Some spots on my Swordtail

[Elisabeth83]

Hi there,

Now bare with me I got a lot so say

I have a female swordtail who ever since she gave birth seems to be getting more and more sick.

Before and while she was pregnant she seemed happy and healthy and eating like crazy. Now since we gave birth her stomach seems so skinny. It's been like this for about 3 weeks. At first I thought she was like that because she just gave birth but she's still skinny. Also she has been hanging out by herself a lot near one corner and isn't eating as much as she used to.

Then about 3 days ago I noticed 1 small white spot on her tail fin (not white spot) I thought I would just watch it and see what happens as in the past she had something similar that went away about a week or so. The last time though it was more of a patch and it wasn't fuzzy like a fungus or anything but this time it's just a small white spot and it appears to be slightly fuzzy. I also noticed last night there was a second white spot just below the bigger white spot.

I'm just wondering what it could be? I didn't want to treat for fungus but after I saw it was a little fuzzy I decided I should try and get rid of it before it spreads.

Also for the last 4-5 days the temps here in Sweden have been very high..and the temp of my tank is sitting on 28,29,30. I am a bit worried?? I put some ice cubes in the tank so I hope that helps. I don't think fish can handle 30 can they??

As well as the sick fish and the high temp I noticed one of my female swordtails was flashing around....do you think that was due to the high temp? Also yesterday I put a tiny amount of salt in the tank so maybe it was that?

I've had the tank up and running for over 2 months now...almost 3 months.

I have been trying for over a month now to get my LFS to do a water test for me but everytime I go in there they keep telling me no they say tomorrow they will come in...or no they say this friday..and thats how it has been for the last month. I would go to another shop if I could but I don't have a car to get there.

The size of my tank is 26 US gallons. It is well planted with live and fake plants. I do water changes weekly and do a light gravel cleaning every 2-3 weeks. I feed my fish flakes in the morning and half a wafer in the evening as I have a bristolnose pleco. I also feed them veggies like cooked peas and cucumbers. I also feed them bloodworms occasionally.

1 more thing I do have fry in the tank and I noticed that some have been dieing?? I had 13 black swordtail babies and now I am down to only 4. I think I am feeding them enough I feed them about 2-3 times a day.

Sorry for writing so much....just had a lot to say

 

[Elisabeth83]

Heres an update:

She just died

She just never seemed healthy after she gave birth.....I really wonder what went wrong...I looked her all over just now and could not find anything really wrong...bright colors....had her slime coat....just that small white spot on her tail fin...and a little skinny.

I just remembered that after I took her out of the breeding net there were some larger white spots on her head.....first I was thinking it was hole in the head developing but then looked that up and pics of it and found out it wasn't that...then I just assumed maybe she bumped her head inside the breeding net or something.

Hmmmm!!!

 

[Angel Lady]

Salt is good for them but if you have a pleco do not add it. First of all you might try feeding them some frozen foods. I wouldnt add ice cubes because the ice isnt treated for anything. And it could cause ich.If you get ich on already stressed out fish from heat and so on it could be a problem. I would get the babies out and put them in something by thierselves for a while. And add some salt to them. But not much. You really need to invest in some testing kits. I would really like to know what the ph is and the ammonia readings and nitrites. This is a big help to know these things...

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. No the ice cubes I put in were the kind inside of plastic...fruit shaped. I figured putting normal ice cubes in the tank wouldn't be smart as they arn't treated. I figured the plastic ones would be good. I mean the plastic couldn't be toxic as they are made for humans to use.

What kind of frozen foods are you talking about? like peas or?

I hardly ever add salt as I know plecos can't tolerate it ...but if I do add it I only just sprinkle a tiny bit in. I only add it when my fish seem stressed which isn't too often. Last time I added salt was like 4 weeks ago or something and even then I just sprinkled a tiny bit in.

Soon in the next week or so I am going to be getting a 20 gallon Hex tank ...that I will probably put the pleco in with other types of fish that don't like salt. Or I will use it to put all my fry in.

Right now I don't really have anything to put my fry in except a tiny half gallon betta tank....will that do? Don't they need filtration??

I want to get some testing kits but the only testing kit I saw here was like a multi testing kit but it was $150 US no joke!! A lady on here gave me a website to order stuff from..and I contacted the store via email but they never got back with me...so I don't know what other stores in the states of the uk ship overseas. I saw a multi testing kit on that website for only US $16.99 that I would really love to get my hands on.

Believe me I am very stressed about my waters...I do water changes weekly but I think I might start doing them 2 times a week until I can figure out whats going on. Before I was doing water changes about 2-3 times a week just about 15% or so..and the fish were doing real good. I was doing so many water changes because I had problems with diseases and stuff and was told to do frequent water changes but then as soon as my fish got better I stopped with so many water changes. I would think though that my tank is cycled by now so that I wouldn't need to do a lot of water changes?

Thanks!