Help! Swordfish sick!

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Muuchi

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 21, 2022
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4
I need help figuring out if this fish is constipated or something else. The bottom of his belly has red streaks and he has a hard time swimming. I put Lifeguard All-In-One treatment in the tank. I also had another tetra that got this same thing but unfortunately he didn't make it.

Here is the tank water measurements
pH - 7.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0

What should I do?
 

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He has Septicemia, it is hard to cure once it has been effected onto a fish.
Septicemia is blood poisoning by bacteria.
It's the body's most extreme response to an infection. Sepsis that progresses to septic shock has a death rate as high as 50%, depending on the type of organism involved. Sepsis is a medical emergency and needs urgent medical treatment if you want your fish to survive.
Good Luck!
 
Bacterial infection. Needs salt and something to treat bacteria. However, if the fish isn't swimming properly and has stopped eating, it's probably too late.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt, swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 
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