Golden Barb Health Issues

[dano_fish_boy]

Hi All,

I have a golden barb that has been having issues for months, I have attached pictures, The fish is showing signs of swim bladder and fin rot. but I have treated him for swim bladder, and given the fish two treatments of fin rot.

He often is found floating vertically, his fins seem to be locked into his body and there is a tiny bit missing from his tail, also on occasion his back part of his fin bends. Until the last treatment of fin rot he was extremely pale compared to the other golden barbs very white looking. That has now gone and he is close to the normal colour but not quite.

Its weird because he has been like that for months I thought swim bladder and fin rot generally kills fish within a few weeks or leads to worse things. but he seems ok in himself , when he wants to he swims normal like the other fish, he eats fine,

Any ideas I could be missing something really obvious, is it worth alternating a swim bladder treatment with fin rot or is it something else?

Thanks Everyone

 

[dano_fish_boy]

sorry probably should say all other fish are fine, all water tests are perfect, no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, and P.H is at a normal level

 

[Salty&Onion]

sorry probably should say all other fish are fine, all water tests are perfect, no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, and P.H is at a normal level

We need to know the exact numbers.

 

[Colin_T]

Can we get a video of the fish swimming?

-----------------
Does the fish float to the surface or sink to the bottom when it stops swimming?
If it doesn't then there is nothing wrong with its swim bladder.

There are no medications to treat swim bladder problems. If a shop is selling you a swim bladder treatment, they are selling you snake oil.

----------------
Fin rot is caused by poor water quality or a dirty environment that allows bad bacteria and protozoans to infect the fish and damage the fins.

The easiest and most effective way to treat fin rot is by cleaning up the environment with big water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate.

----------------
The fish is run down, skinny, has red gills and damaged fins.

I would say the fish has gill flukes and intestinal worms, which are causing the fish to waste away.

Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, and do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with a bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

If fish are eating well but losing weight, then intestinal worms and or gill flukes are a common cause.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms.

In the UK look for:
eSHa gdex contains praziquantel that treats tapeworm and gill flukes.
eSHa-ndx contains levamisole and treats thread/ round worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.
You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

 

[dano_fish_boy]

Can we get a video of the fish swimming?

-----------------
Does the fish float to the surface or sink to the bottom when it stops swimming?
If it doesn't then there is nothing wrong with its swim bladder.

There are no medications to treat swim bladder problems. If a shop is selling you a swim bladder treatment, they are selling you snake oil.

----------------
Fin rot is caused by poor water quality or a dirty environment that allows bad bacteria and protozoans to infect the fish and damage the fins.

The easiest and most effective way to treat fin rot is by cleaning up the environment with big water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate.

----------------
The fish is run down, skinny, has red gills and damaged fins.

I would say the fish has gill flukes and intestinal worms, which are causing the fish to waste away.

Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, and do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with a bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

If fish are eating well but losing weight, then intestinal worms and or gill flukes are a common cause.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms.

In the UK look for:
eSHa gdex contains praziquantel that treats tapeworm and gill flukes.
eSHa-ndx contains levamisole and treats thread/ round worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.
You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

Hi, I will do a video tomorrow morning and send it.

He tends to float around the middle of the tank, you will be able to see properly tomorrow.

If it is the above would it not effect any of the other, this one has been like it for months where all other fish have shown no issues at all completely happy and healthy?

I will also add the water test results tomorrow as well

Thanks

 

[dano_fish_boy]

We need to know the exact numbers.

Hi,

I will send first thing tomorrow

 

[JuiceBox52]

Do as colin says if you can in the meantime

 

[Colin_T]

If it is the above would it not effect any of the other, this one has been like it for months where all other fish have shown no issues at all completely happy and healthy?

Just like people and all animals, different fish have different strength immune systems, some are better than others.

If one fish has lots of gill flukes or worms and the others only have a few, the one with more parasites will suffer more and lose more weight as the parasites suck the blood out of its body.

 

[dano_fish_boy]

Hi everyone,

Water test results are:
P.H - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0 .

I have tried to upload to short videos of the fish but it does not let me. any ideas how to get requested video of fish on here?

I will buy some of the mentioned treatment today. and hopefully get treatment underway as soon as possible.

I will keep you updated.

 

[Colin_T]

Upload the video to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.

 

[dano_fish_boy]

Upload the video to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.

two videos, one when he tends to float and second one of him swimming in general.

 

[Colin_T]

the fish does not have a swim bladder problem.

 

[dano_fish_boy]

thats one thing better I suppose,

I will treat the fish for the two things you have mentioned then hopefully I will see some results that I can post.

 

[Salty&Onion]

Hi everyone,

Water test results are:
P.H - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0 .

Your tank is not cycled. You should be getting more nitrates than 0

 

[Colin_T]

You can have a cycled tank with 0 nitrates. Most of my tanks had 0 nitrates because I did huge water changes and had heaps of duckweed growing on the surface.