Upside down pregnant swordtail.

Upside down pregnant swordtail.

HI everyone.

This is my first post. I will try and keep this short.

The 55 gallon planted tank currently has:
6 Swordtails
10 Harlequins
3 Coolie loches
1 Angel fish
1 Bristlednose Pleco
All previous weekly water tests have come back clear. Husband is at work so can't test right now.
30% of the water is changed weekly.
There are no concerns with any of the other fish.

Two swordtails in our 55 were heavily pregnant, my husband moved them both to a breeder net inside our 55 last night. Not the best choice, but our 5 gallon fry tank already has small fry, and the other fish in the 55 are overfeeding on all the fry. When my husband fed the fish at 8am this morning they were fine, but when I walked by at 9:30am one pregnant female swordtail was upside down. They were put into the same breeding net and the other pregnant female swordtail is fine, but she was picking on the upside down one. (I know housing them in the same net is not good now). There may be something around the gills but I can't quite work it out. I will add photo.

I separated the upside down swordtail and have added PRIME to her isolation container, I have floating in our 55. I thought she might be in shock so I tried a touch of food, but she didn't move. I do not have much hope that she will make it at this point.

My husband and I are still learning about keeping and breeding fish. We will learn from this too.

Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be? and what I could do?

Thanks in advance. Sorry if this post is too long.

Aimskitty.

 

Hi! Welcome to Fishlore. I'm sorry your having issues.

It could be that something pregnancy related is going on, in a not good way. If she is swimming at all, it might be she is bloated and having swim bladder issues. Fast for a day and then try feeding a fresh (frozen and thawed) green pea that has been deskinned and crushed.

Isolation is best under the circumstances. I'm afraid time will tell the tale in this case.

 

Thank you for your reply Maggie.

Our poor swordtail passed away without giving birth. I believe it was stress. My husband and I have learnt from this. We will be keeping a closer eye on our pregnant fish, and keep them separated earlier on to reduce stress. I will keep following the forums on here as they have been a wealth of knowledge.

Thanks again Aimskitty.

 

I'm sorry to hear she died. Keep plugging. We've all had our casualties.

 

I just wanted to add that I would not keep pregnant fish in a breeder box. It really stresses them out. If you want to separate her from the others, I'd get a separate tank for her to give birth in.

Did you ever get exact readings on your water parameters (pH, temp, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates)?

 

Thank you very much for the reply Texas Domer.
I do have a separate tank for my swordtails to give birth in but it was already full. As I had another fish birth in there just 2 weeks ago.

This is all a learning curve for me, but I was concerned she might eat the fry that were already in the birthing tank. I would transfer my other pregnant female into the birth tank too if not for that problem.

My husband did not tell me exact readings but said they were fine. None of the other fish are affected and the other pregnant female is fine too. She is actually the mother of the upside down swordtail. She hasn't birthed yet but I'll add a pick for you.

 

I'm sorry to hear she died. Keep plugging. We've all had our casualties.

Thank you Maggie. It's great to have some support here.

 

Thank you very much for the reply Texas Domer.
I do have a separate tank for my swordtails to give birth in but it was already full. As I had another fish birth in there just 2 weeks ago.

This is all a learning curve for me, but I was concerned she might eat the fry that were already in the birthing tank. I would transfer my other pregnant female into the birth tank too if not for that problem.

My husband did not tell me exact readings but said they were fine. None of the other fish are affected and the other pregnant female is fine too. She is actually the mother of the upside down swordtail. She hasn't birthed yet but I'll add a pick for you.

People have different definitions of "fine", but in order to best protect your fish, you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5-40 ppm nitrates (though 5-20 is better).

 

People have different definitions of "fine", but in order to best protect your fish, you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5-40 ppm nitrates (though 5-20 is better).

Thank you so much for that Texas Domer. I will keep this information in mind.