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My male swordtail seems to float to his side quit frequently lately. I have no clue what's wrong with him but none of my other fish seem to be affected by what ever is wring with him. For my fish list, see my signature.

Any comments or suggestiond are appriciated.

Many times a swim bladder problem will not allow a fish to stay upright...

The real indication of swim bladder disease is when the fish sinks and cannot rise or the fish hangs at the top and cannot submerge.

The problem your fish is experiencing could be the organ that controls the gas exchange to the bladder.

There is no treatment but sometimes it just goes away by itself.

--garyroland.

If possible, put him in a smaller tank. Water volume can have an affect on a fish having swim bladder problems. Outside water pressure is less in a smaller environment.

This certainly isn't a cure but placing him in a smaller environment may help alleviate some of the symptoms or may even stop them completely.

I learned all this from the very knowledgeable garyroland. My molly completely recovered and thanks him for his advice.

Keep us posted.

He doesn't get stuck at the top or bottom. He swims just fine and hangs with the other Swordtails like normal. When he stops swimming, he starts to float sideways then swims correctly again. I don't have a smaller tank or filter or anything to move him. My water level is a little low due to the heat recently, it's about 2" low for the regular filling of my 29g.

Would different feeding habits cause this? I went on vacation and my friend fed them in my absence and he did't stick to the same schedule I usually do. Also...I THINK 2 of my females are pregnant(not sure) but would their pregnancy have an effect on him in any way?

Off topic - The 2 female swordtails appear to have little eggs inside them near the rear of their body. I know they are livebearers but I really have no clue as to how to successfully diagnose a pregnant fish. lol

[span class="edited"][Edited by DMDyne 2004-08-20 17:21][/span]

I've noticed a lot of fin rot on him yesterday and today so I started treating with melafix, I hope I can pull him through this. This will be the second male swordtail I've been through with these 3 females. I've had the females for almost 6 months, had bought a male with them and he was done in 2 months, after a 2 month wait I bought this male and he's been fine for 2 months...so idk....

Just an FYI to all who have read this....my male swordtail died today and minutes later my filter went out. So I purchased a new filter and I don't want to do a water change to get the Melafix out till new bacteria has set up on the new filter.

RIP Spike

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, DMDyne and I feel so bad that no one was around to give you any suggestions.

It sounds to me like Spike definitely had some sort of infection going on but what I don't know. Perhaps someone else can shed some light.

I don't think a different feeding schedule would have caused this problem unless he was overfed and/or the water was polluted/spoiled while your friend was looking after your fish. I haven't heard of pregnancy in females causing such ill-effects either. I'd look to make sure your water parameters are where they should be.

As for the pregnant females, I don't know much about swords but I believe all livebearers have a gravid spot on their side when pregnant though I know with my platys it is impossible to see due to their colouring. With one of my platys, I could see little black dots inside her tummy, which I later found out were eyes. I have found that livebearers appear boxy when they are pregnant - the best way I can describe it is flat on the bottom.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting the MelaFix out through water changes. The carbon from the new filter will remove it.

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-08-30 12:31][/span]