coolwater.gurl

HELP! could anybody help me with my fish.. Before my swordtails died, I noticed that their body was bended... they could hardly swim and it seems that half of their body down to the tail is paralyzed.. I do not have any gadget that could actually measure the ammonia and nitrate level of my aquarium.. I just do partial water changes every other day.. Now, my white platy is presently suffering that kind'a symptoms. I do not know what's the cause. Aside from the gadgets that are available on the market to measure the aquarium's ammonia, is there any other way that I could recognize that the ammonia level of my aquarium is increasing? and do u think that symptoms is caused by ammonia? thanks for your help.....

sgould

Sorry to hear you are having trouble. I believe ammonia poisoning is frequently accompanied by red/inflamed gills. I am totally unfamiliar with what you are describing though...I am interested to hear what this might be if anyone recognizes it.

Luniyn

How long have you had the aquarium? Did you put fish in it right away or did you cycle it without fish? Do you have a thermometer on the tank because a rapid change in temperature can stun the fish. I would take a small bottle of your water to a pet store near you that tests water for free. They may use test strips (not all that accurate) instead of liquid tests (MUCH more accurate), but anything is better then nothing. Without knowing the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates, it's very hard to tell what is wrong. Other then ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate poisoning or a temperature spike/drop, some of the things I've come across when searching online for others with this kind of problem is electrocution (not likely if you are able to put your hands in the water without problems) and swim bladder problem which is more likely. Without knowing the quality of your water though it will be hard to narrow it down.

COBettaCouple

Hmm.. did your fish look real thin? as if they hadn't eaten in a long time?

When you can get it, this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113074 is great for testing your water.

Check the following links to see if you can find something that matches what happened with your swordtails:
http://www.klsnet.com/files/fishchart.htm
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_dis...l_changes.html

Do you have any other fish in that tank aside from the ones that died and the white platy that is sick? This sounds like fish tb, abdominal dropsy or possibly a swim bladder problem that i've seen in platy fry.. you can try feeding your fish some frozen peas, thawed for 40-50 sec in the microwave and with their skins peeled off.. I hope that will help.

Richard

Actually what you're describing sounds a lot like a vitamin deficiency problem.. if you were to go on a diet of, let's say, burgers, fries and milkshakes for a few months, it'd start to affect your health.. so to stay on top of your game, you'd have to include fruit, veggies etc. in your diet right?.. well, fish can get like that if you feed them the same thing over and over.. so the question is what've you been feeding your guys?

coolwater.gurl

hi all.. thanks for your help and advise... well, u guys seems to have difficulty in analyzing the symptoms... but i appreciate all you have told me.. well, i guess, it because of the food, i always feed them flakes and sometimes, pellets... that's all.. i never try anything like worms, etc.. etc... well, im gonna give it a try this time.. maybe its true that the food has something to do with their sickness.. In a five gallon, I have 2 bluemoon, 1 tiger barb, 1 albino platy and the sick one which is the silver platy... thats all what's left.. the sick one, this time always wants to stay in the bottom... seems to have difficulty in breathing and still, her body is bended like half of it is paralyzed.. its kind'a weird.. but, thanks for all....