Help!! *sigh* I give up...

[juliethegr8t]

I'm finally at my wit's end with this fish. I haven't posted about him before so let me give you a little background:

He (I think it's a he), is a Green Tiger Barb whom I adore. He is the longest surviving fish as of yet in my tank, and one of my favorites. He used to be the happiest, and the piggiest. He schooled with the Zebra Danios and was perfectly happy and healthy as far as I could see.

However... now he's not eating. Hasn't been eating for a long time. And now he's getting worse in other ways - he has lost a LOT of weight, his gills are wider than the rest of his body now, he's that skinny. He swims nose down in one area of the tank, usually not moving anywhere. He doesn't show any interest in food, whatsoever.

I seperated him from the rest of the tank for a few days (no hospital tank).. and tried to feed him frozen bloodworms. He kept picking at one and spitting it back out... he never did eat any of them. Finally I gave up and stuck him back in the other side of the divider.

Now I'm almost hopeless, I have no clue what's wrong and no clue what to do for him. My water is fine, everyone else is healthy, his color is good, he just won't eat and is completely listless. He's getting very weak.. let's the filter current push him around now. Any ideas are welcome, I really don't want to lose this fish. He's pretty darned special to me.

 

[Lithril]

Hmmm, i'm not a good one on fish problems you don't think it could be some sort of internal parasite do you??? Whats his poop like?

 

[canis_lupus]

aw man! i'm really sorry......i know what it's like 2 lose a good fish.......my last black molly had some of the same symptomes u mentionned :'( i tried so hard to save her.......good luck with your fight i hope it turns out better for u

 

[KnuckleHead]

Could he have accidently partially swallowed a piece of gravel? That may block the passageway and therefore prevent him from eating.

 

[juliethegr8t]

I don't know what his poop is like cuz I don't ever see any... if he's not eatin there's nothin comin out I suppose. I don't think he's swallowed gravel either... my gravel is pretty large so I don't think he could get it in his mouth, besides the fact that I think I'd notice a stomach bulge of some sort.

He's so skinny and weak.... this sucks.

 

[White Whale]

He is the longest surviving fish as of yet in my tank, and one of my favorites.

It could be old age.

 

[juliethegr8t]

It could be old age.

No it's not like that, I haven't had fish for even a year yet actually. He's still young, not very big. I know tigers can get 2-3 inches and he's only a bit over 1.

 

[White Whale]

Try the site in my signature. It might be able to help you out more. Good luck in your findings!

 

[Moe]

Julie you may have to prepair for the worst. I think you did everything you could for him. Tiger barbs are sensitive to nitrite so just double check that. Also if he was in your tank when it cycled and survived the cycle this drastically shortens the life expectancy of the fish. I'd consider euthanizing him. There is a pinned article in beginners on how to do it. If you don't want to do that just make sure that no one else can pick at him. I'm so sorry!