Sick swordtail

[Hsep]

Hello,

one of my swordtails significantly lost weight over time. I have talked about this with the people in the store I buy my fish from, however, they told me, that she has likely parasites. As a solution they suggested putting pieces of chopped garlic to the aquarium as it should kill te parasites.

A little bit of background, i started keeping fish in August with SuperFish 30 aquarium. I overstocked the aquarium which resulted in several deaths of fish. As a reaction to this I bought SuperFish 100, let it cycle for approximately week and then slowly started moving fish. The fish i am concerned about was getting bullied a lot in the 30l tank so i moved her first so that she can get used to the new tank without any other fish around. Additionally, few days before I wanted to move the rest of swordtails, two of my swordtails died and I did not find out why. Unfortunately, the female has similar symptoms as the two I had (skinny, hidding a bit and a bit curved back). Currently the 100l tank should not be overstocked, there are 5 corydoras, 4 other swordtails, 6 ember tetras and one pleco. The tank is also heavily planted with floating plants as well. Water parameters are ok and not changing.

In the photos there can be seen the changes in body shape over time. When I get closer, there are visible small brownish spots under her skin, when standing in one place, she moves form side to side and she keeps her fins close to her body. When I am feeding TetraMin and BugBites she seem to go for it but spit it afterwards. I tried feeding Tubifex and she was eating that just fine.

My biggest issue is that I am leaving for Christmas for 2 weeks and I do not know what to do with the swordtail. For other fish I bought holiday fish food but I am concerned about the swordtail. I really do not want to come back finding her dead floating in the water for past week worsening the quality of the water. The fish is the first one i ever got so I do not want to put her away either. I will be greatfull for any advice,

Thank you

[fr499y]

welcome to

Don't use holiday blocks as they polute the water which could cause further deaths. Did you transfer the old media into the new filter? This is where the bactera lives, so don't throw it out or wash it under tap water. If the filter slows down in weeks/months time, pull the media and swish in removed tank water.
Use seachem prime as a water conditioner as it will convert any ammonia to ammonium, which is less/isn't toxic to fish.
Make sure you are doing weekly water changes of 20% or more.

What are the water parameters? fine isn't a good answer, and if you are using test strips then they can be seriously inaccurate, so highly recommend API Master Freshwater kit. It will need to be 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite.

[Vale!]

Hi Hsep - and welcome to the forum!

If I may, I'll quickly review, in order, some points that you raise - others will come along and explore in more depth, I'm sure. Because there are so many variables involved, you will certainly get a lot more questions from them!

..however, they told me, that she has likely parasites. As a solution they suggested putting pieces of chopped garlic to the aquarium as it should kill the parasites.

A parasite isn't out of the question but at this early stage of inquiry a different explanation seems more likely - especially if other fish (either in your tank or at the LFS) aren't showing identical symptoms. Garlic needs to be thoroughly crushed and left to sit for ten minutes in order for it to be able to make allicin. This helps discourage some/most pathogens but it's unlikely to have a spectacular effect on the sort of 'parasites' which your LFS (Local Fish Shop) seems to be guessing at.

... I bought SuperFish 100, let it cycle for approximately week ...

Sorry, but cycling without fish involves intervention by adding a source of ammonia, and it's unusual (though not impossible) for that to be completed in a week. If you didn't go through that process then your tank wasn't/isn't cycled and ammonia poisoning may be the culprit. The obvious mitigating factor is the 'heavy' planting: submerged plants can use ammonia as a nitrogen source. Question is: are there enough plants in the tank to remove sufficient ammonia? A full-tank pic would be nice at some point.

... there are 5 corydoras,

At some point you may like to give the Corys a patch of sand that they can rummage around in ; at the moment they're not able to behave completely naturally. Not a priority right now, though.

Water parameters are ok and not changing.

What are the water parameters? "OK" isn't a term that we recognise in this context, I'm afraid! How are you testing for them? Tell us everything you know about your tankwater, please. And your filter : it contains a cartridge(s) - yes? What do you do to maintain that and how often?

... there are visible small brownish spots under her skin ... she keeps her fins close to her body.

'Clamped' fins are a sign of stress - could be from a pathogen or from water quality or from the general ecology/stocking of the tank. The subcutaneous spots could be due to haemorrhaging, itself possibly a product of ammonia. There's no sign of any of them 'gasping' at the surface for air, I take it?

My biggest issue is that I am leaving for Christmas for 2 weeks ... For other fish I bought holiday fish food

Yes - the tank probably isn't mature enough to be able to generate sufficient food for a fortnight by itself. If left unfed for that long, healthy fish would probably survive (but wouldn't be in great condition when you returned to them) ; but the fact that yours are already somewhat stressed would make that unlikely. 'Holiday' fish food is normally discouraged, but in your case possibly may be justified. Maybe you could try some before you go just to check that it'll do the job? Are you sure you can't get anyone to visit occasionally to give them some food that you've prepared in advance for them?


[Edit to acknowledge M's interposed reply]

[Martinspuddle]

Greetings & welcome to

[Hsep]

Hi,

to test my water I use Tetra 6 in 1 stripes. Every time I perform the testing, nitrites and nitrates are at 0, GH is at 8°d, ph at 7.5 and cl at 0. I try to test the water once a week. When I am changing the water I am adding aquastart from colombo. Additionally, I have been doing a lot of 1/3 to 1/2 water changes as the wood is releasing a lot of tanins and I was trying to get rid of the brown color. This means 1-2 water changes a week. Before setting the 100l tank, I left the filtration media in the small aquarium for a week to help develop some bacteria and help the start. When setting it up I also added beneficial bacteria provided in the kit and in the first week I was adding them also when doing water changes.

Regarding the heavy planting, I have 8 stems of rotala indica, around 4 anubiases, some crypts, a bunch of limnophilia sessiliforas (I will be adding more this week), 2 amazon swords, 3 vallisnerias, 2 lobelias and limnobium laevigatum. Regarding the corydoras, I have used sand as a base and they look happy with it.

Regarding the filtration, I am running the filter that I got with the aquarium, the AquaFlow 100. I do not wash it with tap water, I only washed it twice since the 6th of November. The aquarium is now running for approximately a month and a half. I am washing it gently while I am doing a water change in the water that I am throwing away. Gently means that I try to get rid of the fish poop but do not squeeze it.

No fish are gasping for air or behaving oddly and there are no fish with any signs of a disease or stress. When I am around the aquarium they do not hide and do not seem bothered. Moreover, I have not added an air pump to the aquarium yet and the fish do not have a problem with oxygen, not even in the morning.

Unfortunately, I do not have anyone who can stop by and feed my fish as I am studying abroad and all my friends are leaving for Christmas as well.

As I have to leave on Saturday 23rd, I need to come up with a solution in a short period, hence, as an unexperienced fish keeper I for advice what to do, thank you.

Photo of the aquarium:

[Hsep]

'Clamped' fins are a sign of stress - could be from a pathogen or from water quality or from the general ecology/stocking of the tank. The subcutaneous spots could be due to haemorrhaging, itself possibly a product of ammonia. There's no sign of any of them 'gasping' at the surface for air, I take it?

I have managed to take a relatively good picture of her where the spots are at least a little bit visible.

[fr499y]

All sounds good apart from the test strips

Tannins are good for the fish and can left if you don’t mind the tea colour.

[black ghost]

That Swordtail has a bent spine. It could be genetic, or, since the fish has lasted well into adulthood, more likely some internal issue that has developed. I wouldn’t expect it to last that much longer.

What is the hardness of the water?

[fr499y]

they've put GH is at 8°d but thats with test strips, but if that is accurate then moderately hard?

[black ghost]

they've put GH is at 8°d but thats with test strips, but if that is accurate then moderately hard?

I’d call that the high end of soft. My GH has always been 7-8 and it’s too soft for Swordtails (or any other hard water fish I tried to keep in it).
But yes, strips are useless…