Whats wrong with my swordtail?

[ndtyank49]

My female swordtail is barely able to swim. Shes just sitting on the bottom of the tank, sometimes going belly up. She uses her front fins more than her tail to swim, and is just dragging along. I don't know what to do, please help!

 

[librarygirl]

My female swordtail is barely able to swim. Shes just sitting on the bottom of the tank, sometimes going belly up. She uses her front fins more than her tail to swim, and is just dragging along. I don't know what to do, please help!

Hi sorry about your fish. A bit more info will help me to help you:

Is it a new tank? How long has it been running with fish?
What size tank and what fish are in it?
Have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and if so what are the results?

Please answer if you can and I'll do my best to help.

 

[ndtyank49]

I've had it set up for a little more than a month. 30 gallon, i have a red tail shark, 6 swordtails, and 2 cichilids. It has plants, but i haven't tested it for anything.

 

[absolutangel04]

I've had it set up for a little more than a month. 30 gallon, i have a red tail shark, 6 swordtails, and 2 cichilids. It has plants, but i haven't tested it for anything.

Well, you have a couple of issues that I can see, but I don't know if they are contributing to the sword problem or not. Red tail sharks need to be in least a 75g tank IMO. They get aggressive and territorial which tends to stress other fish and can lead to problems.
What kind of cichlids?
At a glance, it sounds to me like an issue from water quality perhaps. But, maybe its something else.
Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? Did you add them all at once?
Its really hard to know for sure though without a parameter check. I advise getting an API master test kit for freshwater. there are other test kits that work too, but if you get one, make sure its a liquid test kit because the strips are not accurate. Knowing the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia levels is pretty important in diagnosing sick fish.

 

[librarygirl]

Agree with the above. How frequent are your water changes? Weekly water changes of 50% can help and protect against disease. I'd start with a 50% water change daily for a few days with a dechlorinator and see if the fish improves. Also if you can test the water sometime soon to either find or dismiss poor water quality as the cause, but see if the water changes help.

 

[ndtyank49]

OK, thanks . and what "cycling the tank"? i added them at different times during a 2 week period.

 

[absolutangel04]

OK, thanks . and what "cycling the tank"? i added them at different times during a 2 week period.

Look at the links in librarygirl's signature. They help. Cycling a tank refers to the process of building up beneficial bacteria that break ammonia (found in fish waste, toxic to fish even in relatively smallish quantities). The BB neautralize ammonia into nitrite, then more BB change that into nitrate which is much less harmful to the fish and can be taken up and used by plants.