# "Depleted" fish...



## Skeeter (Sep 9, 2009)

Hello! New here  I have a quick question about bringing back fish with depleted body condition. I recently bought a small school of 9 young tiger barbs. Unfortunately, I got a bit distracted when they were netting them and when I got them home I noticed that 4 of the 9 are in very thin body condition...3 I would consider borderline emaciated. They have good colour, are eating, swimming, and schooling with the others, but are somewhat weak.

I've been trying to feed them up but they really don't seem to be putting on weight (it's been 5 days since I brought them home). I'm starting to think that if they don't fill out soon they will die.

In theory, I should return them but I can't bring myself to do that. 

Any suggestions to bring them back to health???

Kim


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

welcome to the forum 

What do you mean by depleted body condition? do you mean just very thin?

From what you described, it seemed like everything is fine, you shouldnt have anything to worry about as long as they are active and eating well.


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## Skeeter (Sep 9, 2009)

Yep, they're really skinny. They're eating but don't seem to be fattening up...


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

ok, when you say skinny...do you mean like a flat stomach or like the stomach is caving in?

pics would really help.


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## Skeeter (Sep 9, 2009)

More of a flat stomach. And they don't have the musculature that they should have, particularly along their backs.

I've already turned their lights out so won't bother them with photos tonight but will see what I can get tomorrow (somehow I have my doubts that I can get a decent pic though...).

Kim


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

Well let wait until the pics before concluding on anything. But from what I have heard...you really dont have much to worry about .

But lets wait until the pics.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Are they the same fish as you spoke about in this post? http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9932

You can either:
Go full steam ahead and add more light if you can for the plants and keep the aquarium temperature at least 76F. Increase the food to the fish.
Or play it cautious and stay the course and hope that the aquarium cycles in time so you can temporarily increase the food later on and bulk up the emaciated ones.
I would choose the latter and play it safe.
When you feed the tiger barbs make sure that the emaciated ones get enough food as well.


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## killpoint2008 (Sep 3, 2009)

what about if the stomach is caving in? very thin weak not eatnig well
i have the same problem with my female sword and male and he died and ive looked it up but i couldnt find anything.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

You may be successful by putting the emaciated swordtail into a cycled quarantine aquarium. Have good water filtration and up the water temperature to 76 - 80F. Normal weekly water changes. Feed them as much as they can eat many times a day. Garlic enhanced food and frozen food is a good way to get them eating again. 
Of course this all works if you get the fish into quarantine early enough and the cause is not disease related.
Male swordtails can be aggressive to the point of bothering females with courtship and running off any males by charging/pecking at them. The less dominate males can starve as they go into hiding and stay there without feeding. I have seen this with my swordtails in a planted tank with a lot of cover. I had one male stop eating and a female hiding in the floating plants. 
It is better now that there are more swordtails in the aquarium. There are 3 male swordtails in the aquarium now and the 2 less dominate males take their time coming out especially at feeding time and driving the dominate male crazy. Sometimes they try to get "friendly" with one of the females and it drives him right over the bend. It is fun to watch the tag team chasings.


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## killpoint2008 (Sep 3, 2009)

thanks but i dont have any tank to use as a quarentine right now my 10 gallon is being used up. and shes the last sword tail i have.
so nothing is stopping her from eating she just wont.


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## Skeeter (Sep 9, 2009)

Calmer said:


> Are they the same fish as you spoke about in this post? http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9932
> 
> You can either:
> Go full steam ahead and add more light if you can for the plants and keep the aquarium temperature at least 76F. Increase the food to the fish.
> ...


Yes, same fish  What do you mean by more light...have them on for longer periods or add another fixture? The temp is about 78-79F at the moment.

I've been putting very small amounts of food in, watching them eat it, then putting another tiny portion in. I think they're getting a good feed without too much excess food going uneaten. And I'm up on the partial water changes as well.

I guess it's just a waiting game...hopefully they bulk up!

Kim


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

I would wait for another week to see what happens. Some times it's nothing, while other times, it could be any thing from having internal paracite worms to tubucolosis.

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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Exactly as what Zebrapl3co said above. The answer to your questions is that if it isn't a feeding problem then it could be a disease problem. This is where you will speculate on what the disease is and waste lots of money on speculative medicinal treatments that aren't correct and pollutes the aquarium. Most people reading this are probably thinking "been there and done that before". Wasting away is a hard thing to diagnose and could be from:
Age
Genetics
Bullying
Water Condition
Disease
Temperature
There are probably more reasons but I can't think of them at the moment.
Hopefully everything turns out okay for the fish.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Skeeter said:


> Yes, same fish What do you mean by more light...have them on for longer periods or add another fixture? The temp is about 78-79F at the moment.
> 
> I've been putting very small amounts of food in, watching them eat it, then putting another tiny portion in. I think they're getting a good feed without too much excess food going uneaten. And I'm up on the partial water changes as well.
> 
> ...


That is all you can do is wait, keep the food to them, keep the aquarium clean and hopefully everything gets better. You said in the other post that your lights are low intensity and the plants you referred to are medium light plants. As long as the plants are doing okay don't worry. Medium light is about 2 watts per gallon.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

killpoint2008 said:


> thanks but i dont have any tank to use as a quarentine right now my 10 gallon is being used up. and shes the last sword tail i have.
> so nothing is stopping her from eating she just wont.


Live and frozen foods sometimes can entice a fish back into eating. Also garlic infused flake food may work. Raising water temperature slowly makes fish hungrier as well but I wouldn't go over 80F.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

possible chance of internal parasites?


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Skeeter said:


> Hello! New here  I have a quick question about bringing back fish with depleted body condition. I recently bought a small school of 9 young tiger barbs. Unfortunately, I got a bit distracted when they were netting them and when I got them home I noticed that 4 of the 9 are in very thin body condition...3 I would consider borderline emaciated. They have good colour, are eating, swimming, and schooling with the others, but are somewhat weak.
> 
> I've been trying to feed them up but they really don't seem to be putting on weight (it's been 5 days since I brought them home). I'm starting to think that if they don't fill out soon they will die.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately, these fish are probably ill, most likely with fish TB, since parasites are less common in captive bred fish. Fish TB isn't curable, but healthy fish can resist it for some time. When exposed to stress, and they get a lot of it on the way from SE Asia to your tank, the fish's immune system is weakened, and the mycobacteria that cause the illness flourish.

I strongly recommend you isolate the affected fish and keep a careful eye on others in your tank for any symptoms of illness. FIsh TB can spread through excreta, but most commonly spreads when fish nibble on their dead tankmates. This is very common as fish are moved from storage tank to storage tank on the way to your fish store. Be careful not to move nets, water, etc from the quarantine tank to others. If supportive care like good food, good water quality, elevated temperature and reduced exposure to stress (e.g. plenty of cover, nothing disturbing happening outside the tank) doesn't turn these fish around quickly, they are probably doomed.

After many years, I've learned to never buy a fish from a tank with other fish that aren't in apparent good health, and to quarantine any new acquisitions. Like most fish keepers, I had to learn this the hard way.

I hope your fish recover, but I'm doubtful that they will. Let us know what happens.


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