My albino tigerbarb has been getting better over the days, this morning after I fed him he started floating on his side, he tries real hard to swim down. I immediately fed him some peas, eventhough most of them sank to the bottom, he tried really hard to get to the bottom, but he just floats right back up, he's really struggling and now he's floating upside down, he still tries to get back up though. Is there anything else I can do right now other than wait to see if he'll be ok? Im glad we dont have school today, i'd hate to leave him there floating upside down Please help!

Here's a short video of him trying to stay upright:

http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z99/Sha...nt=MVI_1094.flv

Did you feed him anything different today Shamu? That does look quite bad..is he still swirling now?

ok, well, I just read about Sbd on the site, so would it be ok to feed crushed jungle pond antibacterial food? I've already treated him with maracyn 2 just awhile ago, sp should I try the food? I dont think I have epsom salt, but if it gets worse I could try to get some.

no, I fed him the same as I do every day, I dont know if he's still swirling, when I left he was resting for a couple of seconds, but he's upside down now, and it was so sudden

Can you tell us about his disease history and your water params? I presume the Maracyn didn't affect them? Any marks on his body?
Just not sure this is sbd...

well, when I first got him he had severe finrot and pretty much all his fins were gone, I treated him with maracyn 2 and 0.1% salt and it went away, his fins have been healing pretty good, he may have had other bacterial infections that I didnt know about but that would've gone away with the maracyn 2 since he was fine after that, he's still been kinda weak ever since I got him, but since his dorsal fin has started to grow back he could balance alot better now, and now he cant even swim tot he bottom of the little breeding trap . Water params have always been ammonia 0 and nitrite 0, not sure about nitrate cause my nitrate test kit is expired, but i've never had problems with nitrate. I added the green tigerbarb to the tank 2 days ago, but he had been in qt for a long time and never had any disease problems

Ok. I think this may be a relapse not sbd. It can happen especially because he was very weak when you got him and with the fin problems - all that making him very vulnerable to secondary infection. Do you have any Maracyn 2 left? I think you should run another course since it worked the first time and if your water params are good. Maybe you should put the green tigerbabr in another tank as he wont need the meds.

In total theres 1 tigerbarb, 1 green tigerbarb, and the albino tigerbarb. I dont know where to put them, and they all have to be kept seperate, otherwise they'll kill each other. I do still have some maracyn 2, should be enough for 5 gallons, would it be ok if they all got the treatment? I dont have an airstone for this tank, but the filter moves the surface quite a bit, would that be good enough? I've always treated tropical tanks without an airstone so I guess it would work, I just dont wanna harm him anymore. Thanks for the help Imogen.

Do you have the QT empty that you could put either the other fish or the sick one? You shouldnt really run meds for fish that are not sick. Its not a good idea at all.

I could possibly move the sick one, i'll have to do that later, hopefully that wont stress him too much, good thing I have a spare filter too, i'll put him in a cycled 2 gallon bucket, with the filter, it'll aerate the water well

That's avery good idea and I'd add the .1% salt back too with the maracyn 2 and make sure the water temp is stable and a little warmer than usual. Good luck.

ok, so i've moved him to the bucket, eventhough I had to move him back to the tank once and let him calm down a little first cause I thought he was about to have a heart attack or something when I put him in the bucket eventough I adjusted him slowly. I added the maracyn 2 and will add salt later. I'll also see if I can get my old heater running again, I think it might be broken but I can give it another try. Im also happy to say that he's upright again and able to swim to the bottom, as soon as the maracyn 2 treatment is done i'll move him back to the tank, he really doesnt like it in the bucket, I still have him in the breeding trap though, just to protect him from the current and the filter intake tube since he's still kinda weak.

Hey Shamu,
How is your baby doing now? I hope it gets better soon!!!!

thanks Nickie, he's much better and still eating fine, once the maracyn is done in 4 days i'll move him back, he seems unhappy in the bucket

it happened again this morning after feeding him, i'll try soaking the food cause maybe its cause he gulps in air every time, and he doesnt like the sinking tropical pellets. I fed him peas again, not sure how is now cause Im at school.