Swordtail Shimmy

[frankjr]

Hi all!

Hope someone can help...

I have a 29 gal tank, external power filter (160gph), heater, plastic plants, long tube aerator, full flourescent hood; with 2 swordtails, 2 mollies, and 5 neon tetras. The tank has been up and running for 16 days.

The mollies and tetras are fine, however the swords have been hiding at the bottom of the tank under rocks and plants sort of sitting on their bellies, flipping their fins in sort of a shimmy motion. They will come out to eat and swim and act normally while eating but then go back to their spots. No obvious signs of disease like ick or injury.

Here are my water specs:

Nitrate 20
Nitrite 1.0
Hardness 150
Alkalinity 80
pH 7.5
Ammonia 0.25
Temp 77

I have seen a spike in ammonia recently and am now seeing a spike in nitrite which I think is normal for a tank cycling for the first time. I have combated these spikes with 20% water changes (water pretreated and tested/adjusted to be as close to existing water except perhaps temp) about every 2-3 days and this seems to be keepig things in check. I also added some stress coat to the water.

I'm a bit new to this, and am not sure what to try next.

Thanks!

Jeff

 

[FawnN]

Is your sword hanging out at the bottom breathing hard? I would add some salt to your tank to help with the gill function.

1 Tbsp per 5 gallons. But add slowly with those tetra's to see how they will react. If you have a HOB, you can lower the water to create more of a splash at the surface. And for additional aeration, you can drop an airstone in.

 

[zooking12]

My swordtail is shimmying, too. She has clamped fins and is sort of swimming in a way as if she's shaking her head "no." The male is swimming down and scraping his side against the sand.

 

[roundar]

EDIT: omg. zooking no need to bring up a 6 year old thread.

 

[zooking12]

Hey, it was the only thing I could find that was close to what my swordtail was doing!