Dead swordtail

[MDDad]

We had a large, presumably old female swordtail. She was large when we bought her a year ago, and was 5” long at the time of her death.

She seemed perfectly fine until yesterday morning, when I saw that she was swimming upside down. She was really trying hard to swim down further into the tank, but she seem to be floating back to the top. Her belly was very distended. My assumption is she was either severely constipated, or possibly pregnant and something went wrong.

I quarantined her, but she died within the hour. All of my other fish seem perfectly fine, and my water parameters are good, so I’m hoping this was just a fluke based on old age stress, but any other thoughts?

In this pic she was still alive.

 

[coralbandit]

I would consider age to be the major factor.
Just watch other fish closely. If this is an issue the others should show and pass in similar time frame.

 

[V227]

Sounds like Swim Bladder disease / disorder. Can be caused by numerous different factors, constipation / internal bugs, age related organ deterioration, and more. It's been my experience that it's an individual ailment, not a contagious pathogen.