Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently noticed that one of my tiger barbs has been doing a lot of standing. At first I thought he was just putting himself on display, because he would swim in front of other fish and then do it and kind of "flutter" all of his fins. Now he seems to have much less colour and is doing the same thing, but every time he stops swimming. He is still swimming and eating normally, and the only time I notice this is when he is not moving forward. My nitrite and ammonia are 0, and my nitrate is between 10 and 20ppm. I did a 40% water change in case there was something in there causing this last night, but he is still exibiting this behaviour this morning and none of the other fish seem to be affected. Is this normal for barbs to do? Is it just a "breeding dance" of sorts like I originally thought? Is there something else (gas, etc) that could be causing this? If so, what should I look for and what interventions should I proceed with?
Thank you so much for all of your help, I appreciate it!
I should probably note that this is not the same barb I wrote about in a previous post... I have taken that one back to the pet store because he was much smaller than my other barbs and I think that is part of why he always hid.
Lindsay

Do you mean he's having trouble swimming (like turning upside down) or he's acting normal other than the "fluttering"?

The only illness I know of that causes the fish to lose it's color is neon tetra disease (which other fish can get- it's not just a neon disease as the name would suggest). I hate to tell you this, but my betta just died because he lost his color (nothing else was wrong - water was fine- but he just stopped swimming around and stopped eating. Died in 2 days). I hope this doesn't happen to your barb.
Your water parameters are fine, but a water change can't hurt (unless it's the whole 100% water change of course).

I don't know anything about tiger barb breeding, but below is a link about it. I have had tiger barbs before (for a short time before they terrorized my tank and I had to give them away), and I've not seen this behavior you are talking about.

Ok, now if he is having trouble swimming (flipping over, etc.) it is a swim bladder problem and you should stop feeding him (probably isolate him so you make sure he isn't eating when the others do),and maybe give him a pea (you'll have to crack it open so he can eat the insides). I know it sounds weird, but he's got something jammed (if he's not swimming right) in his digestive system somewhere and it just needs to pass and he'll be fine. Although loss of color is not associated with this problem.

Other than this I'm not really sure what it could be. If it is not swim bladder disorder, let me know so I can make your post a hot topic so we can get the issue resolve before it's too late.
Breeding Tiger Barbs

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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

It is very strange. His colour is fine today, and I've noticed sometimes that he is pale. Perhaps at night he loses his colour more than the other barbs? My green tiger barbs tend to be more faint at night, but this was particularily noticable to me. Also, he is not acting strangely today. Before he was fine to swim, the only time I noticed is when he was not swimming, or "standing still" for lack of a better term. He would face down and flutter his fins kind of like he was showing off. I will keep an eye on him, and post any new info as I see it. If his colour changes again tonight I will also post that. I'll try and get a pic too...

I have noticed this behaviour from him on and off for a while only just recently has it been more common and he has also been showing the change of colour mentioned on and off. Here is a pic of him doing it before (he used to swim to the other fish and do it for them.. that's why I guess it has to possibly do with breeding). He swims perfectly normally.. I only notice this when he's not swimming.

Ok I made a little video. I turned off the hood light because of the glare, but it shows the behaviour pretty well... YOu can also see that his colours are duller than my other tiger, but still there. Thanks!!

Hmm. You're right, that is weird!

I've not seen this before in my life. I'm going to promote the post to get some hits from other tiger barb owners, and see if they're experienced it.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I have put my betta into a bowl for now, and cleaned out his 5 gal. I put half treated tap water and half water from my established tank, and started the filter that came with my 32 gal (it has a very slow setting for when i get the fish in there). The filter i use for my betta is just a small stingray and won't be adequate for the quality of water the barb needs. I will wait till tomorrow night to add the barb if the water parameters seem decent, and will add 1 tbsp of epsom salts over sunday. I will also not feed him till sun and offer a pea. Does this seem like a good idea? How often should i keep adding the salts?

Although I've heard from many pet stores that adding salt to help assist the recovery of the fish... according to the research I've done, adding salt to completely freshwater fish is not a good idea. I have done it in the past when my golden barb had a small case of fin rot, but I also added stress coat, so I'm not sure which helped.
I would say add a little bit once, and a little more if you do a water change.
As long as you barb is looking better, he can stay with the group (as he will feel more comfortable there because he's a schooling fish). It's a good idea to keep the isolation tank available for a week or until you notice he's been acting fine for a few days.
If he's swimming fine (which it sounds like he is), you don't need to fast him because his swim bladder is fine... although if you wanted to for precautionary measures you certainly can. Just don't do it for more than 5 days.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I talked for a long time with someone from my lfs. He has had barbs, and knows quite a bit about fish... He says that he is just displaying mating behaviour, and that this is normal. He has had quite a few male barbs who spent most of their days displaying this type of behaviour. He was pale again today, but tonight he is much darker again. I'm going to keep an eye on him for now and see if I notice any changes. Thanks for your help!!

I hope it's what he says it is... that's exciting.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I got 3 green tiger barbs ... one is doing that right now ...

mine do that from time to time

**** I think it might be constipation (no joke)

try to include some flake foods that have a good veggie source in it (less colorful flake foods).

good luck!