Downward facing barb twitching!

tiger barbs frequently do this after feeding. quite often they eat so fast they ingest 'dry' food that expands inside their stomach, causing them to swim tail up and head down..

The tiger barb has looked the same ever since they bought him. He has also lost a lot of color, is lethargic, and has never acted this way before. He will be swimming, stop suddenly, turn face down, and twitch a little.
 
your starting a new cycle, with fish all you can do now is leep an eye on the parameters and do water changes you may as well move into the inlaws house for a few weeks or your liable to lose the whole tank........ yes get an api freshwater test kit and check it every day,, its really not that hard unless you just dont like your inlaws... whenever your ammo or nitrites get above .25 do a 50% change it will keep the fish alive till the bacteria grow back in
 
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Ok like I had said before test kit is a must once you get the levels right them down DAILY. You will have to do this daily to see if your levels are dropping or staying the same. Cycle goes like this spike of ammonia can stay like this for a while do water changes, ammonia converts to nitrite continue water changes once you see this spike continue water changes until you see levels of nitrate once you get nitrate you are cycled but you may not see this for a few weeks. If you get a reading of .25 or more ammonia or nitrite you should do a wc of atleast 50%when you add the water back to the tank dechlorinate it first. Make sure it is the same temp as the water that is in the tank before the water change. Weekly water changes are not enough if you are getting spikes in ammonia and nitrite that is why testing is a must if you get 0 ammonia after a water change that is great but keep an eye on it and do water changes accordingly if it spikes again the next day same with nitrite levels. Once your tank cycles this is what you should see after testing ammonia 0 nitrite0 and nitrate between 5-20 less is better should not exceed 40. Also are you gravel vaccuming the tank? If not you need to is part of a good water change. GOOD LUCK!!!
 
bushwhacker said:
your starting a new cycle, with fish all you can do now is leep an eye on the parameters and do water changes you may as well move into the inlaws house for a few weeks or your liable to lose the whole tank........ yes get an api freshwater test kit and check it every day,, its really not that hard unless you just dont like your inlaws... whenever your ammo or nitrites get above .25 do a 50% change it will keep the fish alive till the bacteria grow back in
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haha. I feel like I did move in when I cleaned the tank! I will try to get a test kit tomorrow and hopefully it won't be too late. I feel bad for the little guys. Any advice on how to treat the ich?
 
First get test drops test first see what your levels are if ammonia and nitrite are 0 no need to do water change only if you get spikes reason to test daily :). Ammonia spike you see first if .25 then do a 50% water change and then next day test again and see. If spike again water change again. Same when ammonia converts to nitrite.
 
platytetrafan said:
First get test drops test first see what your levels are if ammonia and nitrite are 0 no need to do water change only if you get spikes reason to test daily :). Ammonia spike you see first if .25 then do a 50% water change and then next day test again and see. If spike again water change again. Same when ammonia converts to nitrite.
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I agree!!
 
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