Swordtail Bloat / Swim Bladder Issue

I have a swordtail with bloat and she keeps trying to "wedge" herself into plants / filters / etc. to keep herself from floating to the top. She got into a scrap in another tank with the new male swordtail and I think bullied all the others by eating their micro pellets (hikari).

Any rate, I've only fed high quality food and a mix of frozen brine shrimp (which yes I do thaw before feeding), green flake, micro pellets, nori, and Omega One flake (which I had pre-soaked). She was doing fine prior to me moving her to another tank which I had to overfeed in order to get my new (and skittish) tetras to eat. In that tank, there were 3x females and 1x male swordtail (20G, yes it's a little tight but they are relatively small too atm and I was "quarantining" them in there for a bit as I tried to take care of a sick fish in the other tank... She passed, so I can move them back).

Her partner (the 2nd male I had in the tank) tried to kill the other male, so he was re-separated. She seems to have come down with bloat overnight and started floating as described. Water parameters are good and no other fish is bloated ATM.


Does anyone have suggestions other than stare at the fish and not feed the tank for a day or two? She keeps struggling to "go down" into the tank and "sticks" herself under the sponge filter / air bar / whatever she can...

 

1 guy per tank of females
if there are 2 males they will fight and they are rough
and a female will keep smaller females away when they get prego and can/will possibly kill other fish as well

 

Do you have a breeder or box? That's all I can think of. I just saved a rescued sortdtail surrender from a local pet store and she ate up too much if the Corys shrimp pellets. She was at the surface when I woke up in the morning with swim blatter and had trouble swimming down. Didn't feed and after two days she was fine.

 

I have cut the top off a 2 liter plastic bottle, punched holes around so water flows threw and clamped it to the inside of the tank

 

1 guy per tank of females
if there are 2 males they will fight and they are rough
and a female will keep smaller females away when they get prego and can/will possibly kill other fish as well

Yeah, doing a bit of research I see that was an issue. Neither LFS I bought the fish from had mentioned that issue to me, which I found to be odd. :/

I have about 6 female kois and 3 female peppermint swords... This looks like it will be a disaster in my 29G if I don't get a "breeding tank" or try the clamp method for them to just put out their babies...

Do you have a breeder or box? That's all I can think of. I just saved a rescued sortdtail surrender from a local pet store and she ate up too much if the Corys shrimp pellets. She was at the surface when I woke up in the morning with swim blatter and had trouble swimming down. Didn't feed and after two days she was fine.

I do have a breeder, but I think she's "comfortable" stuck in the weeds so to speak. I'll just continue to observe ATM. I will hold off on feeding the tank since it's probably the best option. I appreciate the advice.

 

Update: She passed away last night from bloat. She got worse and started to "sink" rather than float. Appears to have been constipation that did it.

This is an awful week.

Moving forward....

I suppose I'll be transferring the swordtails into the 29G and the platys into the 20G where they can compete a bit better with the tetras than the swords.

 

apparently dried baby shrimp helps them poop.. not all the fish will eat it, but I use it to switch up some times and eventually more fish will eat it
as a feeding not as extra
I crush it up so its easier for them to eat and float it under the water some also

 

apparently dried baby shrimp helps them poop.. not all the fish will eat it, but I use it to switch up some times and eventually more fish will eat it
as a feeding not as extra
I crush it up so its easier for them to eat and float it under the water some also

I give them frozen. Not that dried is bad, but I have a "rotating" feeding schedule that includes brine shrimp and (when I find time) live bbs. They love the BBS live, but usually they get frozen brine 2x a week and they like it just the same.

She had been eating that only a day or two before I moved her, so I don't think there was a ton I could do about it.