sick female rosy barb

Question
We introduced a male and female rosy barb to our tank about 6 weeks ago.
They seemed to settle in well with the 3 zebra danios already in situ and have
survived a change of filter and 2 30% water changes. The female fish has
always been smaller and less lively than the male and I have worried about
her getting enough food with such lively tank mates but have watched her to
make sure she is at least getting some, if not every day. Yesterday i noticed
that she seemed sluggish and was tending to stay at the bottom of the tank
and today this seems worse. It looks to me as if she is tending to sink down
tail first when she is not actively swimming. She has never been particularly
plump compared to the male, but seems thinner too (this could be my
imagination).
I don't have the equipment here to do a water test but will take a sample to
the fish shop today. Would another water change be stressful for her if she is
tending to stay near the bottom? (I usually use a siphon to clean the substrate
and take the water out.)
Any advice and any suggestions about what this might be? The other fish
seem their usual lively selves.
I don't change the water as regularly as some, but put in Easy Balance once a
week which is supposed to reduce the need for water changes....is this a load
of rubbish?
thanks
Julia


Answer
Hi Julia, (pretty name, btw ;])

Usually barbs are very lively and food obsessed, so your female rosy barb is surely not acting healthy. Many times the fish from shop are unhealthy, and will die. If your fish was very lively at th shop and not at your tank, it can be the water condition, but if she was always this way, it could just be that you got an unhealty fish.

You mentioned that you changed the filter, and that worries me a bit. The beneficial bacteria colonizes in the sponge material in th filter. If you completely took out the sponge and put a new one, the cycle might have been inturrupted, and you will have to cycle your tank again. What I do is, put the new sponge AND the old sponge together for a week or so, and rip out a piece of the old sponge and put it inside the new one with the activated carbon. This way, the beneficial colony still remains while having a new sponge.

If your fish dies within around 14 days of bringing them home, there can be two possibilities. Either your water condition is not correct (fault is at the fish owner), or the fish was originally not healthy (nothing you can do about). That is why I always take long time to choose the fish whenever I buy them. At this point, it seems that the fish was never really healthy. You can try giving live/frozen foods (brine shrimp, blood worms being one of their favorites), and good food s always good. You can adjust your water to their ideal range, which is pH 6.4-6.8 and 74-78 degrees F, and soft to moderate hardness.

Frequent water changes are always good. Especially if she hangs out near the gravel, it is good to remove the waste product on the bottom. I am not too aware of "Easy Balance", but as long as it does not have ammonia removing chemical in it, it should be ok. Ammonia removers don't let the tank cycle, and I never use them.

I really hope your Rosy Barb is ok! they are beautiful fish, hope she gets healthy!

Best of Luck,
Barb