Dead Swordtail

[fish-rookie]

I have been having trouble with my tank recently: a spate of deaths over the last few months and a curious one this morning.

I found one of my last remining swordtails (which have always been pretty hardy) dead this morning floating belly up at the surface with a white, swollen anus. No other symptoms were present. The body of the fish wasn't bloated in any way, the fish had been gasping at the surface the night before even though all the other fish weren't.

I have a set of rummy nose tetras that look very poorly but are displaying diefferent symptoms: total colour loss and breathing rapidly at the bottom of my tank, barely moving.

I have tested my ammonia/nitrite levels - both zero. My nitrate reading is about 10. I have a DIY CO2 kit added only in the last couple of days and as best I can calculate the GH/PH chart tells me the reading for CO2 is about 12-15, fairly constant.

Anyone got any ideas? Any suggestions regarding the rummy noses would help too.

FR

P.S. Thanks to miss wiggle for all the help so far.

I have just been reading the post two below this one "Hmm not sure what this is..." and I'm wondering if I should just dose the tank with pimafix/melafix anyway?

Will it do any harm to the healthier fish? Are there any conditions which will be exacerbated by this cocktail? Should I remove the carbon element from my filter when dosing?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

have you ever seen any worms around the anus of the fish? bit grim but please have a close look!

it sounds like intenal parasites to me but my google searches didn't turn up anything useful and I'm reluctant to advise medication without any facts to back up my diagnosis

melafix and pimafix should not do any harm to any healthy fish. As with humans medicine isn't always the nicest thing and may have some side effects, however it will tell you on the bottle if it's unsafe for use with healthy fish (can't think of anything that would be but maybe prescription meds) and melafix and pimafix definately don't

 

[fish-rookie]

have you ever seen any worms around the anus of the fish?

None that I could see. The anus looked like a mini polo mint - horrible thought I know, bit it was just a white ring.

I think I'll try dosing the tank a little just in case.

Thanks for your help!

FR

 

[WILDER]

This med for internal parasites.
http/www.flubenol.co.uk/