Concerned About 1 Of Our Swordtails

[LouiseRat]

We have been cycling our tank with 3 swordtails in it .It is a juwel rekord 120 .

we have 1 male and 2 females . 1 of the females (the one who didnt have babies) has been staying near the bottom of the tank the past couple of days , she is a lot less active and we have just seen her poo and it was white.she is still eating though

here are the levels from the tank

day 1 - all levels on 0

day 2 - temp 26 , ammonia 0 , nitrite 0,nitrate 0 , 50 % water change ,stress zyne added , substrate and real plants added

day 3 - temp 28 , ammonia 0,nitrite 0 , nitrate 0 , 20% water change 1 m 2 f pineapple swordtails bought and added

day 4 - temp 26 , ammonia 0.1mg , nitrite 0.3 mg , nitrate 50mg, 25% water change , found fry in tank.

day 5 - temp 26 , ammonia 0.1mg , nitrite 0.3 mg , nitrate 50mg , no water change

day 6 - temp 28 , ammonia 0.4mg , nitrite 0.5mg , nitrate 50mg, no water change , found a plant snail

day 7 - temp 26 , ammonia 0.4mg , nitrite 0.1 mg , nitrate 25mg, 25% water change , white filter replaced , very soiled .

day 8 - temp 25 , ammonia 0.4 mg , nitrite 0.25, nitrate 25 mg , 20% water change , ph level 8.5 mg , very very alkaline

 

[LouiseRat]

anyone? please?

 

[LouiseRat]

anyone?

 

[confusion]

i'm certainly not an expert, but i have had lots of experience with sick swordtails. the behavior and white poo symptom sounds like an infection, can't recall if it's parasitic or bacterial. in my experience, if they are sick, you have to start treating them before they stop eating. i've never saved a swordtail after it stopped eating. i would also be watchful of the other female, espescially if this one dies or has to be quarentined. after one of 2 females died, the other died from being mated to death, or at least it seemed that way. the male was mating with her non stop. eventually, she got so stressed shhe died.

 

[LouiseRat]

we dont have another tank

 

[dwarfgourami]

White poo can be either bacterial or parasites. And I have also on occasion seen it in very stressed-out livebearers, who have otherwise been healthy. A bit like the runs in a human might mean cholera, or a tummy bug, or simply exam stress.
Have a good look at her anus. Can you see anything hanging out? Does it look swollen?

 

[JaminRat]

White poo can be either bacterial or parasites. And I have also on occasion seen it in very stressed-out livebearers, who have otherwise been healthy. A bit like the runs in a human might mean cholera, or a tummy bug, or simply exam stress.
Have a good look at her anus. Can you see anything hanging out? Does it look swollen?

Can't see anything obvious however she is hiding a lot a seems a slightly darker colour but not much. The tank is going through its first cycle so could well be stress due to the water conditions but seems strange why it is only affecting the 1 female. The fry in the tank are really active and so are the other Swordtails.

 

[WILDER]

She has a bacterial infection, try some shelled pea, if she laying on the bottom to one side, sad to say she not going to make it, sorry.

 

[LouiseRat]

its really odd , she seems to pick up a lot after food , then goes quiet again , and the male doesnt seem interested in her at all.

she isnt slanting off to the side , she seems to be staying near the bottom behind the plants .

will try giving her a shelled pea tomorrow , and see if that helps

 

[LouiseRat]

i just had a thought , is a frozen pea a shelled pea , or marowfat ones? or fresh ones from the veg shop?

 

[WILDER]

Frozen are best, just throw some in the microwave in water for a few minutes, let cool down, pop out of shell, much between fingers and add to the tank, good luck.

 

[LouiseRat]

Frozen are best, just throw some in the microwave in water for a few minutes, let cool down, pop out of shell, much between fingers and add to the tank, good luck.

thanks ever so much wilder , will go do that now

 

[bobbicus]

as you are cycling a tank with swordtails - the fish may run into problems caused by the process of cycling as we expose them to things that they really are not supposed to deal with ie' NH4 and NO2

NO3 are fine is certain quantity (less than 40ppm)

washing the filter as it has got "soiled" after 7 days - cut down on the feeding and really only swish the filter sponges lightly in old tank water - you want to make the bacteria colonies as quickly as possible to turn the nasty elements in a tank to the correct balance!!

hope the pea works ;-)

 

[JaminRat]

I've not touched the actual filter media on the jwel internal filters there is a white pad on the top to catch particulte this was contaminated with dust from the substrate so was replaced to maintain filter flow. All 4 of the sponges have been it place since setup. I did notice while doing a water change a nice organic smell (well not nice but you know what I mean) comming from the filter. This filter change was the recommended change time according to Juwel.

The levels are holding steady are regular water changes are stopping them getting too high (I think anyway) Ammonia is steady @ 0.4mg/l dropping to 0.3mg/l every few days then returning the day after. Nitrite did increase to 0.25mg/l when I did fewer water changes but now I have started doing approx 10% daily is holding steady @ 0.1mg/l and nitrate has been steady at 25mg/l for a week or so now.

My tap water tested as 0mg/l on all tests so the nitrate must be comming from somewhere so that combined with the organic smell give me a pretty good indication that the bacteria are developing.

Will be trying her with a pea tommorow so will let you know.