I have just recently set up a new tank ,and recently placed two pregnant female swordtails in it whilst i think what i want to put in it permanetly ,these are the only inhabitants. They have been in it for about three days and apart from one female chasing theother they seemed to be settling down except last night I fed them a bit of frozen brine shrimp within seconds of it hitting the water they seemed in a highly stressed state and started darting about with fins fully extended,Today I went to feed them some flake food and again they went beserk.Im not banging the lid or doing anything to suddenly scare them,the day before all this started i fed them some daphnia and they seemed ok,could it be they have smelled the fish and as they are the only two in the tank (they were in a big community tank before) they are scared?
What spooks my swordtails
- Thread starter ice jack
- Start date
Sorry, don't know what is causing their anxiety, but make sure you have no small holes in the top of your tank. Swordtails are jumpers and can shoot themselves though anything they can get their body through. I lost two swords in one night this way.... not a pretty site.
What size tank are they in? Was the tank cycled? Sometimes when i feed my fish the gouramis flinch a bit. I think its because of the sudden movement and noise. Also what sort of environment are you providing for these fish? You mentioned they were in another tank? What sized tank was that? What fish where in it etc?
Thnx Flag
Thnx Flag
I would go with flagfish. What kind of environment are your fish in? Is it well planted, is the open space broken up? Fish can be very nervous if there are large open spaces in tanks and in new tanks that are not well planted they tend to skulk in cornors. Try adding new plants or ornaments and see if it settles them down.
are they at least eating when they go crazy around feeding activity? Are they also jumpy when you just enter the room? I've had livebearers do this, literally almost jump out of the water, when I walk by their tank, if they don't have enough other fish around to make them feel comfortable.
If the tank was just recently set up, is it still cycling? What are your water params? Maybe this is stressing them out? Just an idea...... 
Thanks to all you guys for the replys ,much appreciated,The tank is about a week old and was cycled with the newish Tetra treatment which alledgedly does away with conventional cycling ,the tank theycome from was a heavilly planted 250 litre tank,this tank is 96 litres and is planted (not as heavilly) with plastic/fabric plants.This thing is really weired ,on one ocassion i dont think they see me add the food but onece they picked up the scent they went crazy .Water testsshow water is ok ,no ammonia ,nitrite ect.