Something wrong with swordtails

[Millerman]

I recently bought 3 swordtails and one rainbow shark and put them in my tank. The tank is a 55 and cycled these are the only fish.

So originally I thought they may have had an internal parasite because they have covered my tank with this white stringy poo. I've been monitoring them and it seems its stopped though. I think one swordtail female is pregnant or bloated I'm not sure.
The other has a bump on her tail and stays under the filter and doesn't swim with the other two. It comes out and swims around and then goes back to under the filter. They have been eating but usually only once the flakes reach the bottom ( I think this is because they are new to the tank and haven't gotten used to things) So what's going on?

 

[Millerman]

this one has the bump








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[icydeath]

Hard to tell. Have you medicated for parasites yet? Also are you noticing any aggression?

 

[Millerman]

There poop





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[Millerman]

I haven't medicated anything yet and the male will chase the females every once in a while but I think this is normal. The one that was hiding is swimming with the group now


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[icydeath]

Looks like a normal poop. Lol nice picture.. Hard to take a picture of a pooping fish.

They seem fine, but I will let someone else chime in on this too. Hopefully it is just discoloration. Keep us updated!

 

[Millerman]

Ok cool I've just never seen a fish poo so much. I didn't no they were heavy waste producers. Maybe I'm just worrying to much.


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[icydeath]

It's alright. Atleast you care. And yeah swords tend to poop a lot in my experience. Especially if you feed small meals several times a day.

 

[Nathenrauch]

Looks like your swords are browning pretty bad in the back haha


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[Coursair]

Looks like your swords are browning pretty bad in the back haha


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Yep. May need Root Tabs.

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[Nathenrauch]

Osmocite plus are the way to go!


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[trennamw]

The homemade Osmocote plus root tabs are great. They have more nutrients and are cheaper.

But you can get much more thorough plant recommendation over in the plant section


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[Nathenrauch]

The homemade Osmocote plus root tabs are great. They have more nutrients and are cheaper.

But you can get much more thorough plant recommendation over in the plant section


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Agreed!


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[Millerman]

My swords are actually browning because I bought them in one of those plant tubes, I opened it and forgot about them and they dried up. They are coming back though they've sent up new leaves. I have Eco complete under my sand also so I hopefully won't need root tabs for a little while.


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[Millerman]

So one of the swordtails is in the corner not moving around much and he's been like this all day. The other two seem fine.


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[Millerman]

Well the one that's been acting strange is dead? The water is fine it was just acting strange when I first got it. Should I be concerned for the other two that it may have passed a disease on or something?


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[icydeath]

Unless they are showing symptoms of something, probably not. Because livebearers tend to be genetically weak at times, the one that passed might just have some kind of genetic flaw that won't pass on.

 

[Millerman]

Ok so after getting home today another one has died? I'm confused as to why this is happening. They weren't showing any signs of anything wrong and we're eating fine. The only thing I could think is that the rainbow shark did it? I haven't seen him be very aggressive. He only chases them off sometimes if he comes near his cave. I'm worried the shark will claim the whole tank now.


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