Sick rainbowfish advice

["Darcey Harding" <darceyh@drizzle.com>]

I have a rainbowfish panting at the surface, with flared gills.  He's just
hanging up near the top, breathing hard with his gills somewhat extended.  No
air gulping, no eating, hardly moving.

Tank is a 125T, planted, with CO2. Water chemistry checks out at 7.4 pH, 3KH, 0
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I've done three 40% water changes in the past ten
days to bring an algae/nutrients issue into check, but kept the chemistry
consistent throughout. Big Eheim canister filters last cleaned two weeks ago.
Bunch of rainbows and barbs in there, most of them under two inches each. I've
upped the salt this morning to try to ease the fish's breathing.

Two rainbowfish appear to have died of this in the last 24 hours, and I've got
another on the way, though everyone else looks healthy. Is this bacterial? And
if it is, is there any way to spend less than the $100 The Fish Store wants to
charge me for five packs of Maracyn II?  Will a compounding pharmacy or vet sell
me cheaper antibiotics?

Thanks
Darcey H
Green Lake

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