Question about my female swordtail?

Question

I've got two lyretailed swordtails in my 55g, a male and female.  The male is fine, as are all the other fish, but the female is acting strangely.  She's still eating and active, but about every 30 seconds she does a sudden, spasmodic "dart".  I noticed she has a slightly strange-looking patch of scales on her side--it looks like there's a small bump covered by a clear membrane, with something white underneath it near the top.  I tried getting pictures, but it's hard to see:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword005.jpg

I'm thinking it's a parasite of some sort, but I'm not sure.  Any ideas?

horselover · Accepted Answer

It could be a parasite, but it looks like an old wound, perhaps another fish bit her or she scraped herself on something.  Sometimes that happens when the male is constantlly chasing her.  Always have at least 3 females to one male whenever you have livebearers, otherwise the male will literally chase the female to death attempting to mate.  You could remove charcoal from your filter and treat your tank with something for external parasites, or put something in for the fish 's slime coating.  She looks very well though, other than her scar.

freddy · Answer

i dont know what that is but my fish got it. They get it ever once in a while(it comes off and goes back on). This first started about 2 months ago. I dont think its a good thing but my fish seem the same.

Anonymous · Answer

Hmm. I would call the local petstore and see what they recomend. 

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Question about my female swordtail?

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