Hiding Cherry Barb 1 Of 8

Fingers crossed here also! 

Don't over feed him as that will make the water go bad quickly. Fish don't need as much food as you'd think. Compared to mammals they need very little because we use most of our food to maintain our body temperature. Fish don't do that.

Sorry to report, we lost Rocky overnight. He had been deteriating over that past couple of days, hiding and not really moving much except for the water changes where he would spring into life for a few moments. Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice, it gave him a fighting chance. Just wonder if I could have noticed his symptoms earlier it might have been better, but I know it's If and buts and sometimes these things just happen. Kids are in bits, but I suppose it all part of keeping fish. The highs and the lows. RIP Rocky!   

I'm sorry to hear that. I know it is upsetting to loose a fish, but it is worse for children.

You did everything you could for him. Even if you'd found symptoms earlier it probably would have had the same outcome. Fish are experts in hiding the fact they are sick. By the time internal problems begin to show, it is often too late for us to save them.

The way to clean the tub, and anything plastic that was inside it, is to wash it with bleach. Use supermarket basic range bleach, the stuff that costs a few pence a bottle, or baby bottle sterilising solution. Neither of these contain detergent or perfume; more expensive bleach contains both. After a thorough washing, rinse, rinse and rinse again, then rinse with water that has been overdosed with dechlorinator. Then let everything dry thoroughly.


The fish in the main tank will already have been exposed to any infection, but it is not a good idea to treat the tank 'as a precaution'. All the chemicals we add to a tank end up inside the fish, and a lot of medications do cause some stress to the fish. It is much better to only add medication if there is an illness, and then preferably in a separate container. There are a couple of conditions where the whole tank has to be treated (eg whitespot, internal worms) because the cause of the illness is in the water, but your barb did not have either of these.
With other infections the usual way these are passed on is by healthy fish eating a dead infected fish. You had the barb separated so no other fish could have eaten him.




For many years, whenever I buy shoaling fish I buy 2 or 3 more than I actually want because it is so common to to lose one or two within a few weeks of getting them. I think your barb shoal has been a victim of this.

Thanks for all the kind words, kids are in bits, but they seem to be improving since I told them Rocky was now with Nanny in heaven, so hopefully on the road to dealing with the loss.

Just on the subject of Bleach, I'm paranoid after reading a lot of horror stories across forums about taking out a whole aquarium of fish with the wrong product.  Can someone let me know if either of these are suitable to bleach everything I used for Rocky?

ASDA Smart Price Thin Bleach
https://groceries.asda.com/product/bleach-disinfectants/asda-smart-price-thin-bleach/1104797

Milton Sterilising Fluid
https://groceries.asda.com/product/cleaning-sterilsers/milton-sterilising-fluid/910000033527

Thanks.

Thanks Sue. I'm gonna repurpose the container for non-fish stuff, I've chucked the coral it was only a few quid anyway and can't imagine how I'll guarentee to clean every piece of it.  The heater is the only thing that I'll be keeping for fish related stuff so I'll bleach that and the siphon kit.