red gasping swordtail

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michelliot

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May 6, 2003
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He/she's not at the surface gasping for air but just constantly breathing hard opening and closing its mouth. Appearance seems to be normal. I don't see any anomalies or color changes. It just seems lathargic, staying to itself, usually sheltered by a rock or plant.

All water tests are normal and I don't believe it's that old because it first developed its sword about 3 months ago.

Any thoughts,
THANKS

Elliot •¿•
 
Any body in the tank beating up on him? Any changes to the tank (feeding schedule, filter, media etc)? How long has he been this way?
 
If the one fish is affected, you figure it's not something in the water, such as nitrite. So you figure that some ectoparasites (surface-type parasite) is inflaming the fishes' gills. It's either single-celled protozoans or microscopic flatworms called flukes.
 
Just a few of days

Don't think its been intimidated by the others. I'll keep a closer eye on him and monitor his feeding a little closer. His self-isolation and breathing are really the only symptoms but he used to swim in tandem with the other swordtail, not recently. I'll keep you informed.

THANKS AGAIN,
Elliot •¿•
 
I've had a ton of trouble...

with swordtails... they are extremely prone to problems with any flucuations in temperature, ph, algae blooms, etc... to say the least, they are not a very hearty fish, but they're really nice looking fish, so it kinda sucks how fragile they are...
 
To me, it seems like swordtails were more hardy when I started out in the hobby 25+ years ago as a kid. I had and kept swords with little or no trouble at all back then. We were a bit more limited in our selection then...mainly the green swordtail, the brick red sword, and the red wagtail. Fancy lyretails, and velvet reds were kind of scarce. Now there are some really fancy ones that look like they have been hybridized and stretched to the limits of their genetic make-up.

Livebearers as a whole in general, seem less hardy. Guppies, swords, mollies, platies all seem weak, at least the ones I see in LFS. Every once in a while, I find pockets of a really strong strain, but overall, they are pathetic. However, the strains I get from breeders all seem really strong though. I prefer to get my breeding stock from fish auctions for that very reason.
 
I have found the latest strains of swords to be weak, nervous fish that die at a moments notice even with perfect conditions. The only thing they have going for them is that they are pretty. I have replaced mine with mollies as they have died off over time and wish I would had done it years ago.

Compared to the swords, Mollies are fearless and never panic and hide when you approach the tank, are much more playful and hungry, rarely eat the young, the males do not fight each other or constantly stress out the females, and have some very striking colors although not as bright as the swords.
 
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