Missing swordtail?

[cobriaclord]

For the past 3 weeks, my male swordtail hasnt been swimming properly, floating all around, essentially dying. A couple of times he was getting stuck to the filter and i set him free from it. last night, i went to sleep he was in the tank. I woke up and he is gone!! I have 6 black loaches, 1 or banded loaches, 2 female swordtails, 6 cory cats, 6 white cloud minnows, 5 neon tetras and 2 bolivian rams. Do you think they ate him like after he died? There is no sign of him anywhere! He could barely swim, never mind escape from the tank! Its so strange! What could it be!? I looked everywhere!

 

[Fishanatic]

My best guess would be:
1. Hiding under something
2. They ate him.
I would say they ate him.

 

[cobriaclord]

They ate him all up just like that? Which ones ate him? How is that possible? They were hungry this morning!

 

[Fishperson]

I bet the ram ate him. He probably would've died anyway, but if he wasn't eaten you need to find the body. What size tank?

 

[absolutangel04]

Either they ate him, or part of him is stuck under some piece of decor. Loaches are wonderful little carrion eaters if the opportunity arises. But honestly, all of your fish would eat bits of a dead fish. It is easily possible for that many fish to eat the majority of a body in a small amount time. They could at least eat enough that the remaining bits will disperse into the tank and not be as readily spotted. And yes, they would still act hungry even after that. They are opportunistic eaters after all.
I am sorry about your sword though.

 

[cobriaclord]

Oh man, you are never going to guess what happened. I have a plastic hut that I tipped sideways for the loaches to play in. He was stuck in the roof of that! I thought I saw like his spine in the hut or something and I picked it up and saw he was in there and wiggled it around to free him.

I have a 37 gallon. I dont think the rams will eat him. He is a prety big fish and the rams are fairly small, about the same size.

I don't want him to die and get the rest of my fish sick. What is wrong with him? He cant swim right at all but there is no other problem. He even comes to eat!

 

[absolutangel04]

Glad you found him. I suggest taking him out of the tank if you can. Is he skinny? Bloated? White spots? Stringy poo? We need a few more bits of info to be able to help you diagnose a problem. Honestly though, if he can't even swim away from the filter, he is not doing well. Hopefully he can pull through though.
For the short term, if you can't quarantine him, then you should do a big pwc (at least 50%) and see if he perks up any.

 

[cobriaclord]

Glad you found him. I suggest taking him out of the tank if you can. Is he skinny? Bloated? White spots? Stringy poo? We need a few more bits of info to be able to help you diagnose a problem. Honestly though, if he can't even swim away from the filter, he is not doing well. Hopefully he can pull through though.
For the short term, if you can't quarantine him, then you should do a big pwc (at least 50%) and see if he perks up any.

He exhibits none of those things. He has been doing this for about a month now...
I have done big pwcs- no dice.

Two more questions:
My loaches keep swimming up along the glass, especially the corners. My cory cats used to do the same thing but don't do it any more. What kind of behavior is it?

I want to switch out my substrate with pool filter sand. However, I don't want to disrupt the bacteria cycle. I also am afraid my gravel siphon wont work on the sand (itll just suck it all up). I also want to make sure the sand doesnt make my tank really cloudy or mess up my filter. I have an Aqueon Quietflow 50, which uptakes the water by impeller. I also feel like my tank is borderline overstocked and don't want my fish to get killed if i change the substrate. What should I do?

 

[absolutangel04]

With those loaches, it's normal. They just like swimming and are active. No need for concern.
You can change the substrate out, just keep an eye on your water params in case a mini-cycle happens. You may have to do a few extra pwc, but it shouldn't make the whole cycle crash because you still have bacteria on your decor, plants, the glass, and in the filter.
Not sure how to diagnose the fish if there are no visible symptoms other than the swimming issue. I do not suggest treating anything unless you know what it is, so I don't have any advice besides to let it ride for now, keep the water nice, and keep a close eye on him for anything you can diagnose.
The gravel siphon will work with the sand. Gunk stays on top of the sand rather than sinking in, so you just siphon along the top of it generally instead of pushing the siphon down into it like you do with gravel.