Help my rainbow is hurting

Hello community,

My rainbow fish (I believe glossolepis incisus)
has become very pale and lethargic about 4 days ago.
Since then I have been doing daily water changes to help give lots of fresh water.
I just tested the water and the results are as follows:
NO_3: 0ppm
NO_2: 0ppm
pH: 7.0
KH: 40ppm
GH: 0ppm
NH_3/NH_4: 0ppm
I feed them Omega 1 fresh water flakes once a day,
temp is 78 degrees F,
tank mates are 6 roseline barbs, 1 neon dwarf gouramis and 3 other rainbows.

I have no clue what is going on - but he is hanging out up by the filter now, which is an unusual spot for him.
He is very pale an looks lethargic and weak.
I took some pictures, and I notice a small white film growing on the bottom half of the fish but it's hard to tell and you can only see it from certain angles.
I also posted a pic of the other big rainbow I have for comparison because before this they looked identical.

Please help I don't know what to do. I try to take the best care of my fish friends as possible.

Is the fish eating?
What does it's poop look like?
Has it got a fat/ swollen belly?

If the fish has a swollen belly, stopped eating, does a stringy white poop, and is gasping by the surface or filter outlet, it is dying from internal organ failure and you should euthanise it.

If the fish is still eating then add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt in there for 2 weeks.
If you do water changes while using salt, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank so the salinity (salt level) in the tank remains constant.

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The fish in the picture is a hybrid.

Colin_T said:

Is the fish eating?
What does it's poop look like?
Has it got a fat/ swollen belly?

If the fish has a swollen belly, stopped eating, does a stringy white poop, and is gasping by the surface or filter outlet, it is dying from internal organ failure and you should euthanise it.

If the fish is still eating then add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt in there for 2 weeks.
If you do water changes while using salt, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank so the salinity (salt level) in the tank remains constant.

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The fish in the picture is a hybrid.

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hey thanks for your input it's highly appreciated!
He is still eating, in fact he is super happy about food so thankful for that.
His belly is not swollen, and I have not seen his poop.
Will the salt affect my other fish??
I'm going to go buy some right now - do I just simply add it to the tank? It's a 55g
Should I continue daily water changes?
Sorry for all the questions I just want to get this right.
I don't want to put this guy down..

Also thanks for helping me see what species this is - I have had trouble figuring it out.

Keep doing big (50-75%) daily water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate. Do this for 2 weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The salt is fine for all fish, plants, snails, shrimp, and filter bacteria.

Add the salt to a container of new water before you add it to the tank.

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The following link has information about rainbowfish. You can click the "Contents" link on the top right to view individual species of rainbowfish. You can also download the e-book by clicking the mediafire link at the bottom of the page. If a pop-up appears when you click the link, ignore it and close the pop-up. Then there should be some button at the bottom of the screen to save the file to your hard drive.

Another factor: Rainbowfish thrive in hard water. I use epsom salt to keep mine at about 10-15 degrees general hardness. Most of the health problems I've had with rainbows have been when the water was extremely soft.

Hi thanks for the help I’ll give an update. It seemed like he fully recovered and then went downhill a few weeks later and ended up dying. I then moved from Sacramento to Goleta and in Goleta the water is hard compared to Sacramento that’s good to know that they prefer hard water. Thanks for the help!

I'm sorry for your loss

corylover5 said:

I'm sorry for your loss

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Yeah it sucks I really loved him. I had an oscar tank years ago and when my big tiger oscar died I was so heart broken that I gave up. A few years after that (like 2017) I decided to refurnish my tank and start over, and this time I will not give up when a beloved fish is lost. I understand fish loss is a part of owning an aquarium and I will always strive to be the best owner that I can. Thankfully more experienced folks are willing to help out here!

We try to keep our fish happy, but losing some is part of the hobby, unfortunately. Harder water=happy rainbows. Good luck. I've kept rainbows successfully for a long time, and I don't think I'm the only one around here. Let us know if we can help further.

WhistlingBadger said:

We try to keep our fish happy, but losing some is part of the hobby, unfortunately. Harder water=happy rainbows. Good luck. I've kept rainbows successfully for a long time, and I don't think I'm the only one around here. Let us know if we can help further.

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Will do, thanks for the help! Cant appreciate it enough