Swordtail: Sick or Old???

[Fish_R_Fantastic]

Hi, I have a green striped swordtail that I am concerned about. I bought him and a pair of females a year and a half ago. I am concerned because he has slowly become more and more old looking. I thought that was all it was but today I noticed that he almost looks like he has dropsy! He is not a fat fish at all but some of his scales are slightly protruding and he looks ruffled. I took a pic but you can't really see the scale problem in the pic, sorry. He also seems kindof bent (like he's got a hunchback now) in the middle. I am really considering doing a temp shock (ice water) euthanasia for this fish as he is so old and now appears to be sick on top of it! Has anyone experienced this before? Any advice? How long do swordtails normally live? All my other fish are doing really well.

Here are some things you may need to know:
Due to a leak in my 30 gallon tank, I moved all my fish to a 10 gallon about a month ago. It is too cramped, I know that but I am doing 25-50% water changes either every day or every other day. These are the fish I have:
1 - pleco about 6 inches
3 - blue gouramis (one male, 2 female)
10 - green striped swordtails (4 males, 6 females)

My tank parameters are:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0.25 ppm
Nitrates: between 10-20 ppm
pH: 7.2

I'm using a Penguin Bio-Wheel 150 filter (drops over back)
Also using the same food I've been using for a long time.

Note: I know the nitrites should be at zero, but I think my tank is finishing a mini-cycle because I changed the filter cartridge before I learned that I should try to keep those as long as possible (i read the fishless cycling article on here).

Thanks for any and all help!!!!

 

[Ljk09]

Hi, I have a green striped swordtail that I am concerned about. I bought him and a pair of females a year and a half ago. I am concerned because he has slowly become more and more old looking. I thought that was all it was but today I noticed that he almost looks like he has dropsy! He is not a fat fish at all but some of his scales are slightly protruding and he looks ruffled. I took a pic but you can't really see the scale problem in the pic, sorry. He also seems kindof bent (like he's got a hunchback now) in the middle. I am really considering doing a temp shock (ice water) euthanasia for this fish as he is so old and now appears to be sick on top of it! Has anyone experienced this before? Any advice? How long do swordtails normally live? All my other fish are doing really well.

Here are some things you may need to know:
Due to a leak in my 30 gallon tank, I moved all my fish to a 10 gallon about a month ago. It is too cramped, I know that but I am doing 25-50% water changes either every day or every other day. These are the fish I have:
1 - pleco about 6 inches
3 - blue gouramis (one male, 2 female)
10 - green striped swordtails (4 males, 6 females)

My tank parameters are:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0.25 ppm
Nitrates: between 10-20 ppm
pH: 7.2

I'm using a Penguin Bio-Wheel 150 filter (drops over back)
Also using the same food I've been using for a long time.

Note: I know the nitrites should be at zero, but I think my tank is finishing a mini-cycle because I changed the filter cartridge before I learned that I should try to keep those as long as possible (i read the fishless cycling article on here).

Thanks for any and all help!!!!

Nitrites are extremely deadly to fish. In most cases worse than ammonia. Sounds like water quality problem. I would do water changes until you are at 0 for nitrites and ammonia and add your Prime every time. I doubt he's old and reacting like that.

 

[Fish_R_Fantastic]

Thanks for your reply. I did a water change this evening and retested the nitrites and they had gone down a bit. I am going to do another wc tomorrow. The rest of the fish seem really good though. I still think it's dropsy, especially after reading up on it a bit this evening. I read that it can be caused by unhealthy water conditions (which I've tried really hard to prevent but due to the emergency transfer into a smaller tank, may have happened somewhat, at some point). The article I read said dropsy does not transfer from fish to fish which also explains why the other fish are still ok.
I also think another factor is that I have so many males in one tank. I read that their is a hierarchy with swordtails and I know that the afflicted male was at one point at the top of the chain. A while back though, he got his tail nipped by someone and he hasn't been quite the same assertive little fish since then. I am going to go ahead and put him down using the temp shock method because I believe it is in his best interest. The illness is too far gone, and he is miserable. I don't want to but have to in this case....Thanks again, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on this if you have more...

 

[Ljk09]

Thanks for your reply. I did a water change this evening and retested the nitrites and they had gone down a bit. I am going to do another wc tomorrow. The rest of the fish seem really good though. I still think it's dropsy, especially after reading up on it a bit this evening. I read that it can be caused by unhealthy water conditions (which I've tried really hard to prevent but due to the emergency transfer into a smaller tank, may have happened somewhat, at some point). The article I read said dropsy does not transfer from fish to fish which also explains why the other fish are still ok.
I also think another factor is that I have so many males in one tank. I read that their is a hierarchy with swordtails and I know that the afflicted male was at one point at the top of the chain. A while back though, he got his tail nipped by someone and he hasn't been quite the same assertive little fish since then. I am going to go ahead and put him down using the temp shock method because I believe it is in his best interest. The illness is too far gone, and he is miserable. I don't want to but have to in this case....Thanks again, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on this if you have more...

Before adding more fish I would make sure your tank is cycled and make sure you do more water changes to keep your nitrite down. That means if its 6 times a day to keep them at 0.

 

[Fish_R_Fantastic]

I changed the water again and tested. Nitrites are down to 0ppm! Yayy! Nitrates were 10ppm. I'm not planning on adding any fish to this tank as it is somewhat crowded already, due to it being a temporary tank for them. I'm keeping them there while I do a fishless cycle on my new tank a friend gave me. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Ljk09]

I changed the water again and tested. Nitrites are down to 0ppm! Yayy! Nitrates were 10ppm. I'm not planning on adding any fish to this tank as it is somewhat crowded already, due to it being a temporary tank for them. I'm keeping them there while I do a fishless cycle on my new tank a friend gave me. Thanks so much for your help!

Yay! Just keep up with testing your water and changes and you should be ok