Whats wrong?!?!

[Pisces68]

My swordtail is not swimming properly, her stomach seems to have flattened & her back arched with her tail end down. She doesnt appear to be using her tail right. Heres a pic of her, the orange one compared to the black spotty one. What could be wrong? I noticed this change about 6 hours ago. Should I put her in another tank?

UPDATE. I just did a water test as I do every 3rd day because my tank is only 3 weeks old & hasnt cycled properly yet. I just changed 2/3 of the water because the nitrite was very high. I used a gravel vac & I put API products Quick Start, Stress Zyme + & Stress Coat, plus PH is fine. After testing again the Nitrite is low but still detectable. Do I have to keep changing the water & putting additives in every few days?? Isnt that stopping the biological filter building?? What do I do to keep the Nitrite low. I feed twice a day & after 5 minutes scoop up any leftovers. I havent cleaned the filter at all. I have the type that has plastic balls in one end, stone cylinders in the other with 3 box/cages with wool & charcoal. I have a 50 litre tank with 1 fighting fish, 4 swordtails, 6 neon tetras, 3 catfish, 1 bristlenose. I have some plants & an air rock, I turn the led lights off at bedtime. Any other advice?

 

[SaraB]

Put her in a separate tank but be careful to wash your hands afterwards. If she just gave birth it may just be a curved spine issue from a difficult pregnancy. However if not it may be TB and that is contagious, even to people.

Also 50 liters not gallons right? Your tank is a bit overstocked. Swordtails need a lot of room to swim so the need about 30 gallons. Bristlenose plecos produce a lot of waste so the reccomend tank size minimum is about 20 gallons, you have about 13 gallons.

 

[Pisces68]

Thankyou for your advice, I will definatley be getting a bigger tank. I thought Bristlenose clean up the algae in the tank, I have just 1 ?! I also have 2 little Corydoras & a sucking catfish, I thought all catfish were good cleaners for food that falls to the bottom.

 

[SaraB]

Algae eaters, especially your pleco, poop...a lot. They do a good job of cleaning up but you still have to clean up after them.

 

[flitabout]

Actually bristlenose plecos need at 30+ gallons so like 113 liters. Stop feeding so often. You may need to cut it down to every other day. That bioload is huge for a such a small tank especially an uncycled tank. The wisteria you have in there is a great idea it is fast growing and will suck up a lot of excess nutrients. Plecos are generally terrible algae eaters and poop constantly.

 

[Pisces68]

Swordtail died, 2nd sick!

My swordtail is not swimming properly, her stomach seems to have flattened & her back arched with her tail end down. She doesnt appear to be using her tail right. Heres a pic of her, the orange one compared to the black spotty one. What could be wrong? I noticed this change about 6 hours ago. Should I put her in another tank? I put API products Quick Start, Stress Zyme + & Stress Coat, plus PH is fine. I havent cleaned the filter at all, tank is 4 weeks old. I have a 50 litre tank with 1 fighting fish, 3 swordtails, 6 neon tetras, 3 catfish, 1 bristlenose. I have some plants & an air rock, I turn the led lights off at bedtime. Any other advice?

##So my Swordtail died, now I have a 2nd one with the same symptoms. I’ve noticed she is rapidly scraping herself along ornaments in the tank. Although she is eating, she looks like she’s lost weight. She sits at the top gulping. As she’s black I noticed half her body colour looks like velvet. I’ve removed her, & on advice from my local pet shop, changed 2/3 of water, added API ‘Pimafix’ Antifungal/Bacterial (Pimenta racemosa - Bay Oil), turned the heater up to 30 degrees Celsius, 86F, turned the tank lights off, turned up the air stone & taken out the charcoal filtering - for 24 hours. I’ve been advised to medicate the water ever 24 hours for a week. I have reduced feeding to once daily & nitrite, nitrate, ph levels are consistent now. The rest of my fish all seem normal, active. Is there anything else I can do for the sick one or anything to try & prevent the rest of my fish getting sick?

 

[SaraB]

Pristine water conditions (and properly cycled) are the best way to keep a fish tank healthy. It's easier to keep a bigger tank clean and healthy rather than a smaller one.
A separate quarantine tank would also help prevent a sick fish from going into a community.

 

[libertybelle]

May be too late for this comment but make sure you don’t turn the temperature up too quickly or it may stress the fish even more.