Green swordtail pooping constantly  3/18/09
I recently purchased a female green swordtail, we also have 3 other female swords in the tank. The green one is obviously pregnant huge black gravid spot though not very round, but all she does is poop. All the poo seems to be 2to3 times the length of her body and she just keeps swimming along with it hanging out. I was just wondering if something could be wrong with her or is just pregnancy. We feed her Tetra tropical food flakes twice a day.
<Greetings. The issue here sounds like constipation. Swordtails (and indeed Xiphophorus species generally) are herbivores, and expect a diet rich in green foods. Algae-based flake foods should be the staple, not standard tropical fish food, which is formulated for carnivorous fish such as tetras. Supplement the diet with cooked or tinned peas, cooked spinach, Sushi Nori and other soft, green foods. Leave algae to grow in the tank! Epsom salt at 1 to 3 teaspoons per 5 US gallons could be added if the fish seems bloated; otherwise, just stop using flake food (including algae-based flake food) and stick with the peas, Sushi Nori and other fibre-rich foods.
Certain live foods have a laxative effect, notably daphnia and brine shrimp, so those could be used too. Do also remember to optimise conditions: Swordtails need hard, alkaline water that isn't too warm; for 10+ degrees dH, pH 7.5-8, and a temperature no higher than 24 degrees C (75 F). Exercise is important to these fish, since they're stream-dwellers rather than pond fish; make sure the tank is roomy (at least 60 cm long) and equipped with a strong filter. Cheers, Neale.>

Xiphophorus (vanishing colours?)   10/17/08
Hello Crew!
I have two platies.. One of them seems to be getting lighter in color. At first, it was light yellow, but it is getting white everyday? Any theories as to why?
Thank you!
Marion
<Need more data... Is the skin on this fish getting cloudy, as if its mucous layer was getting thicker? That's a symptom of a variety of different problems, not least of which is poor water conditions. But if the fish is otherwise normal but simply losing its colour, then that's more likely harmless, if not particularly welcome. Some commercially bred fish are "juiced" in various ways to make them more colourful than they really are. As time passes, they revert to their proper colours. Because Platies are herbivores, they will have their best colours if given a diet rich in plant matter. Spirulina flake food is widely sold and ideal. So also are algae wafers sold for Plecs. Pop half a wafer in, and let them peck away at it all day. Augment the diet with crustaceans such as brine shrimps and live daphnia. Between them, these foods will provide the carotenes and other chemicals Platies need for their best colours. Cheers, Neale.>

Xiphophorus; behaviour, repro    8/3/08
hello again, sorry to bother you Neale,
<Hello,>
I swear that sending emails to you will not become a common practice of mine- I can assure you this. And I hope you don't think I'm a nuisance already (for, this would be my third question to you).
<Fire away!>
My platys are not sick, their tank's ph, ammonia, chlorine, etc- they're all fine. Nothing is physically wrong with my fish. My problem is simply this: I bought some new fish (I've upgraded to a 20 gallon- so don't worry I have the room). One of my new fish is a white Mickey mouse platy and he seems fine and mild tempered; he displays no aggression towards any of my fish, except one. She is a female I've had for a long time and I've grown quite fond of her.
<The males will pester whatever female they deem to be "fittest" in terms of being the most attractive recipient of their genetic material. How they make those choices is complex. But in any event, what you're seeing simply means he likes this girl the most.>
I'd hate to have anything happen to her. It pains me to see the new fish chase only that one female fish around. Other female fish are fine and so is my one other male. My question to you is: why is the new white male singling out only one of my fish?
<Entire PhD theses are written on mate selection! Broadly speaking, male livebearers are shorter lived than the females. They are smaller, brighter colours, and often encumbered with things that make them worse swimmers (e.g., longer fins). So males have to breed quickly. Females are bigger, camouflaged, and stronger swimmers, so they can take their time and choose mates carefully. Producing sperm is cheap and easy, so males can afford to mate frequently. Females are stuck with the eggs their born with, and each pregnancy places a heavy energy demand on the female, so she wants to mate only when it is in her best interests to do so. This creates a tension between the males (who want to mate urgently) and females (who want to mate carefully). Bottom line: males will pester whichever females they want to mate with. This is why with livebearers I like to tell people to be generous about the size of the tank; to keep them in fairly big numbers to dilute aggression/harassment; to keep more females than males; and to provide lots of floating plants so that females have hiding places.>
I've never seen this before. Usually when I pick a mean fish, it will attack all the fish in the tank, or at least two or three. This one is dead set on following and sometimes nipping at just one fish in particular.
<Does happen.>
Will this behavior go away with time?
<No guarantees.>
Should I give this situation time?
<Up to a point, but if she's having trouble resting and feeding, then that's going to cause problems ere too long.>
Will the stress of constantly being chased back and forth kill one of my favorite fish?
<Conceivably.>
I am very worried. I would like to keep the new fish, as he is very pretty and I want to keep a good female to male ratio so that my one dominant female doesn't become too possessive of my one male. But I understand that if the new fish's behavior is not something that will go away, I will have to return him to the store.
<If you have space, I'd add some more females. I can't remember how big your tank is, so be sensible about this. But adding females usually benefits the livebearer aquarium. Adding decent sized floating plants (e.g. Indian Fern) would be another cheap-and-cheerful solution that might work.>
Thank you for taking the time to read my questions and I hope I'm not a nuisance. The questions on your site don't really seem to be geared toward platy behavior so much as platy illnesses. I figured a direct question to you would be a better avenue.
<Indeed.>
Thank you so much!
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Xiphophorus; behaviour, repro   8/4/08
Neale,
Thank you for responding to my questions. I had a feeling it was something to do with fish affection but I wasn't sure. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
<You mean fish aggression rather than affection, I suspect! And yes, better safe than sorry.>
I do have room for three more fish and this time I'll be more careful as to what sex of fish I choose. My tank probably does need more hideaways and I'll work on that as well. Again, thank you for all your help!
<Sounds like a good plan. Good luck! Neale.>

Swordtail problem   1/11/07
Hi,
   <Hello>
  Y'day I got about 8 mollies and a couple of swordtail. When I introduced them to our tank they took sometime to settle down. But the female swordtail kept running up and down the walls of the tank. But this morning when I checked on them the female swordtail it seems to stay on the surface minimal movement. Sometimes it goes to the bottom of the tank but still stays with minimal activity. Is it some kind of a disease? I have no idea what could be the problem Please help.    
  Thanks   
  Veronica.
<Likely just "settling in", acclimating to the move, new system... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/swordsysfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Swordtail & Corydoras behavior  - 05/13/2006
Hello again,
All my swords are now active and schooling. I've figured out the problem with the last female I bought. While at the pet store the other day I
noticed they had a new tank marked "high finned platy". Apparently they had the red swag high finned platys and red swag swords in together,
<Yikes... not smart. Can/do inter-breed>
on top of that this platy is a male because he has the single pectoral fin.
<Mmm, not this>
My criteria for determining whether I was buying male or female swords didn't work on a platy :P I'm going to get a couple female high finned platys so hopefully the male sword will stop picking on the male platy.
<A good plan>
Looking at him you'd never know he wasn't a sword (other than the large top fin), he even schools with the swords but the male chases him around every once in a while and at feeding the male sword gets very aggressive toward the platy.
<Yes, natural>
Anyway, enough of my rambling, I've got another question for you.
I originally bought 3 Corys, 1 bronze and 2 albino, I thought because they were the same species they would school.
<Maybe>
Well one albino died the first night, and the remaining albino and bronze would just sit by themselves all the time in the corner or under a rock. I waited a couple days to make sure no other fish were having problems in the tank and added 2 more bronze and all 3 schooled up right away but the albino still just sat there, he'd come out to eat and then go right back to his hiding spot. I had already setup a larger tank for my Betta and decided I'd do a school of albino Corys in it so I bought 2 and moved the one from my other tank to the new one, and
again, he found a hiding spot and just sits there, the other 2 schooled right up. I added 3 more a couple days ago and all 5 school and ferret
around the bottom looking for food but the original one just sits there.
<Give it time...>
If another Cory or I bother him he'll get up and start looking for food for a few sec.s and then he swims back to his spot. He'll also swim out to eat when I drop shrimp or algae pellets in. I guess I'm trying to figure out why he won't school or at least do something besides just sit there. Thanks in advance.
<Takes some individuals a bit of time... Patience here. Bob Fenner>

Swordtail behavior  - 04/27/06
Hello, while looking up some odd behavior I observed today I came across your site and only one question was left unanswered.
Being my first freshwater aquarium I bought a book at PetSmart and it suggested the sword tail as a good starter species to cycle the tank
<Uh, no...>
so I bought 3 as it suggested and put them in, 2 females red (with black fins) and a male pineapple. The larger female stays hidden almost all the time staring at her reflection and occasionally tapping the glass. The smaller female and the male seem to have paired up and swim around together a lot and sometimes just go chill by the larger female in her hiding spot but there's no aggression between them. The guide I'm following though is for a 29 gallon tank and I have a 37 so I decided to add a couple fish to the plan and went and bought another pineapple female the next day. After putting the pineapple female in tank she began swimming all over but the small red
female seems to be chasing and nipping at the pineapple female and sometimes the male will join the small red female in a charge but never really chases the pineapple female like the small red female does. The small red female and the pineapple female are about the same size. Should I separate them or is this just a normal adjustment period of the fish establishing their hierarchy?
<It might be that the "new-ness" of the tank, changing/evolving water quality is a contributor here, but Swords are naturally somewhat nippy... I would leave all as is here, and keep monitoring your system for cycling... adding no more livestock, carefully feeding till it is done completely. Bob Fenner>

Swordtails
What does it mean when a male nibbles at the female swordtails ventral area?<could be a mating ritual or just aggression...I would keep an eye on the two and see if the female is getting hurt or stressed out. If the latter occurs I would put the female in a breeding net> Is he trying 2 kill her unborn babies in an attempt 2 mate w/ her?!! <doubtful-but would keep a close eye on the fish, IanB>

Swordtail Strangeness
Last Friday, I bought 3 female swordtails. I'm not positive what variety
they are; two are sort of goldish colored and the other is orange with
black fins that are tipped in yellow (really pretty!). Well, in the LFS,
the orange one had some black spots on his head. I asked the girl
working if those were normal and she said yes. I honestly didn't have a
clue so I just trusted her. It was the only female of the variety left
so I didn't have much choice. Well, I got home and quarantined all three
in the same tank (10 gallon, Whisper filter, 78 degrees F, 50% water
from main tank, 50% treated tap water). Several hours later when I
checked to see how they were doing, the black spots were gone! So what
does this mean? Is she sick? Was she sick? Should I quarantine them
longer than I'm planning (1 more week)? Ever heard of anything like
this? All three of them seem very healthy right now and those spots have
never come back. Thanks for any help you can provide. David
<<David, I have no clue. The only thing I can think of is a color change due to stress, so the black spots could return. Although platies rarely change color due to stress, but I guess it's possible. I can't think of any other reason for the spots to disappear so quickly. Quarantine them for a couple of weeks. At any rate, keep an eye on your fish for any other physical changes, and test your water regularly for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. Good luck! -Gwen>>

Aggressive female swordtail 5/31/04
I have a couple of swordtails, (1 male and 1 female). The female (who is larger a bit than the mail) is really aggressive. they were ok the first couple of day after I got them, but now the male is always hiding, and every time he goes out the female attacks him so he goes back to hiding. what does that mean??
<either the honeymoon is over, or the beer has run out <G>. But seriously, it sounds like a simple case of territorial aggression. If the tank is not overstocked, do consider adding more leafy coverage/plants (plastic or live), or perhaps rearranging what you have if plentiful already. Best of luck, Anthony>

Strange Swordtail Behavior -Old or Sick?
Hi there,
Sorry to bother you but I am hoping you can help.  We have a mixed 15gal tank including some swordtails tetras and two clown loaches.  Recently
the oldest of the swordtail females - (we have had her over a year and she is at least three inches long & full grown when we got her) -
She has started acting very strangely and stopped eating. All the other fish in the tank look fine and eat and swim normally.  This one swims
"frantically" around near the surface of the water with the top of her head just barely brushing the surface. I have not seen her eat anything
for at least a week.  She has gotten very thin, but continues to swim despite apparent exhaustion which occasionally has her drift to the
bottom for a "rest" period. She then returns to the surface and sticks her nose toward the air again.  
We have both an internal Eheim filter (we live in the Netherlands so you may not know these brands) as well as some extra aeration via a bubble
wand since the internal filter doesn't aerate. We have done two 25%-30% water changes in the last two weeks in case it was a water quality
issue.  We have also tried treating with a locally available "broad spectrum" product "Exit" that claimed (in Dutch) to cure "most common fish ailments.  
So if this is not simply old age. apparently it is an Uncommon ailment. I would like to know if this sounds like anything remotely curable. She
just keeps getting skinnier and skinnier and she was so strong to last this long, but she is simply getting worse not better, but doesn't seem
to want to die of old age....Any ideas?
Thanks for any input!
Laura
< It sounds like an internal bacterial infection that may have been drought on by advanced age. In a clean warm quarantine tank I would try Metronidazole or a heavy dose of Furanace. You fish has been ill/weak for a while so it may not be strong enough for a triple dose of Furanace. So try a single dose and see if there is any effect.-Chuck>

Shy Swordtail
Hello! I'm new to the fish game, learning all the time - thanks in large part to your site! My question is about a female swordtail I bought a couple weeks ago. I think she's pregnant, buy my question is about how she's acting - she hides all the time! I have a large piece of coral in my tank - she spends about 80% of her time squeezed into the nooks and crannies. The few times that I've coaxed her out (at one point, I thought she might have died in the coral), she
leaves the coral and goes straight into another decor item I have, and hides there! I have one other female swordtail, a male, plus several goldfish and 6 neon tetras. All the fish get along really well, except for this one shy one. Is this behavior an indication that she's pregnant? Or, is this just the way she is? Any suggestions for helping her "come out of her shell? Thanks for your help!
Tom
<Many females will go off by themselves when ready to drop. Both she and the fry would make an easy target for a hungry cichlid if not. Could just be a shy fish also. The more places a shy fish as to hide, the more it will come out. It will feel safer. The big problem I see is mixing tropicals and goldfish. Not good. The Neons and swords want a temp in the high 70s to low 80s. The goldfish at least ten degrees cooler. They also do better on different diets. For the long term health of these fish I suggest you return the goldfish. To keep several goldfish for life requires a tank of over 150 gallons. Don> 

Swordtails Dueling it Out
Hi there, here is the history--We bought 4 swordtails 2 males and 2 females, the one female died within 2 weeks, now the other female is pregnant. My 2 males seem to be getting really aggressive with one another, and I am wondering what we should do. Is this normal??? We don't have the set up to breed right now so we are not worried about keeping the fry but I also don't want the males to kill each other off??? Any suggestions???
< When it comes to mating games survival goes to the fittest. If the males are not breeding then they are attempting to drive off potential suitors. I would add lots of plants and give the loses many places to hide and /or rest. You could always separate them if you had another tank.-Chuck>

Aggressive swordtails 8/9/05
Hey I have a 15 gallon with 3 "teenager" marble sailfin mollies, and 6 swordtails (2 red-white, 2 green, 1 black, 1 pineapple).
I have 3 males and 3 females, and I know that the female ratio needs to be higher, so I put 1 male in my 10 gallon, but my males continued to be very aggressive.
<Happens... ratios are better at three or more females per male>
The mollies seem to have nothing to do with the swords, and the swords are not aggressive toward the mollies.
<About right>
So I continued to watch them and the "bully" male is quite larger than the other 2 males, and 2 females. He chases around the two males and the two smaller females. However, the large female chases him around!!
So is there anything you suggest before I can find some time to find some new healthy females to add?? Thanks.
BMERANG
<Separate the bully... in a hanging net, breeding trap, floating colander in the tank. Bob Fenner>