Is my female pineapple swordtail pregnant?

S

ShockwaveCT

AC Members
Feb 20, 2011
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Since I added 1 male rosy barb to my 29 gallon freshwater aquarium yesterday, I have noticed my female pineapple swordtail seems to be lingering at the top back corner, and the male in the other corner. I didn't know if she could be giving birth? Or are they afraid of the sort of "spastic" nature of the barb? I posted a little clip below taken with my phone. Also, I added two mystery snails yesterday, but all the fish ate the 2 algae wafers I added. I don't really want the fish eating the algae wafers, but there's not much algae in the tank for the snails to consume. You can kind of see the top of the swordtail out of the water. She ALWAYS swims around, and I have never seen her in one spot for more than 10 minutes like this.
[video=youtube;671nxqGOKww]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=671nxqGOKww[/video]
 
It looks like there is not enough oxygen in the water and they are gasping at the surface where there is more oxygen. This could also be a sign of bad water quality, what are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? What type of test kit (liquid or strip)?
 
With an assumption that water parameters are w/in reason, Probably terrorized by activeness of Rosy Barb???

Oxygen?? I seriously doubt with such low stocks and decent agiatation at the surface.

although possible, Cant tell for sure if pregnant.
 
Well, I have a Biowheel 330 and seems like there is enough water agitation at the surface. All the other fish are fine, and my gouramies and angel are acting normal. At first I saw a large trail of what I assumed be poop coming from her, especially since a lot of fish ate a lot more than normal yesterday with them chowing down on the algae wafers. I also assumed this trail to be fecal matter since I know swordtails are livebearers, and I assumed that to mean they give birth to live young. The tank is only about 6-7 weeks old so not sure if it's even fully cycled, but I do weekly 25% water changes (on just done 2 days ago), and prior to the change all levels were great, ammonia a bit high at 3 ppm, but that was before the water change and fish addition. Kind of weird, just seems like most of the fish in the tank are pretty mellow with the occasional chase between the gouramies or angel, and the GLOfish dart around a bit, but quite a bit smaller and they keep to themselves. I don't want to Rosy barb to end up terrorizing the tank, and I have read some posts of people coming home to dead fish after adding a male rosy barb, but he doesn't seem to chase the other fish at all, just swims and darts around more quickly than the rest.
 
Also, after watching a bit more, the male sword seemed to come around her as to say "what are you doing" and it seems like she wants to swim down, but keeps rising up as if she is struggling to stay under water. Isn't there a disease where the air bladder or something is bad and they can't stay down?
 
BTW, I am using paper strips, I am not a big fan of the water droplets/vials. Seems faster and a little easier (although more expensive) with the test strips. As of an hour ago, I cannot find the female swordtail anywhere. I can only think that she is hiding inside the "cave" in the back right corner of the tank. Would she most likely be looking for a dark "quiet" place if she was having babies? Everyone else in the tank seems pretty normal. Also, if she is currently about to have babies, I really do not want it to screw up my tank which is only 7 weeks old (possibly not fully cycled). I have a 30 gallon in my basement, but I don't have an extra filter or anything. Only a heater (no hood or light too). Should I just leave her in the 29? I am more worried about the balance of the tank than the babies getting eaten, although it would be neat to see them grow up, but if she's in the process of having the babies right now, it's probably too late to do anything.
 
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Wouldnt worry too much or jump to unnecessary conclusion which can lead to mishaps, provided water parameters are w/in reason. Xtail's bahavioral changes could be due to LONE RB exploring new environment which can subside with time. DO observe closely though.

Can run 30G as grow out tank even w/o filter but with just simple aeration if you know how to set up such tank to eliminate/fasten cycling process in new tank. Heater maybe required as per your room temp and its stability

If pregnant (check the belly for black dots developing), Get a large breeder trap for now if you can. It shoudnt cost that much!
You can even use it as penalty box for any misbehaved players, lol!
 
ShockwaveCT said:
Well, I have a Biowheel 330 and seems like there is enough water agitation at the surface. All the other fish are fine, and my gouramies and angel are acting normal. At first I saw a large trail of what I assumed be poop coming from her, especially since a lot of fish ate a lot more than normal yesterday with them chowing down on the algae wafers. I also assumed this trail to be fecal matter since I know swordtails are livebearers, and I assumed that to mean they give birth to live young. The tank is only about 6-7 weeks old so not sure if it's even fully cycled, but I do weekly 25% water changes (on just done 2 days ago), and prior to the change all levels were great, ammonia a bit high at 3 ppm, but that was before the water change and fish addition. Kind of weird, just seems like most of the fish in the tank are pretty mellow with the occasional chase between the gouramies or angel, and the GLOfish dart around a bit, but quite a bit smaller and they keep to themselves. I don't want to Rosy barb to end up terrorizing the tank, and I have read some posts of people coming home to dead fish after adding a male rosy barb, but he doesn't seem to chase the other fish at all, just swims and darts around more quickly than the rest.
Click to expand...

That is more than a bit high, it is extremely high. Anything over .25 can be lethal to fish. I strongly suggest that you do large DAILY water changes to get this ammonia under control.
 
ShockwaveCT said:
BTW, I am using paper strips, I am not a big fan of the water droplets/vials. Seems faster and a little easier (although more expensive) with the test strips. As of an hour ago, I cannot find the female swordtail anywhere.
Click to expand...

Have you TRIED the liquid test kit? They are SO much more accurate (the paper strips can be way off sometimes... not a risk I like taking). And much less expensive in the long run. The bottles in an API kit have enough drops to do a ton of tests. I think if you invest in one, you'll be glad you did!
 
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