Is it ich?

[G_matto]

I'm semi new to aquariums and haven't dealt with illness yet. I just bought 3 red wag swordtails yesterday morning. Today, I've notice that one of the females has a spot, about the size of a half dime, on her right side belly, just behind the gill. She hasent left the top 2" of water and seems kind of lethargic. I don't know if she had this when I got her (i had just got off a midnight shift at work) or if it developed over night. Thanks for any advice!

~Greg

 

[DavidAl]

It looks like whatever is floating on the water surface is also getting stuck to the fish's slime.

Are the fish flashing?

David

 

[shellieca]

That does not look like ich to me. Ich looks like the fish has been sprinkled with sugar & from the pics your fishes spots are bigger. Do the spots look fuzzy?

 

[G_matto]

DavidAl, I'm not familiar with flashing. Please explain.

And Shellieca, it's hard to tell from where I'm sitting, but the spot may be a little fuzzy.

 

[G_matto]

And the stuff on the surface is just tiny bubbles from my bubble wall

 

[DavidAl]

"Flashing" is when a fish rubs up against something (could be rocks, gravel, driftwood, ornaments, etc.) because it itches or because it is trying to dislodge something it feels is on the skin, e.g. parasites. In doing so the fish usually turns its belly laterally, allowing you to see the fish's undersides, thus "flashing" you. There's a sexual connotation involved, I suppose.

David

 

[G_matto]

Haha. Fun fact. But no flashing I've seen and I've been watching for an hour or so. She is moving no more than a few millimeters from the surface and dosent stray any deeper. All the other fish seem fine including the two other swordtail.

 

[DavidAl]

She is moving no more than a few millimeters from the surface and dosent stray any deeper.

What's the temperature in this tank? Hovering beneath the surface is usually a sign of O2 deficiency. Generally, the warmer the water, the less oxygen it will hold. I know you have a bubbler in there, but I'm just curious as to the water temp...

David

 

[G_matto]

78F +/-1. Been constant as far as I know unless something happened when I was working overnight.

 

[DavidAl]

Seventy-eight degrees is good. If your fish are not moving and are hanging out at the surface, it's safe to say they're not feeling well.

Google Flexibacter columnaris and see if it relates to what you're seeing. Flexibacter is actually a gram-negative bacteria that grows upon layers of itself, which ends up looking like the patches you're seeing on your fish. Most accounts will state that it is mostly found around the mouth or tail area, but it can actually grow anywhere on the fish's body.

Get started with large water changes every eight hours until we can figure this out. Aquarium salt may help. What else is in this tank?

David

 

[G_matto]

Just did a 50% change. I have 7 cory cat, 5 neon tetra, a dwarf gourami and the 3 swordtail. All of them seem in top condition but the one swordtail. Only other odd behavior is the cory cats swimming up and down the front glass of the tank which I've read is normal. The tank (20g long) is adequately filtered with a fluval C3. Water parameters are all good too.

 

[G_matto]

Looks like its flexibacter columnaris. Gonna keep reading though

 

[G_matto]

Now the question is, do i treat the whole tank or quarantine the swordtails and treat them alone?