What could it be?

Question
QUESTION: I recently restock our 10 gallon tank. We got 2 swordtails and 2 golddust mollies. I had my female swordtail die this morning. She gave birth a couple of days ago and had been hiding out since. I noticed a little bit ago that one of the golddust mollies has a larger lower lip now and seems to be breathing harder.

I haven't noticed any ich symptoms and I'm not sure about fungus. The tank has been running for over a year now. I did a 25% water change last night.

Any suggestions for me? I'm still pretty much a novice so any help would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hi Leslie;

I think there were just too many fish added at one time for the system to handle all the extra waste. Waste toxins are probably elevated and the fish that had babies was just stressed too much from that already. The swelling and heavy breathing on the other fish is probably related to the irritation of the toxins. They burn the gills, eyes and skin. Make a 50% water change right away and do 25% daily changes for the next 4 more days to get it under control. You can also add aquarium salt to help them cope with the stress.

Have the water tested for the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate to see how far along the process is. I suspect that ammonia and probably nitrite are elevated right now and suffocating them. The salt will help counteract the  toxic effects of nitrite on the blood. Nitrite poisoning prevents the fishes' blood from being able to carry oxygen. It's even quite possible the tests will not show any toxins now. They can drop as quickly as they rise. The beneficial bacteria in your tank and filter can finally take over after a crisis like that in a few hours. However, it does leave the injuries and stress for the fish to heal from while the toxin levels were off the charts for several days.

I hope they do okay...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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

QUESTION: Thanks so much Chris! I really do appreciate your help.

I ended up going a 50% water change today and will do a 25% change this afternoon. I noticed late last night that my male swordtail has very prominent scales and isn't acting normal. What could be causing this and how would I fix it?  

Answer
Hi Leslie;

You are quite welcome! Glad I could help.

The male sword is in very bad shape I'm afraid. When the scales stick out it means there is kidney failure. Many causes but no real effective treatment is available. There really isn't much you can do but in case you want to try here is a link to info about it;

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article24.html

I wish I had better news...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins