Has your swordtail fish been acting strangely in your tank? The chances are, if they are, there is something wrong with your fish. If your fish is showing severe signs of sickness, they can be taking their last breathe. Luckily enough, we can sometimes revive a dying fish. So, how can you save a dying swordtail fish?
The best way of saving a sickly or dying swordtail fish is to take care of the tank condition as a first-aid measure. If your swordtail fish is at an early stage of sickness, you might be lucky enough to save your fish by cleaning the fish, cleaning the tank, checking and maintaining the water quality, and checking their food.
But, if your swordtail fish has been sick or acting strangely for quite some time, it might be too late for the home remedies. Therefore, it is important to seek medical assistance from a trusted vet.
In this article, we will first identify the signs of the sickness of swordtail fish and discuss the ways to save the dying fish in detail.
Signs Of A Sick Fish
Swordtail fish are hardy creatures and can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. However, this does not give them immunity against diseases and sickness. Swordtail fish can easily get sick if you don’t properly care about their requirements like water parameters, diet, tank mates, etc.
Some of the common signs that identify sickness in swordtail fish are:
Instability
When your swordtail fish are sickly and dying, their mentation changes. They get confused about where they are and how they function. For example, they might forget how to swim and will fall sideways or upside down while swimming.
Loss Of Appetite
Swordtail fish are voracious eaters and will also feed off debris, dead fish, and aquarium plants if you do not provide them enough food. But, if they are sick, even the daily diet will be more. Swordtail fish lose their appetite when sick.
Discoloration
Swordtail fish are usually vibrant with various colors like red, orange, olive green, etc. However, these colors start to fade once your swordtail fish gets sick. Similarly, they also get tiny white spots all over their body, fins, and gills. These are called Ich, and you should get rid of them as soon as possible.
Abnormal Breathing
Swordtails do well in an oxygenated tank. But due to damage in their gills when sick, they might have a hard time breathing. So you will notice that your swordtails will often come to the top of the tank to gasp for air as it struggles to breathe underwater.
Wounds
Your swordtail’s eyes will bulge as if it is going to come out, and they will have a slimy, slippery body because of the mucus spreading all over the body. They might also have wounds and sores in different parts, like broken fins or tails.
Inactiveness
Swordtails, when sick, is not much active and lie at one corner of the tank. They generally prefer being in groups, but they isolate themselves and hide behind the plants motionless when sick.
Dropsy
Your fish’s stomach will start to bloat, even if you have not increased the food content and the females aren’t pregnant. An expanded stomach for no particular reason is a sign of sickness.
Therefore, these are some of the signs of sickness in your swordtail fish. If you find your fish at an early stage of sickness, you might be able to save them. Otherwise, you cannot save a dying swordtail fish unless you or your vet works out some miracle.
How To Save A Dying Swordtail Fish?
Now that you can identify a dying swordtail fish, you have to be very observant to save your dying swordtail fish. First, you need to know what is killing your swordtail fish and solve that issue.
There are many successful cases of the revival of a dying fish, given we figure out the problem and take it out from the root. It would help if you did the same to save your dying swordtail fish.
Make Sure To Set The Right Tank Environment
Oftentimes, we set the tank, not bearing in mind the type of fish we have. Each fish is peculiar and has its own set of preferences. Swordtails like certain things in their tank, and it’s more of a genetic need.
If Swordtail fish do not get a proper tank environment, they get sick. Thus, it is important to set the right tank environment (like lighting, filtration, vegetation, etc.) so that your swordtail can happily and comfortably recover.
Check Your Water Quality
Poor water quality is a major factor that promotes death and illness in many fish. Water to fish is as crucial as air to humans. If the air quality is bad, we contract various air-borne infections. The same goes for swordtails regarding their water.
The right water conditions are 65-82 degrees Fahrenheit, pH: 7.2-8.4, Hardness: 12-30 GH.
For this reason, you should check the water parameters with reliable and effective test kits. Likewise, you should check other factors like filtration, water current, and aeration. For example, swordtail fish like fast-flowing waters, so they do good with a mild water current.
Similarly, swordtail fish are tropical fish, so they need warm water, which means lesser oxygen. So, an air pump for faster oxygenation is necessary.
Fix The Water Content
If your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite are too high, it can cause chronic stress to your swordtail fish. This will, in turn, cause decreased immune function, making your fish ill. Hence, to save your dying swordtail fish, you should keep your water content in check.
The required amount of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are less than 0.1 mg/L, 0 mg/L, and less than 20 mg/L, respectively.
Likewise, out-of-range pH and temperature can be detrimental to your fish. But, making fast corrections to these parameters is even worse and can cause your fish to die. So, instead, you should make slow and gradual changes to ensure the survival of your swordtail fish.
Make Sure To Keep Them In Right Sized Tank
If you have too many fish and too little space, this can be one of the reasons that your swordtail is sick. When the tank is overcrowded, it can fill up with more waste and too little bacteria to spike up the filtration. Polluted tanks can cause a fish to die.
Therefore, you must choose the right tank size for your swordtail fish. Swordtail fish are active swimmers and also territorial. So, they need abundant space. One swordtail needs about 10-15 gallons of free space to swim around happily.
Another reason why you should consider a bigger tank is because it provides more oxygen. A tank already has limited oxygen. In such a case, if you overcrowd a tank, there are chances that your swordtails will die due to a lack of enough oxygen.
Check The Swordtail’s Food
Your swordtail fish might not have been getting enough nutrients from the food you provide. Swordtail fish need an appropriate and adequate diet to function properly.
If your swordtail fish do not get a properly balanced diet, they will grow weaker and susceptible to diseases. Thus, to save dying swordtail fish, check their food content.
Swordtail fish are omnivores and accept a wide range of food. They like both plants and protein. They accept brine shrimp, bloodworms, daphnia, mosquito larvae, algae, pellets, etc.
Choose The Right Tank Mates
Swordtail fish are amicable and enjoy good company. Therefore, your swordtail fish will remain happy if they are placed with tank mates of similar temperament and lifestyle. This could keep your swordtails engaged and far from stress and illness.
Some compatible tank mates for swordtails are platies, guppies, snails, shrimps, catfish, doras, etc.
You should avoid keeping them with large, aggressive species, as they will create a stressful environment for your swordtails.
Hence, these are some of the methods to save a dying swordtail fish.
How To Immediately Revive Swordtail Fish?
There have been successful results of the revival of a dying fish. Before you revive your swordtail, check if they are already dead or can still be revived.
Following are the steps to revive and save a dying swordtail fish:
Step 1: Clean your swordtail fish. When a swordtail fish is dying, it secrets mucus all over its body. So clean your swordtail fish. Please place them in a suitable tank with well-conditioned water and clean any debris on the body. Most importantly, free the gills and open them up if stuck so that it can breathe properly.
Step 2: Oxygenate the water. To revive or save the dying fish, keep them close to air stones or bubblers so that they get more oxygen. Meanwhile, aerate your water as much as possible.
Step 3: help them recover. Give your swordtail fish a salt bath so that they can recover. They need water with little salinity to fight sickness and recover faster. Add about 1 tablespoon of pure salt per 3-5gallon, and give your swordtail fish a nice salt bath for a few minutes.
Step 4: Call your vet to have a look at your swordtail fish because medical attention and opinions never hurt.
In this way, you may be able to revive your dying swordtail fish. You might be able to give a second chance to your swordtail and to yourself to take better care of your pet.
FAQs
Do Swordtail Fish Jump Out Of The Tank?
YES, swordtail fish tend to jump out of the tank when they are stressed and not happy in the tank. If you haven’t provided swordtail fish with appropriate water conditions and tank setups, they cannot thrive and will try to jump out of the tank.
To prevent your swordtail fish from jumping, add enough vegetation, put a lid and give them what they like.
Do Frequent Water Changes Hamper Swordtail Fish?
Swordtail fish are freshwater fish and love to stay in clean and clear water. Unfortunately, swordtail fish can produce a lot of waste which can dirty the tank water.
You should regularly change water but only partially, i.e., 25% of the water every 2 weeks. Frequent water changes can hamper swordtail fish as they cannot tolerate the fluctuations in water contents properly.
Conclusion
Therefore, there are chances of saving a dying swordtail fish. But, it is best if you won’t ever have to come to saving a dying fish. If you take proper care of your swordtail fish and their preferences, it won’t ever come to sickness or death.
To help your swordtail fish live their life to the fullest, provide them with all necessary equipment and setup they need. However, even with ample care, your swordtail fish might suffer from deadly diseases.
But now, you know what to do to revive your swordtail fish and save them from dying.
