We think our female swordtail is sick.

Question
QUESTION: Hi David,

We've had a female swordtail in an approx. 15 gallon tank for over a year, along with some zebra danios, an albino pleco and a male swordtail. In that year, the male and female have had a few babies, two of which survived to reach maturity (both males).

In the last few weeks, we've noticed the female swordtail acting very listless--hiding at the bottom of the tank, near the back, under the heater--not swimming around very much (although she has been swimming up to eat when we feed all the fish--flakes). She has also been swimming under the filter return sometimes. And just today we noticed that she seems to have a bit of trouble swimming...kind of like she's too heavy to swim properly. She also seems to be getting a dirty look on her back, as if someone had finger printing ink on their hands and picked her up.


She's always been a bit skittish, and the most easily upset by any changes in the tank. She has a tendency to zip across the tank for reasons we can't see or understand.

We test the water quality a couple times a week and with each water change. We've been having some problems with our filter over the last few months because of the bio-wheel not turning, but we think that's fixed now. About 2 months ago, there was an outbreak of ich which we successfully treated with heat, aquarium salt and something called Ick Guard (which turned the water blue). We also became concerned that we weren't cleaning the gravel thoroughly enough because it might be too deep, so we scooped out about half of it and did a 1/3 water change. There are 4 small plants in the tank and 2 bubblers.

Also, as our baby swordtails have grown, we've been noticing the male/"Dad" swordtail getting a bit slim and haggard looking. The babies chase him around a lot and often prevent him from getting food. We've been trying to put food in the tank where he is swimming, but he has a hard time getting to it before either the babies or the danios do. Lately, I've resorted to catching him in a net and sprinkling a bit of food in the net when it comes time to feed them all. We've been thinking of getting a breeder net to keep him in, but are reluctant to separate him from the other fish. (Do fish get depressed?)

That's all. Thanks for reading our questions and we hope you're having a wonderful week!


Christina and Aaron


ANSWER: Hi Christina and Aaron:  What has been happening is this... you have one female and three male swordtails... so your female is being harassed to breed... and your older male "dad" is having to defend his territory more and more... fish do not care about incest... The solution(s) and there are a few...

1) add more females
2) do a gender tank... male only... female only...
3) you can re-home the younger males... and go back to the way things use to be.

Hope this helps... dave

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QUESTION: Hi Dave,

Thanks for getting back to us so quickly. We'll be making a trip to the fish store tomorrow, I think. Just one last question to clarify: the "dirty" look that the female has been getting...could this be from getting harassed too?

Thanks again,
Christina and Aaron

ANSWER: Fish often change color to hide... they try to blend in or not to be seen. Sometimes in goldfish... I know you have swordtail... but this applies too... that as they age their other colors start to show... you see black mouths were once it was orange, etc.. I wouldn't worry to much about it... just make sure she is getting food.  dave

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again Dave,

The original female seems to be getting worse. She has taken to lying on her side with her tail half curled (and thus looking kind of like the dry dead female swordtail that we very recently added to the tank that jumped out somehow...from a covered tank...in the middle of the night, and that I found on the floor when I stepped on it the following morning....sigh.  :(   ).

We added two (more) female swordtails today. About how long do you think we should wait to observe any changes before we  become really concerned again?

Thanks for all your help, and most especially for giving us hope...


Christina and Aaron

Answer
sounds like she is stressed to the point of death.  Keep the tank temperature between 78-82 degrees and I would try an antibiotic called tetracycling or general cure.  If she will eat... try some live brine shrimp... you may have to seperate her from the others for a while... keep me posted... dave