# Odd Sword behavior



## bchbum16 (Jun 21, 2011)

Hi i recently bought two female swords to accompany my already two swords (1 male, 1 female) in my 20 gallon tank. One of the females though is acting very odd, she keeps all of her fins as close to her body as possible and keeps her tail really tight. She is a little bit smaller than than the male and the other female (who is acting perfectly fine). She also hides most of the day under the rockwork i have set-up. Can anyone help me figure out what may be wrong with her?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

My fish guess is that the male is harassing her every time he sees her. However, a new (unquarantined) fish could very well have picked up a disease in the store and be slowly dying as she spreads the illness to all your other fish.


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## bchbum16 (Jun 21, 2011)

I got worried of this so i moved her last night to another tank to see how she was doing. I actually think that i was sold a Juvenille male instead of a female. The fins look very similar to my male just without the sword. so i'm thinking that the other male was harrassing it for that reason. In the other tank it acts perfectly fine but i'll keep an eye on it.


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## Fishy Freak (Jun 1, 2011)

Clamped fins are a sign of stress or disease. Are the fins normal now too, would put it down to stress if they are.


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## bchbum16 (Jun 21, 2011)

yeah even i the new tank she's hiding... i guess i'll have to keep an eye on her.


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## bchbum16 (Jun 21, 2011)

so... idk what the problem was but she died


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Watch your other fish carefully for a few weeks


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## bchbum16 (Jun 21, 2011)

Yeah i was planning too... at the moment they are all acting normal... hopefully it stays that way


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

The one sure way to tell if your 'female' swordtail is really a female, is to check the fins! If it has a gonopodium, it's a male. A gonopodium looks like a thin, stick-like fin instead of the triangular fin a female would have. Compare your male (with the sword) to your females to get a better understanding of what I'm talking about. You'll see the difference if you look closely enough.

As emc7 has said, watch your fish. It definitely sounds like she might have some sort of illness or parasite. That's the risk you take when you purchase from the pet stores... I've had this happen a few times with platies and guppies, and each time resulted in death (whether I had them separated from the rest of the fish or not).


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