sick

Question
Hello I have a sword tail who looks sick. she jus stays in the corner and isn't her normal self ne more. I just saw today she has a white spot on her head above her eye....it's not ick, cause it's a bigger spot not huge but not a speck. I was wondering what I can do to treat her??? please get back to me thank you.

Answer
Hi!
Its hard to diagnose something like this right way. It probably isn't ick like you said. It could be an injury spot (injured spots on fish often turn white temporarily) or it might even be the beginnings of a fungus infection. Fungus can have a slight "slimy" or foggy look and appear in patches either in like a slime coating on the fish or as fuzzy moldy patches. Here's a link to some pictures-
http://www.fishjunkies.com/Diseases/columnaris.php

If that turns out to be the case, I've had the best of luck using Jungle Brand's Fungus clear. But first things first, make sure the water quality is good. Even if the water is crystal clean, it doesn't mean there aren't harmful dissolved pollutants in the water. Testing the water would be best but if you can't (and anyway as a precaution) I would do a 30-50% water change making sure the replacement water is treated with a water conditioner and the temperature is equal or close to your tank's temp. A little bit Warmer water is always better than cooler.

Add a medication after the water change and repeat daily 50% water changes on your swordtail, re-dosing the  medication after each water change. This is against the instructions but this works best I have found.

But only treat if you are certain this is what it is.

Sometimes a water change or two is the best medicine for fish that are not acting themselves.

Best of luck and I hope this helps!
Karen~