Sniff

[DDeHavenII]

Well, I just had my first death and worst of all my nice wag swordtail Yesterday took a look right before I got ready for work and he was just swimming up at the top, not looking good and seriously stressed, thinking I had an amonia buildup I removed about 3+ gallons and replaced it with clean dechlorinated water, hoping he would perk up. Got home and he was dead On the bright side my other swordtail seems fine, can't explain it. He even stopped clamping his dorsal fin to his body, and playing with his reflection all the time.

Is it possible that the fish see their reflection and try and fight with it?

 

[Lynda B]

I'm sorry for your loss....

Have you had him a while? If you'd like to give us some information about your tank, we can try to help you figure out what he died from.

 

[DDeHavenII]

no, again new tank, new fish. No plants. Held at about 78F, Ive got one over the top filter, it's day five in the cycle, have done 4 water changes, all above 3 gallons. 1 bubble wand in the back. There were only 2 fish in the tank at the time. I'm going to let the other swordtail (assuming he lives) stay alone until the tank is fully cycled or add 1 sunburst wag.

I am showing elevated ammonia levels (today, not yesterday) and a slight reading in nitrites, however I'm going to get an API test tube kit today and see whats going on here.

 

[Lynda B]

I'm not sure how hardy those fish are for cycling a tank. Could indeed be that the ammonia got him.

And you should definitely get the test kit, with the drops. It will be your responsibility as a fishkeeper to always know the quality of your water.

 

[DDeHavenII]

I did have strips for ammonia (API) however I was none too pleased with these and they read at like 3PPM, however I just got some drops (cheaper by far, and easier to read) and it's only showing at >1PPM. What puzzles me is the Petsmart people tell me I don't have any nitrites and my API test tube is clearly showing .25PPM. I didn't get the nitrate test kit because I'm only in day five of the cycle.

And I did add the 2 free samples of Stess Zyme to the tank when I started it, I think thats what jumpstarted the nitrites.

P.S. lay of the petsmart people when I referance them, all 4 that work in that section have tanks of their own. Not trying to flame people but it's either Petsmart or store of of Woodruff Road and I will avoid that one if at all possible, nasty traffic. No true fish store. The only reason I will go there over petsmart is for my BN plec when my tank is cycled.

 

[Lynda B]

You can purchase the Master test kit which contains everything you need to check your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Don't forget that your water parameters can change between the time you pack the sample up and the time they test it. Testing really needs to be done immediately to get true results.

Again, I don't know the hardiness of this specific fish, but my guess would be it couldn't make it in an uncycled tank.

 

[DDeHavenII]

Well the odd thing is my test strips (which they have the same ones btw) are showing .25PPM, two tests cant be wrong, can they? And I've pointed this out that when watching them and theirs is also showing .25PPM of Nitrites.

Water sample is maybe 5 minutes old, more or less depending on traffic.

 

[Lynda B]

Wow, they use strips? That's surprising.... it's probably a true reading then.