Strange Swordtail Behavior

[Little_Orca]

I went away for the weekend to Eastern Oregon to see Hell's Canyon and it's wildlife. When I left, I made sure Lir (that is my red swordtail) was healthy and I made arrangements for my sister to feed him. When I got back, I smiled and told him "I'm getting a new playmate for you!" (I told him if he lived over the weekend I would get hima new female [his old one jumped from the tank and died]).

I cleaned out his tank and make sure the water temperature and settings were all right. While I was cleaning, I had him in some of his old tank water with [No-Name] (my new female pinapple swordtail). They swam together and were acting just fine. However, wehn I put them back into the newly cleaned and nice tank, Lir started to act strange. I placed him and [No-Name] in and [No-Name]was jus fine. She started swimming around and exploring; fins out as normal. Lir, on the other fin, is laying about, dorsal and tail clamped, but oter fins out. He will lay and then float vertical with his head up, then shoot for the surface, swim in a circle, then lay on the graval again and continue this pattern. Even after I gave them food (Lir's favorite time of the day) he was not doing so well. He has even began to cork-screw swim.

He's not going to be okay, is he?

 

[DeepSeaFishin]

Hopefully you didnt just dump him into the main tank after keeping him in the small jar or whatever you kept him in, I always acclimate them back for at least 2-5 mins before releasing into the main tank... Also I reccomend you should purchase 2-3 more females so the male doenst chase just one female swordtail aroudn all the time...its strange behavoir, the best of luck to you and him...

How did you clean the tank?

 

[Little_Orca]

Lir is doing better now. He is not performing any of his strange behaviors, but he is still a little lathargic.

I cleaned the tank by placing Lir and the female in a neautral meeting tank and let them sit in there. Then I pour out the old water and used hot water to clean the gravel, which was then rinsed several times with cool water to make sure they would not be hot when the fish went in. I added in clean water with some stress coat and a pinch of salt. I cleaned out the filter, put in a new bag, let it sit for a few minutes, then added the fish in gently. Same that I do for my other fish (bettas, orandas, moors, fantails, feeders-as-pets).

Edit: The no name female is also doing fine, not that there were any initial complaints about her.

 

[DeepSeaFishin]

Thats great that he's doing better, however, In my opinion, when cleaning gravel, I would clean it with some of your tank water in a bucket so you dont kill the bacteria on it, this may trigger an amonia spike in your tank, also I highly recommend (Optional) you buy at least another female swordtail so the female you have now isnt constantly being bothered by the males attempts to mate...

The best of luck to you

Tom