Sick Swordtail?

[HeatherW]

My young female swordtail is sick I think.

She is eating little, hanging out near the bottom at the back of the tank.

Her tail is drooping downward from after the dorsal fin.
She is "shimmying" back and forth.

She does not have any blemishes. Feces are normal, but not lots because eating is diminished.
She can swim fine when she tries, but prefers to be listless.

Water is: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, PH 7.3, Temp. 78 fahrenheit
I do a 15% water change every week.
She started looking this way Saturday. Water change was Sunday.
She has not improved nor gotten worse.

Swords, platies, and 1 pleco in the tank (proper description in my profile).
All males 1:3or4 ratio. Only male sword is lyretail, leaves her alone.

No current bullying. She is not pregnant, never has been, came from a separated farm.

No other fish are symptomatic.

Can someone let me know what they think please?
Stress from some unknown cause? Should I get meds?

Heather

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How is her weight? Are her fins clamped? Could be an internal bacterial infection..

 

[HeatherW]

Her weight is okay so far. Only symptomatic since Saturday.

Her fins are a little clamped.

I gave them all boiled shelled peas last night. Livened everyone up.
Since then she has seemed a little better with the appetite and activity level.
Still kind of hiding though.

Would this have cleared her out?
Or should I go get an antibacterial for internal bacteria?

Heather

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would increase your water change to 25%+ instead of 15% a week as it will benefet the fish overall , what do you feed your fish on average and how much including the plec?

 

[HeatherW]

I feed a small pinch of TetraMin Pro "Crisps" in the morning. I crunch them up to make them smaller.
Otherwise they keep eating and spitting out. Lots of waste that way.
They are a mixed flake. Red ones, yellow ones, and green ones.

In the evening they get another small pinch (what can be eaten in 3 min.)
They also get a tiny bit of freeze dried tubifex worms. Maybe 4-5 bites per fish.

Ten minutes before I turn out the light I put in one or 2 algae discs.
They sink and are mostly spirulina, but also other vegetables.
The swords like more than the platies, but they all nibble.

The pleco eats the discs overnight. He also eats the sunken flake if there is any in the evening.
If the disc(s) from the night before are totally gone, for the morning feeding I put another in.
Otherwise I wait until that evening.

I just gave peas a few days ago for the first time. They loved them.
I think I will alternate peas and tubifex with the flake in the evening.
Ie. flake/tubifex, flake/peas, flake/tubifex

Any other hints for feeding?

Also, the young swordtail is looking better and better.
Active, eating, and no clamped fins today.
Still a little shy compared to before.

Maybe the water was just not too good. She did get stessed just before the scheduled cleaning.
Do they sometimes take a bit to recover after the water is fixed like that?

And.....sorry. If I up the water change, am I better to do one 30% change a week or two 15% changes.
It does not take me long to do it with my gravel siphon.
But with the bucket I have, either 15% or 30% would be my measurements.
So, 30% every Sunday? Or 15% Sunday and another 15% Wed?

I have a filter with 3 types of media: sponge, charcoal, and ceramic bio tablets.
My tank is at capacity (or even a little full), but I plan to keep up with water changes.

Thank you to everyone for helping out.

Heather