this is ? I assume it's some sort of swim-bladder problem, but what is the treatment ? Other relevant info: The fish could possibly be described as slightly bloated, but not beyond what I would have considered the normal body shape of a tiger barb. Water conditions are good (i.e. Ammonia not on the scale, nitrates OK, pH stable), although up until that point it had been a while since I did a water change (I did one shortly afterwards for other reasons). Nothing has changed in the tank for a few weeks, the last fish having been added about a month before-hand. There had been trouble with the Kribensis harrassing some of the other tiger barbs in the last few days, but this particular fish has no fin damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fins Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Might be something to do with gas inside the fish. What flake food do you feed them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted September 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Wardley Total Tropical. They also get blood-worms about once a week and occaisionally there is a pleco-tablet thrown in too (but not for a couple of weeks). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Are the fish mainly feeding from the surface? Some may swallow air when they are eating and as a result float for a while. Try letting the flakes go under the water to see if it makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted September 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Yes, they are almost excluisvely feeding from the surface. I'll try the release under-water thing. The floater seems to be recovering a bit, he's spending less time at the surface and is swimming down deeper. The only flaw with the air theory is that the fish was eating a sinking flake some 10cm below the surface when it suddenly went sky-ward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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