New Swordtails!

Riso-chan

Riso-chan

The Blue Girl
Jan 17, 2005
322
0
0
41
Florida, USA
I finally got some swordtails today, but just 3 females. The lfs only had 2 males in stock and they didn't look too healthy, so I'm waiting until later this week when they get new stock in. The 3 females look fairly healthy and stout. Their colors are as follows; 1 silver top with black sides, 2 pineapple with some orange, 3 orange with black tail and splotches. They all seemed to have transitioned well so far to my tank, still curious and nervous of me though. The only thing that bothers me is that the third female has whitish gill slits. Some of the scales around the gills are pale as well. If this is ich, I've heard you can give the fish a salt bath using uniodized table salt. Could it be normal that a reddish fish have light colored gills? Thanx in advance.
 
Forgot to add that the female seems to be acting normal. And all three have whitish stools, could that be from trasition stress? I've read that intestinal parasites cause this also. They even tried to eat it too, the other fish in the tank ate some too. I know this could be very bad, so please advise me what to do.
 
Just fed them some garlic soaked flake food after reading another post. They're eating well, which makes me feel much better. Though, the stool is still stringy and whitish, it now looks more like the color of the food. It seems to stay attached before the fish is able to push it out. Nervous and still need advice on what to do.
 
Update

This morning they seem to be doing better as far as behavior goes. I also saw one of them defacate, and it now looks smooth and brown, which I'm guessing is much better. I believe the garlic in their food last night may have helped, or it could just be that they're starting to acclimate.

BTW I need someone to respond so that I have some heads up on this. How long should I keep treating this problem? The lfs also recommended I soak the food in garlic, and told me that some fish foods actually have it already for this purpose. Mine doesn't though.

Another question I have is relating to some displayed behavior this morning. The pineapple female seems to rest on the bottom for a few minutes, while still moving fins, and she will move from time to time. Is this normal?
 
Ok, the problem does not sound like ick. ICK is a smallish white bumps on the fish. Could be lost scales or just normal coloration for this fish.
As for picking up your male fish, I would sugest just picking up one. Do not worry, in time you will have plenty more.
I like keeping my live bearers in trios and having one more female is never a problem. He will be busy courting all the females.
 
Figured out why the one female was hiding so much. One of the others has become dominant and seems to pick on that one, but she also picks on the other, so that seems normal. Fed some garlic with their food again today. When should I know when to stop adding it for intestinal parasites?
 
Give her about a week or so, and she should be ok.
If possible, add some more plants or hiding spots for your female and I think that should help the stress of your fish a bit. It will give her some place to hide and once you add your male, the females should settle down. But I can not promise this though, Every fish is different.
 
They've got a few hiding places in there already, but I'm probably going to add more hornwart. Eventually, I think I'm gonna plant it so they had a sort of underwater forest. Thanx again.
 
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