Rough Morning

[PaBucsFan]

Sorry for the double post....
I woke up this morning to two dead Koi Swordtails and it appears that another is on its way out. I was treating them for Clamped Fin but I think I might be wrong. The Koi Swordtail that appears to be on her way out is having trouble staying balanced as well as struggling to swim. I have a 20 gallon tank and the parameters this morning were pH @ 7.4, the ammonia @ .25ppm, the nitrite @ 0.00ppm, and the nitrate is also 0.00ppm. I would assume the ammonia is up due to the fish dying in the middle of the night. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[orangefish]

If this fish is having trouble staying balanced, it is probably swim bladder disease. I don't really know about treating it or whether you can when it's already got it- but my danio had it and died within a few hours Good luck

 

[BettaCrazy7]

Clamped fins can be a sign of external parasites. I would definitely do a water change on the tank.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Well all three were showing signs of clamped fin. The two that died in the middle of the night, one was having trouble swimming/staying balanced, the other was being quite lethargic. The one that I fear is near death is not just laying at the bottom of the tank, fins clamped. I have one new Koi Swordtail that is swimming perfectly fine and acting normal, as are my mollies. I am really stumped and intend on changing the water when I get home from work. Any other input would be appreciated! Does anyone know if Koi Swordtails are prone to disease?

 

[PaBucsFan]

I have now lost 3 out of my 4 koi swordtails in less than 18 hours! I am finally home long enough to do a water change but I do not know what medicine to give them. I really do not want to lose my last koi swordtail or any of my other fish. Please help!

 

[OldMan47]

Your present pH and the trace of ammonia are telling me that you may have a yet uncycled tank. In any case, my first inclination when I don't know what is wrong with one of my fish is to do a 50% or larger water change. Quite often I never do figure out the detailed issue that was causing the fish to act wrong but they never show symptoms again.

 

[Athena]

Can I ask how long these fish had been suffering clamped fins? Clamping of fins is usually an indication of stress brought about by either disease or tank conditions. Sometimes the disease is internal and the first idea you have that something is wrong is when the fish clamp their fins.

There are other things to look for at that point - e.g. any signs of weight loss/sunken bellies? Any blurry white spots on fins (not Ich)? Any rapid gill movements? Any flicking or scraping? Any erratic swimming? Floating aimlessly or sitting on gravel? Any signs of fin damage?

There are various things it could be in the case of your fish, e.g. 1) a fungal disease, which is usually brought on by stress factors (e.g. bad water quality, overcrowding, bullying etc) and if untreated it will spread to vital organs and finally the brain. Can be treated early on with meds, e.g. Protozin, or 2) Gill/body parasites (flukes) which you can treat with Sterazin (if it is flukes you will have noticed the fish scraping/flicking prior to their current condition, you may also notice tiny blurred spots on their fins, although they're not always visible).

Very difficult to give a definite diagnosis without seeing the fish but you may be able to make a decision after a further and thorough inspection of the sick fish. Unfortunately, it could well be too late in the day to save the fish if the disease is in it's final stage...

Regards - Athena

 

[PaBucsFan]

It is a moderately new tank. It has been running with fish since late March. I keep the pH up because from what I have read mollies prefer a slightly higher pH. What is weird is that the mollies were flicking or glancing but the Koi Swordtails were not prior to the Koi Swordtails clamping their fins. A day after the Koi Swordtails were clamping their fins they began to have trouble swimming and we laying at the bottom with heavy gill movement. I have lost 3 out of my 4 Koi Swordtail. The last Koi Swordtail is actually the biggest of the bunch, the Mollies, the Cory, and the Plecto are all acting normal. I did a 50% water change last night and added a copper treatment along with salt to the tank. I am going to monitor the parameter a little more frequently this week until every settles. Thanks for the advice.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Thanks to everyone for the help. My tanks seems to have stabilized (illness wise) and the remaining fish are doing much better. Thanks again!