Lost a Swordtail...

[jaywings19]

I lost a swordtail yesterday... I'm down to 1 left.

They were (are) in a fully-cycle Eclipse System 3 tank. The readings as of yesterday were:

Ammonia: 0.0ppm
Nitrite: 0.0ppm
pH: 7.0 (use Wardley Bullseye 7.0)
kH: 9.0 (I have a piece of coral in the tank to add hardness)

The swordtails share(d) the tank with 3 cory tankmates. The corys have been doing just fine.

Just want to know if any of these water parameters are totally out of whack for a Swordtail. I don't want to lose my other guy.

 

[haaris]

im sorry to hear that
may be he just died naturally
ho w big was he

 

[jaywings19]

im sorry to hear that
may be he just died naturally
ho w big was he

He was not that big... his body was maybe 1.5" long (minus the tail part). My other guy is a different kind of swordtail... wider body, shorter sword.

I just brought these guys home on Friday, so it was disappointing to lose one in less than 2 days. Was fine when I went to sleep... was deceased when I woke up.

The other guy seems to be doing fine (zipping around / no heavy breathing). But I'm still worried to come home and find him deceased too.

Do my water conditions look good for these guys?

 

[haaris]

truth fully ive never checked water condition in my life
and i have noo idea how

 

[Alien Anna]

It is possible your water was very different to the LFS's water. Did you test the water in the bag before releasing him? Sometimes, fish struggle because your nitrate is lower or your pH is higher or whatever - sometimes its because your water is actually better than the LFS.

Then there's the possibility the swordtail's immune system was damaged before you bought him. He could have been in an uncycled tank at some point, or deprived of oxygen or he could be old and stunted. You really can't tell. Some species don't cope well with transport whatever you do - I always seem to lose 50% of the cardinal tetras I ever buy. I think I may have lost two of my new chain loaches but since I haven't seen them for several days and they are very elusive, I can't be sure (no bodies have turned up).

This is why I hate buying new fish - no matter how careful you are, moving them can sometimes be enough to finish them off. Don't let it put you off but do complain to the LFS you bought him from.

 

[thebulk]

Im with Alien
I bought two Red tailed sharks 6 months ago and they both died when I put them in the tank whilist the Bala sharks I bought a day before were fine.

The next day I took a water sample down to a different LFS and they said it was fine.

So I bought two red tailed sharks from them and they are still around today

Make sure you not only keep the bag in the water for 10 -15mins to get the temp right. after that 10 mins add the same amount of water in the bag with water in your tank (ie double the amount of water in the bag usuing your tank water) then leave for another 10 mins. This will help the fish adjust to the hardness of your water. Hopefully it will reduce the shock of its new home

Hope I have been of some help

B)

 

[jaywings19]

Im with Alien
I bought two Red tailed sharks 6 months ago and they both died when I put them in the tank whilist the Bala sharks I bought a day before were fine.

The next day I took a water sample down to a different LFS and they said it was fine.

So I bought two red tailed sharks from them and they are still around today

Make sure you not only keep the bag in the water for 10 -15mins to get the temp right. after that 10 mins add the same amount of water in the bag with water in your tank (ie double the amount of water in the bag usuing your tank water) then leave for another 10 mins. This will help the fish adjust to the hardness of your water. Hopefully it will reduce the shock of its new home

Hope I have been of some help

B)

Thanks for the advice... I already do that in my acclimation process today. I brought both of these swordtails home on the same day (same bag). They both went through the acclimation process together. They were technically "ready" for the main tank about an hour or so later. However, I noticed that the yellow one (deceased) was still stressing, so I only removed the orange one. The yellow one seemed to calm down about an hour later (2 hours into the process), so I removed him for the main tank. He seemed okay then, but was found floating the next morning.

Maybe he was just too stressed out all together. The orange one is still alive and kicking today, so I'm assuming it wasn't the water afterall.

 

[haaris]

maybe he just wasnt fed enough and didnt have that much
enerdy to make the trip.
is that possible