dead swordtail

[shephrdf]

Help, one of my female swordtails died yesterday.
My tank is new, 125L, nitrate levels are ok (0.5ppm), 25 degrees. I introduced 5 zebra danios 1 week after set up, then 2 female swordtails & 1 male swordtail 1 week later.
On Wed morning I noticed one of the female swordtails didn't eat, by Wed evening she was sluggish and spent most of her time hovering by the filter (at ~45 degrees at various depths). I noticed she had 2 white patches on her back, ~2mm diamater. She didn't eat again Wed night. Thurs morning she seemed a bit more lively but didn't really eat. By Thurs evening she was again just hovering near the filter and she had rapid gill movements. Over 30mins - 1hour she swam occasionally very skittishly. Then 1 of the white patches on her back turned red and she had about 5-10 mins of swimming uncontrollably (backwards, upside-down etc) until she finally came to rest on a piece of wood.
Is this likely to be an infection that will affect the whole tank (do I need to get some treatment). None of the other fishes seem affected yet but the other female swordtail did start hovering near the filter yesterday evening, she's still eating fine though.
Help! Can I prevent this happening to the other fish?

 

[Alex]

I'm sorry you lost your fish, it is always sad. Was the white patch cotton wool like in appearance? If so she could have had some sort of fungus. If it is it could be down to water quality, stress or numerous other things. Could you give us more information about the patch and your water qualities. Is it a planted tank? what do you feed them? that sort of thing.

With more information they can give you the advice you need. Don't worry if anyone can help, this forum can.

 

[shephrdf]

My tank is planted and also has bogwood which has had some fungus growing on it (I previously removed this, washed & baked it). Another piece of bogwood with rooted plant attached also has some fungus growing on it. I understood this was not harmful to healthy fish? How would you suggest I kill the fungus without killing the plant?
I was advised this morning by the shop she came from that the white patches on the dead fish were ulcers. I have bought some liquisil general tonic (for reducing background levels of bacteria, fungus and parasites in aquariums). Is this likely to prevent further fatalities?
My tank is new (only nearly 3 weeks from set up) so I am not surprised to be encountering problems (I am just worried about leaving an infection untreated and losing the rest of the fish). So far I've only fed them on flake food but was planning to get some brine shrimps or similar for treats.
What water qualities do I need to test for? I monitor temp (25 degress C) and nitrate (0.5ppm).

 

[playfulalliecat]

The readings everyone asks for are........ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and ph. Extreme levels of any of these can cause undue stress on your fish and make them sick, even killing them at times. With a new tank and just adding more fish, you could still be in the middle of your cycle. High ammonia or nitrites would show if this is so. As the tank cycles first the ammonia level goes up, then drops while nitrites go up, then drop and nitrates go up. If either the ammonia or nitrite are high this would tell us that your fish was suffering from the cycle of the tank. That would be my first guess until we get some readings on them. As your nitrates are low one of the others will be high.


If any of these are high then do a 10% water change to relieve the stress if any of the fish are looking sick, gasping for air, trouble swimming, etc. Do not vacuum the gravel as this could upset the good bacteria growth in the tank right now. Those are my suggestions for now but let us know on those levels asap!