Possibly sick fish

[bgk111]

Hey,

I cant get a picture, but im a little worried about my velvet male swordtail. I noticed today that he seems to have some bulging mostly along one side with a darker red-ish hue. I cant decide if he is swimming differently or not, but it does seem like he is allowing the current to move him around a bit more than usual. My params are pretty good:

pH 8.2
Amon: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40ppm

Its a 16 gallon with a male and female sword-tail, 4 neon tetras, and 5 guppies. All the fish were bought from a local fish guy who raises all his own fish in the local water. I've had the fish for about 3 or 4 months now. Any ideas? Should I dose the water with something just in case? I dont treat the water with anything but prime. Thanks!

Update: It appears more urgent than i realized, I just caught the fish take refuge in a vertical position amongst my java moss, he seems to be gasping now, please let me know anything you guys think...

Update Update: So apparently whatever happened just happened really quick and the fish is dead. Please let me know what you guys think that I should do to try and make sure I dont loose any more fish. I feel badly I didnt notice his ailment earlier, im wondering how long he had it and what it was.

Update to the third: Ok well now im a bit more worried. All the fish do appear to be happy and frollicky and following their normal routines, but now i noticed dome whitish streaks on the side of one of my tetras. I have looked closley at all the other fish and no one else has any abnormalites. The fish was kind enough to move slowly and allow a picture.

-bk

 

[bgk111]

Heres a Pic, he is the one on the back left to the right of the bubble stone.

 

[Sparkles12]

could it be ick?..

 

[bgk111]

I dont know, I thought that usually looked more like little white sprinkles, these are more streaks. It is possible it may have been a pre-exhisting condition I didnt notice, I just want to make sure I dont need to be dosing my fish with something, Thoughts please? I dont want to loose any more fish

 

[Sparkles12]

trust me, I know how you feel.. Those "streaks", are they like something fluffy (a cottony look), or something that is inside the skin? were they red? Did the fish act weird before it died? Give me all the info you can remember.

 

[bgk111]

Well, I just noticed the bulges on the fish and he seemed to be gasping but moving ok. Then like 20 mins later, I noticed he was letting the current move him. Then I found him Laying vertically with his head down in my java moss, gasping. Then he was dead, floating all around.

I did some reading and think it may have been my feeding methods. I heard the little guys LOVED brine shrimp, so I got some freeze dried and have been crushing up the cubes and mixing it with my spirulina and tropical flakes every day. I think this may have been a bad idea and the higher fat food may have impacted. I wish I had read more about the feeding....

The OTHER fish has what almost looks like someone scrapped away his scales in those spots, it dosnt seem to have any texture. Ideas? Again he and all other fish are ACTING normal.