My Barb Is Slowly Waisting Away! But Eats Well...

Hello, I have 5 denisons barbs (Red Line Torpedo Barb). One of them has slowly been getting thinner for a month now. This fish eats well and is still energetic however recently "she" has started hanging out by herself, not a good sign.

She is now thin and the bottom of her mouth is a bit red. She has white rings around her eyes , probably from getting so thin.

I have heard that when fish eats well but is still losing weight that it is often parasites? She shows no other external signs of illness except that she is much more pale than the other fish. This is the best pic I could get, it shows the redness on the bottom of the mouth.

I dont know what to do.

90g mature tank, planted co2, amm=0, nitrate=15, nitrite= 0, ph = 6.9 kh= 90 Temp=26.5C water changes every week with 60%RO 40%Tap. Ferts added for plants.

Can you isolate her? A small hospital tank would be ideal and treat with a anti bacterial med. Good luck.

Internal parasites can cause bacterial infections.
When fish waste away can be old age, fish tb, internal parasites, flukes and velvet.

Sign of internal parasites are.
long stringy white poo, clear mucas poo, worms prutruding from the anus.
Wasting away, or look bloated.
Bent spines sometimes.
Enlarged anus to red inflamed anus.

I would also just read this link to rule it out.
http/www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html

Wilder said:

Internal parasites can cause bacterial infections.
When fish waste away can be old age, fish tb, internal parasites, flukes and velvet.

Sign of internal parasites are.
long stringy white poo, clear mucas poo, worms prutruding from the anus.
Wasting away, or look bloated.
Bent spines sometimes.
Enlarged anus to red inflamed anus.

I would also just read this link to rule it out.
<a href="http/www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html" target="_blank">http/www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html</a>

Click to expand...

Thanks Wilder,

This fish has no problems eating, and is almost as energetic as the other healthy fish. The only external signs are the redness around the mouth and the fact that the fish is getting very thin as the others are getting much larger and fatter. Just in the past few days the other fish are starting to bully this fish a little. Im sure I need to quarantine the fish but Im not sure how to treat it. Should I give it a dose of antibiotics just to try to save this fish? I am 98% sure that if I just leave this fish in the tank without treatment/quarantine that it will slowly waste away and die.
I should also say that this fish's face/head looks different than the other fish, it is very subtle; the fish's mouth is more blunt, the two "nostrils?" on top of its mouth are SLIGHTLY white. I did have an angel fish with hexamita in my other tank about 4 weeks ago. This fish has appeared to have recovered after treatment. There is no puss comming out of the fish anywhere (head or anus or gills).

My thought is perhaps this is hole in head disease but this fish is not showing obvious signs....

I am also concerned about quarantine because I add co2 to my tanks. So the Ph will drop from 6.9 to 7.8 in the quaratine tank - I have heard that these barbs are very sensitive to PH and temperature changes...

Thanks for any help.

Sounds like fish TB. I have a fish with TB, it's been like your description for months and he's still there! And still appears quite happy, however it's incurable but only infectious if the fish dies and then the others nibble on it, so if your fish looks like it's on the way out be ready to remove and euthanise rather than let it die in the tank. It's the best you can do I'm afraid.

The redness around the mouth if it beneath the skin as that septicemia.
So you have wormed your fish before, how long ago was it.

Wilder said:

The redness around the mouth if it beneath the skin as that septicemia.
So you have wormed your fish before, how long ago was it.

Click to expand...

I wormed different fish about 2 years ago.

I have quarantined the fish now.

I am giving it metrondiazole(sp?) in its food and water...

Hows the fish with septicemia.
Yes I would worm them again.
Good luck.