Dead Swordtail Sick Molly??

ltldrgn13

ltldrgn13
Mar 6, 2005
36
0
0
49
Boise Idaho
Last week one of my female Swordtail started handing out along the bottom of the tank, breathing heavy... sometimes in the same area, other times swimming close to the rock. During feeding time she ate. I though maybe she was in labor because she looked pregnant; extra large belly, the black spot (can't think of the name of it right now but you should know what I'm talking about). After two days of this, I came home from work to find her floating dead. Yesterday I came home to find my female molly doing the same. She also looks to be pregnant.

Any ideas what is going on??

Thanks.
Venus
 
ltldrgn13 said:
Last week one of my female Swordtail started handing out along the bottom of the tank, breathing heavy... sometimes in the same area, other times swimming close to the rock. During feeding time she ate. I though maybe she was in labor because she looked pregnant; extra large belly, the black spot (can't think of the name of it right now but you should know what I'm talking about). After two days of this, I came home from work to find her floating dead. Yesterday I came home to find my female molly doing the same. She also looks to be pregnant.

Any ideas what is going on??

Thanks.
Venus
Do you do regular water changes? Live bearers do like really clean water and tend to stress out over bad water. Another thing could be is that if she is preganant, she might be stressed with all the other fish in the tank and does not have a place to go. Like people, stress effects are pets very pourly and can cause them to die. If you have that spare tank with nothing in there, I would suggest keeping your swords in there. They might like that a bit better, place in plenty of plants, such as Hornwort. Very cheap and easy plant to grow but requires lots of light. Floats on top of the water column and fry can hide in the plant as well.
 
Yes I do water changes every Sunday. I do have one other tank but right now it has baby guppies and snails in it.. (snails for my puffer fish).

I will have to see if I can get another tank this weekend, but can't before then... Friday is payday.
 
Well over the past couple of days she was looking better, then last night after getting home from a late soccer game she was died...
 
What are they being fed? Sounds somewhat like it may be constipation from a diet too high in protien, not enough veggies.
 
The fish in the tank get fish food flakes and blood worms each night. The flakes are first then after 3/4 of them are gone I add some blood worms. Keep in mind I have fish inthe tank that have to have blood worms or another kind of meat, also.
 
Try halving a slice of cucumber and tying it to a rock. Your veggie eating fish (danios, white clouds, barbs, mollies and sword tails) should pick at it and get the fiber they need to keep from being constipated.

And maybe you could try feeding flakes at one end of the tank and bloodworms+meat at the other?
 
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