Bumpy skin on sailfin mollies   7/16/07
Hello,
I have a 10-gallon tank containing a large (3 inch) male sailfin molly and two smaller sailfin mollies that were born and raised in my tank. The young ones are now 2 inches and I have recently noticed they have rather warty-looking skin especially from the dorsal fin forward. The other molly retains his beautiful iridescent smooth white look. The bumpy mollies seem otherwise in great good health as do the other fish in the tank. ( 3 neon tetras, 1 Plecostomus, and 2 lava glowfish) I use the recommended dose of aquarium salt, have live plants and treat the tank about every two month with ick medicine. The affected mollies are orange and black and the bumps follow the color pattern as if the source is under the skin. Do I have a problem or just cute little bumpy mollies?
Mary
<Greetings Mary. OK, the 10 gallon tank is way too small for a 3-inch molly. Or really a 3-inch anything. Mollies are VERY sensitive to poor water quality when maintained in freshwater tanks. (By contrast, they are very hardy in brackish and marine aquaria.) Anyway, assuming you don't have pearl-scale mollies where bumpy skin is normal, the symptom you describe sounds like early stage Finrot or fungus, something that is VERY common when people keep Mollies in freshwater tanks. Treat with a combination Finrot/fungus medication of your choice. Dosing a tank with "aquarium salt" is of no use here and in fact will be stressing your tetras and glowfish, so stop doing that right now. The only people recommending the addition of salt are the people selling the stuff and maybe a few very old fashioned fishkeepers. Almost all tetras comes from soft, acidic waters anyway, and salt certainly isn't part of their natural habitat. Mollies do best in my opinion and experience in brackish water aquaria maintained at around SG 1.003-1.005, i.e., around 10-25% the salinity of normal seawater. You also need very hard (20+ dH) and alkaline (7.5-8.0) water for them. Such conditions are created using *marine* salt mix, not that rubbish "tonic salt" retailers push on unsuspecting aquarists. None of your other fish will accept such conditions. For reasons that passeth all understanding, no-one seems to listen to people who say this, with the result that the number of sick mollies out there is astronomical! Besides providing the hard, alkaline, saline conditions Mollies need, brackish water detoxifies nitrate, something mollies are sensitive to. Unless you have next to no nitrate in your freshwater aquarium, this is probably the number-1 trigger for sickness in Mollies, and the thing to test on a weekly basis, at least until you get a feel for how nitrate accumulates in your aquarium. For the same reason, nothing less than a 50% water change per week is acceptable for mollies. Hope this helps, Neale>
<Mary, PS. You shouldn't need to be treating your aquarium every 2 months for whitespot/ick. If you have outbreaks of disease every 2 months, then you're doing something VERY wrong. If your fish are fine, you certainly shouldn't be adding medication just for the sake of it. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: bumpy skin on sailfin mollies – 07/18/07
Neale,
Thanks so much for your response and assistance.
Regarding the ick treatment. I don't have problems and thought I was performing a preventative procedure. Great to know. I'll stop that.
However, all I got in your reply was the P.S. Do you have input regarding the bumpy skinned mollies?
Thanks,
Mary
<Hmm... Go to this page: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwdailyfaqs.htm and then scroll down a bit, or search for your name, and it's there. Hope it helps, Neale>

My female sail fin, dis...  7/13/07
I have had a pair of sailfin mollies for three days.
<Hi there, Jorie here. A bit more info. would be very helpful here - how large is your aquarium, is it cycled, what other fish/livestock do you have, etc.?>
Tonight my female looks like it has a growth on its mouth (whitish) and is sitting on the bottom mainly.
<This certainly doesn't sound like a well fish. How large is the growth? Is it symmetrical? Can/does the fish eat?>
I have checked all pH ammonia and nitrate, plus temps, and all are fine.
<This is very subjective - what are the actual readings? Ammonia and nitrite must be zero, and nitrate no more than 20 ppm. With mollies, pH and temperature can be within a fairly wide range, so long as they are both kept stable. Also, mollies are a fish that appreciate a bit of salt in their water; I'd suggesting adding either aquarium salt or marine salt (presuming the other livestock are salt-tolerant). Take a look at this article pertaining to livebearers, generally: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/poeciliids.htm
Also, here's a very good article on basic aquarium-keeping "101": http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwset-up.htm >
No other fish in my community tank look like this, is this something they have come with? Or have I a problem in my tank?
<Sounds like you introduced this pair of new fish without quarantining them - not such a good idea. All new livestock should be isolated in a QT tank for a minimum of 3-4 weeks, to observe for signs of illness, disease, thus preventing the spread of infection, etc. to a healthy system. As to what your fish specifically has, without a bit more information, it's very hard to say precisely what is ailing her.
Here's a good place to start: http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/diagnosis.htm >
I can send them back the shop but want to make sure that there is nothing that I have done wrong.
<Again, without some more basic information, it's really hard to say for sure what's going on. I would suggest isolating the affected fish into her own hospital tank (a 5-10 gallon tank would be plenty big for a single molly to recover in) and, for starters, adding aquarium salt at the rate of 1 tsp. per 5 gallons. Good water quality is key - keep up on the water changes, especially if the hospital tank is not cycled. I'll try to help out more once I've heard back from you with more details...>
Thank you, Amanda
<Best, Jorie>

Sickly mollies   7/10/07
Hi, about a week and a half ago, one of my mollies had babies. Now, just a few days ago, my other molly had her babies. I've been watching the babies very carefully because both of the mothers were sick when they gave birth. And although I separated the babies from their mothers immediately, I was afraid they had been exposed to the bacteria too long. All of them seem to be doing pretty well, but there is one that I am concerned about. I'm afraid that I've spotted some tail rot on him. The only problem is, he is black with some white patches, so I don't know if the pieces that appear to be missing from his tail are gone, or if they are just transparent, like some of his siblings tails are. At first I thought that it might just be his coloring, but today I've noticed that he is clamping his tail a little bit. Can you please help me? I don't want to treat the tank for no reason, but I also don't want his sickness to get out of control if he is actually sick. I don't know what to do, and all of my hospital tanks are full, due to recent ich and tail/fin rot break outs.
Thank you,
Rebecca
<Hello Rebecca. The first question is do you keep your mollies in fresh or brackish water. Mollies require hard (20 dH+), alkaline (pH 7.5-8), and preferably brackish (SG 1.005) water conditions. Failure on any of these counts tends to make them sickly. Period, end of discussion. I know people sell mollies as "good community fish" but they really aren't. So, what are the water conditions? As for treating the tank, assuming you choose the right medication and dose according to the instructions (removing carbon from the filter, of course) there's no risk to the baby fish. In fact, when you start breeding egg-laying fish, you'll discover that adding medications pre-emptively is standard practise. So in this instance, treat with a combo fungus/finrot medication. Cheers, Neale>

Sick molly - disappearing Betta 7/9/07
Have been reading your website - but nothing seems to apply exactly to what's going on with my fish.
<OK.>
We have a ten gallon aquarium which we started with a male beta he lived there for a few weeks with 4 plants in peace and harmony - then we brought home from the store 2 Creamsicle sailfin mollies and a snail. One molly had a pale patch of scales on it's head, but we had seen others in the tank with the same markings so we thought it was a normal color variation. After adding the new fish we noticed the larger female molly without the pale spots was frequently attacking the other molly it seemed to have ideas of attacking the beta - but of course the beta wasn't having any of that!
<A bad combination of animals. Apple snails almost never mix with fish because they get nipped, and after a while they die, polluting the tank. They're also subtropical -- not tropical -- animals and get heat exhaustion in the long term. Mollies, contrary to myth, do best in brackish water. Bettas (not betas) need freshwater conditions, and are essentially incompatible with mollies. Mollies are also far too big and active for a 10 gallon tank. So right out of the starting gate there's problems. Did you do any research before buying these animals?>
The next morning we noticed the beta had a split in his tail and the smaller female molly also had a piece out of it's tail so we returned the aggressive (?the healthy one?) fish to the store.
<Hmm...>
The betas fins continued to rot away - but the molly's seems to be growing back for awhile. Beta occasionally chases and nips at the molly still.
<Did you do anything to treat the damage? Adding finrot remedy after fin damage is absolutely essential. Fish are swimming about a warm, bacteria-laden soup and can't help but get infected if they're immune system is at all compromised.>
Now they both look awful - the beta's tail is nearly gone - I don't see any white patches on the beta though and he still flares at the mirror and swims around normally and chases the molly. The molly has large chunks out of her tail, the pale spot on her head is paler and I can make out a couple more pale spots by her dorsal fin perhaps a bit pinkish? The scales on the top of her head look uneven like sheets on an unmade bed - she has a red spot on each gill though seems to be breathing normally - she is wasting away very skinny and has no energy - sometimes floating or swimming around listlessly with her nose up or being bumped into the floor of the tank by the filter current. Her body occasionally twitches or shakes.
<The molly is obviously dying; she has a combination of finrot/fungus plus something called "the shimmies" which is a neurological condition brought on by poor healthcare. Doesn't happen when they're kept in brackish water, but I guess that horse has left the stable... She's dying, so may as well euthanise her painlessly.>
The both swim to the top and seem to be starving at feeding time but then when I put the food in they don't seem to see it and are lucky to get a piece before it floats away.
<Maybe they don't like the food you're giving them? Mollies are primarily herbivores, so algae-based flake plus stuff like Sushi Nori are what they need. Bettas feed on insect larvae, and (wet) frozen bloodworms are the ideal for them.>
Do you think it's columnaris introduced by the new fish? Should we separate the molly and beta since the beta is not as sick and treat them separately?
<There's a whole bunch of things going wrong here, but the problem is you, not the new fish. You've bought a collection of incompatible fish, kept them in a too-small tank, made no attempt to provide the correct water parameters for the mollies, and apparently not treated for any of the diseases.>
Ammonia and nitrites are 0 - nitrates are 20 - temp 80 - pH 8.2
<The pH is way too high for a Betta, and the nitrates way too high for mollies. Bettas need around pH 7.0, mollies around pH 7.5-8.0. Mollies in freshwater conditions need ZERO nitrates, but in brackish/marine conditions are much less fussy.>
6 plants now and the snail is fine except the beta has bitten off his antennae!
<The snail will die soon. When the antennae get nipped this is a sign the apple snail is being harassed. As sure as God made little green apples this poor old snail will be increasingly stressed. After a few months it will die. Apple snails simply aren't good in tropical aquaria. In subtropical aquaria maybe, but not tropical aquaria. Max temperature is around 75 F long-term, but ideally a bit less even than that.>
we heard you could keep a beta with some other fish but ours doesn't seem very sociable
<Most Betta owners keep them in their own aquaria or with peaceful bottom dwellers such as Corydoras and Kuhli loaches.>
also we will be moving cross country in a month - do you have any tips for the best way to transport fish tanks in a car?
<Place fish into sealed bags or buckets about 1/4th filled with water and the rest air. Insulate the packages with towels or something similar to keep them warm. Your local aquarium shop may be able to provide you with the polystyrene containers they receive fish in. These are perfect for the job. Cheers, Neale>

Re: sick molly - disappearing Betta  7/10/07
Hey Neale
<Hello Ruth & Eric,>
Thanks for your assistance.
<No probs.>
I'm surprised to hear that mollies shouldn't go in with bettas as we actually did research it before buying them and several sites specifically suggested mollies as good tank mates for bettas because they both like hard hot water.
<Well, no disrespect to the source you read, but the fact I know better is why I write aquarium books and for aquarium magazines. I don't make this stuff up to annoy people! Mollies like water that is hard, preferably brackish, and with a pH around 7.5 to 8. They do even better in seawater. In terms of temperature, something around the 26C/79F mark suits them well. Bettas are classic labyrinth fish and have evolved to live in hot, humid places where their air-breathing 'labyrinth organ' helps them get oxygen from the atmosphere because there isn't enough in the water. Anything up to 30C/86F will suit them fine. In terms of water chemistry the ideal is soft to moderately hard and around pH 7. In other words, much like barbs and tetras.>
However I think we should have gotten the smaller short finned variety as soon as we put these in the tank we could see the tank looked crowded. We have been adding 1 tsp of aquarium salt for each 5 gallons but probably should have been more for mollies?
<To be honest, this is like trying to make an "happy medium" that will suit camels and penguins. It can't be done. Mollies want a completely different aquarium to Bettas. Mollies need lots of swimming space, a fairly strong water current, plenty of depth, and they need to be kept in groups to avoid aggression. Bettas live in swamps and hate strong currents, and they need tanks with lots of plants so that they are always near cover. Bettas are slow moving and feed at a snail's pace, Mollies wolf down food as soon as they see it. Bettas are carnivores and like plants for security, Mollies are herbivores that simply eat plants as food. Adding MARINE salt mix (NOT "aquarium salt" or "tonic salt") will help Mollies a great deal, but at the dose your Mollies require for health, your Betta will be stressed, probably die. So what can I say? There's really no way you can please both these fish at the same time.>
The water comes out of our tap with a very high pH - maybe we should add a piece of drift wood to bring it down a bit?
<No, don't bother. Messing about with pH unless you know what you're doing usually ends in tears. Much better to accept the water conditions you have, and in future select fish suited to it. If you have very hard and alkaline water, then stick with livebearers, rainbowfish, cichlids, etc that enjoy such conditions. Your fish will be healthy, happy, willing to breed, and easier to keep. Problem solved.>
The snail was more of an impulse purchase - we didn't realize they don't like hot water!
<Lots of people make this mistake. Apple snails come from Florida, which isn't hot all year round as you know, and in the wild Apple snails "aestivate" during the summer. That is, they go into a resting phase. Without this resting phase they simply "wear out". This is why so few Apple snails last long in regular aquaria. For most people, they only last a year, if that. Kept properly, they live for many years and reach enormous sizes. One at the London Zoo had a shell that was bigger than a tennis ball!>
Or that the betta would nip his antennae.
<Yup.>
He seems very happy he's so active and moving around the tank all the time - the molly does not harass him.
<Snails aren't very smart, so don't expect to see any signs of stress as such. It's not like a fish that goes and hides in the corner when it's unhappy.>
How can you tell if your snail is sick?
<Usually, they die.>
Will they become sluggish?
<Don't bank on it.>
Ours moves around like a little race car.
<Yup! I've kept and bred Apple snails and adore them. The babies are amazingly cute. But there's no escaping the fact they need their own quarters, or at least a subtropical aquarium with suitable fish.>
We had read that the best first step to treating fin rot was to do frequent water changes and add salt so we tried that first.
<No idea why that was suggested. Salt can *prevent* secondary infections setting in when used at a substantial dose (around 1 gramme per litre upwards). But it cannot kill off an infection once one has set in. Otherwise marine and brackish water fishes wouldn't get finrot, but they do (though admittedly not commonly). Really, the only cure for finrot, which is bacterial, is the use of an antibiotic or antibacterial medication. There are many of these available. Dipping freshwater fish into seawater for short periods can also help as a therapy, but raising the salinity to that level in the actual aquarium would be lethal. Apple snails, incidentally, are likely respond poorly to most medications, so check before use or remove to another tank during the treatment. Finrot almost always follows on from physical damage and poor aquarium water quality, so check these factors as well as treating the symptoms.>
Last night before receiving your reply we decided we had to do something so we got a divider to prevent the molly from being harassed did another water change and added tetracycline to the water. Now the betta looks quite happy and is enjoying his own little partition of the tank where there's nearly no current because of the divider.
<Indeed. Betta may be happy, but the molly won't be.>
He's eating like a piggy and flaring at his mirror I think he will be fine - I did notice some trailing white fuzz from his fin today which makes me think maybe it's Flexibacter?
<Quite possibly.>
The molly just looks worse though lying at the bottom of the tank panting - I feel like we should give her every fair chance to recover though. My brother thinks the tetracycline made the molly worse and we shouldn't add any more of that - I think the molly would have gotten worse anyway and that we should finish the treatment to get rid of the stuff if they are going to have any chance of recovering.
<The tetracycline should be fine for the molly. The problem is, and I keep coming back to this, but everything you do to make a good aquarium for a betta makes a worse one for a molly.>
We actually did tons of research on this tank - but it seems like you get different answers from every site you see so it's hard to know which one is right! We read the articles on your website as well as many others.
<I've never written anywhere that Mollies are good with Bettas. Within the hobby, I perhaps have a reputation for being a bit hardline on this, but frankly I don't consider mollies freshwater fish at all, at least not in the sense most aquarists mean. Yes, they live in freshwater in the wild, but in aquaria Mollies kept in brackish water simply do better, live longer, and are less disease-prone than Mollies kept in freshwater. Period. End of story.>
Actually the article on wetwebmedia by Bob Fenner suggests mollies as good tank mates for bettas.
<Bob and I will have to agree to disagree here.>
We had a lot of algae in our tank and wanted something that could gobble it up and the mollies had it clean in 2 days!
<Yup, that's what mollies do. They're herbivores.>
We have flakes for the betta - maybe we'll go get some frozen bloodworms too - we weren't sure what kind of meaty food to get him since we read somewhere that the freeze dried ones aren't properly disinfected and might put disease in the tank - and we have algae based flake food for the molly - she seemed to like it but then she sometimes would spit it out so maybe we should just try a different brand for her - if she recovers that is. I think the betta perhaps just couldn't get to the food because the filter was shuffling it away too fast - so we'll feed with the filter off from now on.
<I abhor freeze dried foods with a hatred that cannot be described. I have yet to see any fish prefer them to wet frozen foods, and I personally have never kept any fish that would even eat them. I have no idea why people buy them. Wet frozen foods are healthier and the fish much prefer them. So do yourself a favour and skip the freeze dried rubbish.>
Thanks for your input and will be glad to hear any further comments.
Ruth and Eric
<Bottom line, I think your Molly is doomed. Your intentions are all laudable, but in this instance I think you received some flawed information. Bettas are simply easier kept alone with ZERO tankmates. If you want to keep Mollies, then set up a 20-30 gallon tank just for them, and keep it at a brackish water salinity (SG 1.003 - 1.005 is ideal). You will be STAGGERED at how much healthier mollies are under such conditions. Also, consider buying a book. Web sites are all very well but there's no quality control. But books from reputable publishers in the field like TFH and so on will have stuff that's been edited and fact-checked. Good luck. Neale>

Balloon Bellied Molly, likely env. dis.
I have a 30 gallon tank with 5 neon tetras and 4 balloon bellied mollies. One of my female mollies is on the bottom of the tank, upside down with her lips to the bottom of the gravel.
<Very bad...>
She tries to swim around but seems to be stuck without turning over. I feed them a dry food
<Need more than this...>
and all levels seems to be normal.
<Not useful... need data, not subjective evaluations>
I have one other female who is swimming normally but she is staying at the bottom. My two males are up top and seem to hang around my heater a lot. Any help would be very much appreciated, as I'm very worried for my molly girl, as she seems distressed. Thank you for the help!
-Rachel Rogers
<Mmm... well... you do know that these two fish species "like" different water quality? The Neons, soft, acidic, warmer... the Mollies, hard, alkaline, cooler... and brackish? Please read re both on WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsubwebindex.htm
Bob Fenner>

Mollies with Ich and nitrites issue – 06/29/07
Hello Marco.
<Hi Melissa.>
Thank you so much for your help.
<You are welcome.>
I'm sure you won't be surprised to find out that the little guys now have ich, which I noticed this morning. My frustration meter has just quadrupled, and that's partially due to the fact that every website I look at says something different about treatment.
<There are several different methods to successfully treat this parasite.>
One thing after another thanks to my lack of patience. Oh well, live and learn I suppose.
<Yes, and read.>
Any suggestions?
<Please read http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm and the linked FAQs to learn about ich. For mollies a treatment with salt works well in my experience. Rid Ich (Malachite Green and Formalin) may also work, but may cause problems with your biological filtration. If you want to use it, it’d be a good idea to put the filter into a bucket with untreated tank water until the treatment is over. Water changes and careful dosing will be needed, because you already have nitrites and removing the filter will increase the need for dilution of the nitrites.>
I have Rid Ich, but I haven't used it yet because I don't want to do anything else incorrectly. I feel so lost now, with the nitrites, a crappily cycled tank, and now ich. Where should I start?
<Large water changes to get rid of the nitrites. For ich salt or Rid Ich may work.>
Sincerely, Melissa.
<Good luck. Marco.>

My golden molly is turning black...  6/12/07
Dear crew:
<Hello.>
I first off want to apologize for my lack of knowledge of fish completely.
<Hmm... not a good start. When caring for any animal, it is always wise to read first, then buy the animal, not the other way around.>
That taken care of, I bought a gold molly to keep my albino... side sucker fish company so he'd have a friend.
<What's a "side sucker fish"? I'm guessing either a Plec (an armour-plated catfish) or a sucking loach Gyrinocheilus aymonieri (a minnow-like fish with a sucker mouth). Either way, appallingly bad choices for neophyte fishkeepers. Plecs grow to around 30-60 cm depending on the species very rapidly and eventually need massive tanks. Sucking loaches also get big (around 25-30 cm) but top that off by being among the nastiest-tempered fish out there. Either way, you will need a tank containing at 200 litres within even the medium term (6-12 months). If you don't have that, return them. One other thing: mollies are extremely delicate when kept in freshwater tanks, and the only sure-fire way to keep them healthy is to keep them in brackish water. Brackish water is unacceptable to both the catfish and the sucking loach. Now, if you feel the need to keep mollies in freshwater despite the fact some or all of them will get sick, you need to ensure the following: Nitrates less than 20 mg/l; pH 7.5-8.2; hardness 20 degrees GH or more. Skipping on any of these is the express route to mollies getting fungus, finrot, and the "shimmies" (a type of nerve damage disease). Don't believe me? Stop by any fish forum you like and review the questions in the Livebearers section. The number of messages about sick mollies will stagger you. I feel I say this every week, but mollies just aren't good fish for beginners and they categorically aren't community fish by the generally accepted meaning of the word. Have a read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm and some of the FAQs as well.>
I've had these fish for about 3 months and all of a sudden my gold molly is turning black, starting with the tail.
<Almost certainly just genetics. Assuming the fish is otherwise healthy and the skin isn't rotting or something. Mass-produced mollies are not "quality controlled" so you have no guarantee they are "pure bred" in any way. So, it's basically a case of enjoy your newly metamorphosed fish!>
I've tried doing some research and I can't figure out if this is just a gold molly turning into a Dalmatian molly (do they do this?)
<With quality stock, no.>
or if it has some sort of problem... in which case I'd like to help.
<No, nothing you can do.>
Thanks!
Jen
<Good luck. Mollies are among my favourite aquarium fish, but they are demanding and they do need special care. It's a shame they're so widely sold, because people assume they're easy fish. But kept well, few fish combine personality, colour, and easy breeding so well. Worth sticking with, and learning about. Cheers, Neale>

Dalmatian Lyre-tail Molly Question... dis.?   5/22/07
I am in need of some desperate help for my poor molly (Peanut). For the past few days, I noticed that she has had some dramatic behavioral changes.
<Good to be observant>
She use to be very energetic and swam all over the tank (10 gallon) and suddenly, around 2-3 days she became very lethargic and almost lazy. I began to get worried when she would sit in the bottom of one of the aquarium decorations and not come out for feeding. I placed her in a hospital tank (3 gallons) with a feeding clip holding some fresh lettuce.
<Not advised>
Today, when I came home from work she has a very noticeable curve in her spine, almost shaped like and "S or Z". She swims with her head down and rear up - when she swims at all. I don't know if this is a parasite or a fungal infection. She seems to want to use only her front fins to swim with and hardly moves her tail at all. I read a similar case (Re: URGENT MOLLY QUESTION) and read of the suffering that poor molly went through and eventually it was recommended to put the molly down. What should I treat Peanut with? I don't want to have to put her out of her misery if her misery can be ended with a simple medication.
<... what re how long you've had this fish, its system make-up, maintenance, water quality/tests...?>
I'm not sure if this could be related. Just 1 day ago I had a Silver Molly (Cashew) die on me from complications similar (lethargic and slow), but she did not have the S-curve and I believe she had a parasite (after I saw her poo a clear string I knew something was wrong - so I put her in a hospital tank and did a 100% water change). I tried to treat her with the medication recommended by my local PetSmart,
<Which was? And the result/s?>
but alas she died in the middle of the night.
Thanks for any help you may have,
Bethany D.
<Well... need to know much more here... the bent spine and behavior you mention however are bad indications. Please read over other people's related experiences here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollydisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above, and write back with the info. requested above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Balloon Molly question!  5/19/07
Well, this morning, I had 21 bouncing baby fry and the mother is doing well.
<Ah, good>
  I moved all 21 to another tank because I was treating the larger one for ich.
<Yikes... do keep your eyes on the moved fish... very likely the ich was transported with them...>
All 21 are doing great, swimming around and eating the first bites fish food stuff recommended at the pet store.  I added some salt to their tank, as well as the big one, and the ich seems to be getting better.  
<Good>
I haven't noticed any spots on the little ones yet.  Thank you for your response!
Meghan
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Molly still with internal parasites   5/19/07
Hi crew!
<<Greetings, Audrey!>>
I need help. I had a good long chat with Tom a while ago about my little Molly with the red stick-out-of-butt type of parasite. I tried Metronidazole, then Jungle Labs Medicated Fish Food (I think that, even mashed with bloodworms it wasn't palatable enough for her to eat any kind of meaningful amount). Then I tried a gel medication (which she ate, but it contained mainly Metronidazole, and a small amount of Praziquantel - probably not enough to work). The worm is still there.
<<Not making light of the situation, Audrey, but I’ll give the little bugger credit for “staying power”.>>
I'm trying to find Praziquantel/Flagyl and/or Levamisole/Piperazine online. All I can find is Prazi-pro (dissolved in water). Every time I see Praziquantel recommended for fish, it's specified *in food*, so I have no idea how effective the in-water treatment might be. The only other Praziquantel medication I found so far is dog/cat medication. There are no other ingredients listed, do you think I could use that?
<<Audrey, the PraziPro will work in solution with the tank water. Praziquantel is readily absorbed by the fish through the skin and gills. One of the reasons why it’s recommended since fish frequently stop eating when they’re ill. The Praziquantel for dogs/cats (Droncit is one brand name) will also work but, as with the Levamisole, might be more problematic in dosing since the tabs would have to be crushed up and measured out to achieve the appropriate proportions for the tank. Go for the PraziPro which is “packaged” for aquarium use.>>
I'm still looking, and might find it before I receive your answer, but right now I'm not having much success. I'll keep trying until I find something that works, or she dies (hopefully I'll find something before it comes to that!). I'm just not successful right now, and getting frustrated.
<<A fish that’s held on this long has to be saved, Audrey!>>
Thank you for your help,
Audrey
<<Hopefully, you’ll be able to put an end to this in short order, Audrey. Bonne chance to you both! Tom>>

Re: Good news, and bad news, and more good news! Molly with internal parasites  5/30/07
Hi crew!
<<Hello, Audrey.>>
This message is for Tom... this is an ongoing saga we started a few months ago that has finally come to an end.
<<At your service…though I suspect some bad news first.>>
You probably remember my desperate attempts at saving our little Molly with internal parasites. The good news: the PraziPro seemed to be working. The worm started sticking out further then it had ever done, until we found a bit of something red laying at the bottom of the tank - there was still one red worm in her that we could see, though, but I was thinking: "Finally, we're going to beat this thing!". The bad news: the poor little Molly died anyway. She was swimming, eating relatively well, and then she was dead. I guess her health was already too compromised by months of emaciation...
<<Agreed. I’m, frankly, surprised that she stayed with you this long. Rather remarkable.>>
More good news though: this frees up the quarantine (and our energy!) so we can get new healthy fish, and treat them from the start so we won't face the same problem again.
<<I’m with you all the way!>>
All in all, I'm sad for my little fishies, but we acquired a ton of useful knowledge in the process!
<<Certainly a “learning process”, Audrey. None of us is “born” with it.>>
Now... we need to take the bottle of PraziPro and show it to our LFS so they can stop selling infested fish... there are still some too-thin specimens in their balloon Molly tank and I have a strong suspicion that it's not a genetic thinness... They're really good at quarantining new fish (at least a week, which is more than the usual nothing), watching for and treating ich and not selling sick fish to customers (they wouldn't even sell us water lentils from an ich-infested tank, good for them!), but I don't think they know how to handle internal parasites... time for some education work!
<<I wish you, and your LFS, the best here. Good for you, by the way! I hope they’re receptive to your experience/knowledge!>>
Thanks for all the help! À la prochaine!
Audrey
<<Moi, je serai ici, Audrey. Tom>>

Black Molly, dis.   5/10/07
Hi!
<Hello!>
  I just want to ask about the white and red freaky spots in my black molly's forehead, I change the water and add AquaPlus Water Conditioner a while ago because I am thinking if those spots are wounds.
<"Freaky spots" covers a lot of ground. The most common problem "white spot" problems in fishes is Whitespot (or Ick) and Velvet. Whitespot tends to look like crystals of salt on the fish, whereas Velvet is much finer, more like powdered sugar on the fish. Both are relatively easy to treat if caught early. Use commercial remedies, but always remove carbon from the filter before use, because carbon neutralises the medication. The "red" part of your description is unusual though. I don't know any diseases that cause red and white spots. A photo would help.>
  Another question is that can they live in a brackish water with a 1-2 tablespoon of synthetic marine salt per gallon?
<Mollies not only like marine salt mix but do best in saltwater or brackish water tanks. An ideal amount is 2-5 grammes per litre (0.8-1.2 oz per US gallon). This will help your fish heal quickly and become much more resistant to disease. Other species of fish may not like this much salt, so check that tankmates are salt-tolerant first. Guppies are fine with salt for example, but neon tetras are not.>
Last question, can you tell me things to remember to have a healthy and happy black molly.
<Please have a look through this article: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/poeciliids.htm and then take a look at some of the Molly FAQs as well. But basically: mollies like warmth, salty water, high hardness and alkalinity, plenty of green foods, and lots of swimming space. They don't like aggressive tankmates, Nitrates, low temperatures, meat-based flake foods, and soft/acid water.>
  I'm sorry for many questions, because I love them very much and I don't want them to die due to diseases.
<Questions are good. Happy to help.>
  Thanks in advance, and God Bless to all of you!
<Cheers, Neale>

Re: Black Molly dis.?  5/13/07
Hi to all crews of WWM again!!
<Hello.>
  Thanks for your immediate reply!
<Cool.>
  I can’t take pictures of my black mollies because the spots are small, and they are fast moving so now I will just describe it.
<What's fast moving? The spots or the fish?>
The white spots are in the forehead of my molly they are look like dandruff, not a cotton something. While the red spots are also found in their forehead some says those are wounds. What do you think are those “freaky spots?”
<Impossible to say without seeing them. Holes in the head can be caused by poor water quality, by internal parasites, by physical damage through poor handling, from fighting, from external flukes and lice, etc., etc. Knowing mollies well, I'd put money on a combination of the wrong water chemistry and high nitrates.>
  Oh, by the way I bought a marine salt yesterday from the famous petshop in our country. Now the problem…how can I put it in my tank that’s fully set-up?
<Don't add the salt directly to the aquarium, but to the water you add to the aquarium.>
  a.)    Will I add the suggested dosage directly to the tank?
<No!>
  b.)    Will I get a small amount of water in the tank and add the salt on it and pour it in the tank? But the instruction says that I must aerate the water with the diluted marine salt for 30 min.s.
<Follow the instructions, but reducing the dose ten-fold, since you only need about 10% seawater for your mollies to really pep up.>
  c.)    Will I remove my black mollies in the tank and add the suggested dosage of marine salt in the tank and leave it for a couple of minutes then I will bring back the fish.
<If all you have are mollies in the tank (whatever sort) then leave them all in the aquarium.>
  d.)    None of the above!!
<Here's what you do. Let's say you take out 1 bucket of water from the tank. Dispose of that water. Fill the bucket with fresh water, add dechlorinator, and then add 3 to 5 grammes of marine salt mix per litre of water in the bucket. So if it's a 10 litre bucket, add 30 to 50 grammes of salt. Right, now you need to stir it well, let it sit for 20 minutes, and ideally aerate the water to help it dissolve. If you don't have an airstone, that just give it a vigorous stir every couple of minutes. After 20 minutes it should be nicely dissolved, but check there aren't any grains of salt left at the bottom of the bucket. Assuming it's all dissolved, pour this water into the aquarium. Do this every time you do a water change. Basically you are running a low-salinity brackish water tank, an ideal habitat not just for mollies but a whole host of interesting fishes. Have a read through here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracsystems.htm for more.>
  I have an outside hang-on filter with a carbon in its cartridge, will it remove the salt and other trace elements found in the salt or am I just paranoid of that carbon?
<Carbon is a waste of time/money and also removes medications making it impossible to treat your fish with the carbon in place. It doesn't really remove inorganic substances (it removes a few, but not many) but it does remove organic substances very effectively. When you add medication to a tank, all the carbon does is mop it up, keeping your fish sick and wasting your money in the process. I despise carbon in freshwater aquaria and recommend you throw it far, far away. Replace the space the carbon was with something more useful, like a bit more biological filtration or some filter floss.>
  Last question, my tank is planted with Java Moss; will the plant die if I add marine salt?
<Java moss (and also Java ferns) do exceptionally well in brackish water, so not a problem.>
  Again thanks for the knowledge, and God may give all of you patience for answering questions!!
--Wilvic--
<'Tis fine. Cheers, Neale>

Re: Black Molly    5/15/07
Hey Neale!!
<Hello!>
  The "fast moving" I told you are the fishes not the spots, so what is it? and how can I cure it.
<Without a picture, difficult to say for sure. If the white spots are like salt grains in size and colour, then it's likely whitespot. If the white spots are irregular and more grey than white, then likely early stages of fungus, which on black mollies is obvious as grey-white patches. In this case, try a combination fungus/finrot medication. Either way, keeping brackish water and raising the temperature (mollies like it warm) will help a great deal. Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/poeciliids.htm and the related FAQs.>
  You said that I must remove the carbon in my hang-on filter, so what will I use instead of it?
<Replace with biological filter media. Filter wool, sponge, ceramic chips. Whatever works for you. Chemical filter media -- carbon and ammonia remover -- don't serve much purpose in most freshwater tanks and you won't miss them.>
  Thanks again!!
<Cheers, Neale>

Balloon Molly, hlth.    4/19/07
I noticed that my balloon molly's face was slightly swollen.
<You have good vision!>
  I've looked over your website and any molly diseases with swelling in the face also seemed to be accompanied by discoloration.
<Yes... usually so>
My molly's face (specifically her "cheeks") are swollen.  There is no discoloration, but it appears as if some of the scales are wanting to peel off. Some of them are raised and slightly curled.  I had issues with Ich a few weeks ago and have since cleared it up (
<?... with a chemical treatment?>
or so I think) and a water test showed that my levels are where they should be.  Could this be some side effect of Ich? a parasite?
<Mmm, much more likely from the treatment>
I'm not sure what to do.  I have quarantined the molly and all of my other fish appear fine.
Thank you,
Lauren
<... I would just try to maintain optimized, stable conditions here. Bob Fenner>

Mollie with internal parasites?  - 4/6/07
Hi all!
<<Hello, Audrey. Tom here. It’s been some time since we spoke.>>
You helped get me started a few months ago. Your site got me to amaze myself getting rid of an algae problem by myself in two weeks. Thanks to your good counsels, we have a few happy fish -- and a second tank that cycled in three days. All great so far, until...
<<Sounded great up until the “until…”, Audrey.>>
Once again, I come to you for help.
<<Okay.>>
One of our balloon Mollies started losing weight. She's always been a real pig, very inquisitive and somewhat odd. She ate so much I was afraid she'd get constipated and die on us in the first few weeks we had her. I'd suspected something was wrong with the other Mollie we bought at the same time, but she'd always been very shy and scrawny so when she died I thought I'd just inherited a balloon Mollie with bad
genetics - until the odd one started losing weight.
<<More than coincidence, I’d say.>>
Last weekend, it got so bad I switched her over from the main tank to the small tank so she could be on her own (with the Apple snail). She was hanging at the top of the aquarium just below the water line doing nothing and she was hiding from us, and eating only a little. I did my research here, strongly suspected internal parasites and then called a few local places. Our best supplier (sadly they sell only saltwater) told us we could get Metronidazole at the local pharmacy (they don't sell the medicated food around here because of some silly rule the vets passed a few years ago).
<<Ah, those “rules” again.>>
I dissolved about 100 mg in a tiny bit of water and soaked some frozen bloodworms in it (her usual Saturday treat, usually she gets Hikari flakes but soggy flakes didn't seem like a good idea). She got two or three on Wednesday morning and the rest on Wednesday night. She started swimming around again in a few hours only. Major, immediate improvement.
<<Good to hear this.>>
Now, it's Friday night and I'm worried. She's swimming around and she's back to her odd, hungry self but I can see two short, fine, reddish things sticking out of her anus.
<<My first thought would be Camallanus, Audrey, but it would be an inappropriate “jump” to draw an absolute conclusion about this.>>
I know Metronidazole shouldn't be administered repeatedly, but in this case, is it indicated to try again?
<<There are varying reports on the efficacy of Metronidazole when it comes to treating infestations of this sort. You might find Praziquantel readily available to you and it’s a safe, effective treatment.>>
She pooped a lot (well, what seems like a normal amount for a Molly anyway) and the red things are still there. Will they go away on their own or should I assume she still has something living in her?
<<They’re still there and probably doing well, unfortunately.>>
If I do give some to her again, how much should I use? Should I add some to the water as well? They do sell the Jungle Labs parasite guard (the back of the bottle said not to use on food) around here. I'm worried she'll re-infect herself eating her own poo at the bottom of the tank.
<<I’d shoot for the Praziquantel here, Audrey. Overall, I think it would be the safest way to go as well as being very effective. Hopefully, this medication doesn’t have the restrictions on it that you’ve run across in the past.>>
Thank you for your help.
Worriedly,
Audrey
<<Your concern is understandable, Audrey, but this is treatable. Best of luck. Tom>>

Serious Mouth Fungus Problem (Black Molly); just using WWM  3/23/07
Dear WWM crew,
<Kathy>
Help!!!!  I need some kind of urgent advice. I have 3 mollies in a 10 gallon tank right now for medication. All of them got mouth fungus, especially the male molly. I treated them with MelaFix, PimaFix first.
<... not worthwhile...>
They got better for a week but then the fungus came back and never went away.
<... Wait... what about your water quality?...>
So I tried Mardel's Maracyn Plus. today is the fourth day of the treatment and the male molly looks even worse. His mouth seemed to have a small bit coming off and white stuff around the mouth and eye.
Please help my male molly. I do not know what I should try next. Any other better medicine?
<...>
Anything I can do to help to cure him? Please help as his mouth is damaged. Your quick response will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Kathy
<... less panic, hypochondria, more knowledge, communication needed. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollydisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above... Likely rectifying water quality, salt additions will cure your fish here. Bob Fenner>

Re: Serious Mouth Fungus Problem (Black Molly)... Not reading  - 03/24/07
Dear Bob,
<Kath>
Thanks for your quick response. I am sorry that I did not provide enough information. I was very much worried as this was my first tank.
<Okay>
This morning I decided to separate the 2 female mollies from the male molly, as he really looks very bad. The two female mollies are still very active and like to eat. They do not show white tuff growing on the mouth, but I could sort of see some grey line inside the lip. One of the mollies had one scale coming up a little... looks like she got hurt or something. Under the scale is a bit of white cotton stuff. Would this be body fungus?
<No way to tell from here... Again, most likely the root of all here is preponderantly "environmental"... likely these fish hail from, have been brought up in very hard, alkaline, salty water...>
Any idea what this could be and how I should treat her? (I also feel the two females mollies are going to give birth soon.)
The two female mollies are in a 10 gallon tank.
Ammonia & nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 25~30 ppm
<Too high>
PH: 8.0
Temperature: 26~27
The very sick male molly is in a 2.6 gallon tank. I use Aquaclear power filter 30 on this tank. He has very bad white fungus one ach end of his mouth. (I think it is mouth rot now...) A little piece of his skin above the mouth has come off. He does not eat a lot... seems to lose interests in food. He will also hide under something unless I am not around and the light is off. He feels insecure, I guess.
This tank:
Ammonia & nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 ppm
<Borderline high>
PH: 8.0
Temperature: 26
I really do not want to lose the male molly but do not know what I should do to help him. Melafix, Pimafix, Maracyn Plus did not cure his fungus.
<Not efficacious here>
Anything else I should try? Hope my male molly can recover from this serious mouth fungus.
Thanks for your help in advance!
Worried Kathy
<... obviously you did NOT read where you were referred to previously... Please... don't write... DO read. B>

Molly and Neon Tetra Health Questions, env.  3/16/2007
Dear WWM crew,
<Ching>
I love your website and learn a lot from here. Thank you.
<Welcome>
I have a 15 gallon tank with 2 Cory catfish, 3 black mollies and 7 neon tetras.
<Mmm... the Cats and Neons like very different water conditions than the mollies... soft, acidic, much warmer... no salt...>
Environment:
Water PH: 8.0 (Our tap water is pretty hard.)
<I'll say! About the same here in San Diego>
Temperature: 25~26 C
Nitrate: 20~40 ppm
<Way too high... a source of stress...>
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
One male molly has "obvious" mouth fungus and noticeable grey spots on his body. As I heard Cory catfish and neon tetra do not like salt, I did not add aquarium salt to the tank.
<Good>
I used Melafix and Pimafix together to treat the black molly. The second day and third day I could see the improvements and thought the medicine worked great.
<Mmmm>
As the medicine indicated we can use it when intruding new fish to the tank, so while during the course of Molly's medication (on the fourth day, I think) I added 4 neon tetras to the tank. The 7 neon tetra were doing fine and schooling around together. The black molly seemed to be getting better too. However, yesterday (the 8th day of the medication) black molly's mouth started to show the fungus again and I saw a couple of grey spots on his body. Should I use other medicine, stronger one? Or I should continue the ones I am using?
<I would separate the molly/mollies, treat it/them with salt... Keep it in another setting>
Today (the 9th day) I saw a red spot on one neon tetra's body, which is near the tail. I am not sure what it is an have no idea what I should do. It looks like human's bruise just the color is red not purple. Anything you could suggest?
<Yes... to modify their water chemistry (w/o the Mollies present)... to be softer/more acidic (pH below 7.0)...>
I have had this tank just for two months and enjoyed it a lot. But, there's still so much to learn to keep my fish healthy.
<Lots of valuable lessons about life...>
Thank you again for all the information you provide on the site. It is really helpful!
Yours truly,
Ching
<A pleasure to help you, Bob Fenner>

Sailfin (Molly) with Fin Rot? No useful info.  3/6/07
Help - my 4year old sailfin has seemingly overnight lost half of his dorsal fin and now his tail fin is looking ragged. I treated with Melafix
<Worthless>
a couple of days ago but I think it's getting worse. Today I noticed a red tailed shark also has a ragged dorsal fin. I haven't added any new fish for a while - mainly African cichlids which have been in with him for a couple of years.
<Yikes... incompatible>
I did add a Red Terror a few months ago who has grown quite quickly. Could he be tearing up these two or more likely fin rot?
<Possibly, yes... more likely stress induced... environmental>
Unfortunately I don't have a spare tank so if you think it may be aggression I will have to move Terror on.
Hope you can help,
Thanks
Lisa
<Uh... where's the boeuf? Information re your set-up, maintenance, water quality tests, feeding... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollydisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above... Bob Fenner>

Velvet and a pregnant molly, copper FW trtmt.  2/28/07
I love your website and refer to it often when I have questions or more often just looking for entertainment. It has been a great resource over the years. Thanks for all the time put into making such a great information source.
<Welcome!>
I recently added a new silver lyretail molly to my community aquarium, but two days later it started to show signs of velvet and died pretty quickly. I didn't quarantine this fish (stupid, I know), and it spread to several other fish, including all of the mollies and swordtails. I removed my live plants and added CopperSafe by Mardel, and am keeping the tank well oxygenated with a air pump since the plants are no longer there to do this. I am also doing partial water changes (about 15%) every other day to keep nitrate levels down as the plants (again) are no longer there to take care of this. I also have one tablespoon of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons of water and have raised the temperature of the tank to 84 degrees.
<All good moves...>
One of my black mollies is pregnant, and I expect her to give birth within a day or two, but I know mollies often do not release their babies under stressful conditions. As she is so far into her pregnancy I have been reluctant to move her to another tank, but I am worried the stress in this tank could be enough to keep her from releasing the fry anyway. I am not terribly concerned about the fry surviving at this point, I just want to give the mother the best possible chance. Do you have any suggestions? It is a fully cycled tank that has been set up for about 14 years, with ammonia and nitrites both at 0 and nitrates at between 5 and 10 ppm. The other fish in the tank currently are two dwarf gouramis and a small pleco.
Beth
<... Really... to continue doing what you're doing... maybe with (you're likely doing this but didn't mention it) testing for ammonia... A test kit for FW copper use would also be a good idea... as with all such treatments, should the effective/concentration drop too low... and this happens very easily in established systems... mulm/other absorption... there is no treatment. Bob Fenner>

Wow, poor punctuation and molly env. dis.    02/17/07
i
<I>
have been reading all of your answers on the web forum, but im
<I'm>
still not sure what's wrong with my 1 potbellied molly.
I've had her for quite a while, along with the rest of my tank.  water samples seem great and no signs of disease or anything... expect for the large growth on the potbellied molly's top fin?  it looks almost like a large bubbly white/grey tumor...  and every once in a while a clear bubble forms on it, then pops or goes away?  then returns.  she doesn't seem to be affected by it and no other fish in the tank are acting sick or have any signs of ick, etc.
<Environmental...>
this has been present for almost a good month now.  i tried to raise the temp. to 85deg. and add some ich treatment, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything good OR bad.  any ideas?  any suggestions?  I'm kinda a fish dummy, but I'm trying!
if a picture will help, i can try and snap one!
thank you,
Cindy
<Spell, grammar checkers please... and reading here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollydisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

My Mollies... hlth.   - 02/15/07
<<Hello, Ashley.>>
Thank you very  much for the reply.
<<You’re quite welcome.>>
The tables have turned now and Lancelot (male Dalmatian) is now chasing Vivian (female Dalmatian) around like crazy. He seems to be head butting her and they often run into the glass in their pursuit, I'm worried this may be hurting them, but I'm unsure as to what to do about it.
<<A bigger tank? Actually, it’s not likely that this type of “crashing” will be harmful. What might be a problem is that she’s the only one he’s got to chase. A couple of more female Dalmatians, tank size notwithstanding, would “dilute” his attentions somewhat…unless Vivian’s a real hottie. Nothing we can do about that! :) >>
I also have a question about salting my tank. After I add the salt how often do I have to add more, and how much. Also, will using table salt work as a temporary means until I can get to the pet store? I checked the pet aisle at the grocery story but they didn't have any and it will be a couple weeks before I can get to the pet store again as I'm going on a vacation next week and I don't have my own car to drive it all the way to the pet store (that's generally my boyfriend's job). If not, will they be okay until  I can get the proper aquarium salt?
<<Second question first, Ashley. The grocery does have the “equivalent” in the form of Kosher salt. Will work just as well as aquarium salt since it doesn’t contain iodine or anti-caking ingredients. (There are varying theories on the use of regular table salt. Some recommend avoiding it like the plague. Others state that it works perfectly well as a maintenance-level additive. Personally, I don’t recommend it’s use in aquariums. Kosher salt is fine, however.) Now, the first question. You should add more with water changes. How much you add will take a bit of minor calculation. Salt does not evaporate with water so any “topping off” of the tank due to evaporation will put the salt-to-water ratio back where you want it without adding more salt. (The “flip-side” is that the solution, salt-wise, becomes stronger due to evaporation so you’ll want to bear this in mind.) When you physically remove water from the tank, you do, in fact, remove salt with the water. In other words, if you’ve added one tablespoon of salt to your 10-gallon tank and remove five gallons of water, you’ll have to add one-half tablespoon of salt to the new water to bring the ratio back to one tablespoon per 10 gallons. More realistic? Let’s look at a 20% change (more appropriate anyway). You’ll have removed one-fifth of a tablespoon of salt with the water so you’ll have to add one-fifth of a tablespoon to the new water to bring the ratio back to normal, i.e. one tablespoon per 10 gallons.>>
Kinda sucks about not being able to sex angelfish, but oh well, I say she's a girl, so she is. It's unlikely that I'll get another angel anyway.
<<A flip of a coin says that you’re right.>>
Thanks a bunch for your advice.
Ashley
<<Happy to help, Ashley. Tom>>
PS: Your site is absolutely great and it has so many important tidbits of information.
<<We’ve got a heck of Crew here, Ashley.>>

Re: My Mollies... hlth.   - 02/15/07
Oh, boy, me again.
<<And it’s me again, too, Ashley.>>
I've got another question that may sound strange even though you haven't gotten back to me from my last email yet.
<<Sorry. A certain Yellow Lab puppy seems to think the world revolves around her lately. :) >>
I've been watching my mollies for a while (they're so entertaining and I wanted to keep an eye on my male to make sure he wasn't being a bully). So as I was watching I noticed that my female Dalmatian doesn't swim like the others. She's more erratic and seems to constantly be in motion and when she swims her head moves as well as the rest of the body. I noticed the other two managed to keep their heads mostly still when swimming. At first I remembered something mention in the FAQ's called shimmers or something like that so I searched back through and when I found it the symptoms didn't sound the same. So I compared the anatomy between the f. Dalmatian and my f. Creamsicle and discovered that the Dalmatian is missing a fin! The entire fin that goes along the back of the fish (dorsal? ventral? I don't know the correct terminology) is gone. I haven't noticed this before, and as I've only had them for three days I don't know if she came that way or if she lost it to the male or if it was a birth defect (I hear that there's a lot of inbreeding). Will the fin grow back or will she be deformed for the rest of her life.
<<Double check for the “dorsal” fin, Ashley. While it’s possible that the fin could be “missing”, in a lot of cases a fish that’s stressed may have the fin so tucked into its body that it appears to be missing it all together. My Sailfin Pleco has a very large dorsal fin but can fold it in to where it’s almost imperceptible that he has one at all.>>
Also, I'm curious as so why the m. Dalmatian isn't interested in my f. Creamsicle. Is it because of the size differences between them? The Creamsicle is bigger than the Dalmatians.
<<Size can make a difference but Livebearers (Mollies, Platys, Swordtails, etc.) will attempt to “mate” with their own kind first. They can/will attempt to mate with others but I’d say that Vivian is going to be Lancelot’s main focus. Hybridization, is more a creation of Man than of Fish. (Man tinkers with life and equates a “success” with a green light to continue “tinkering”. Makes you wonder sometimes…>>
Thanks again for all of your help and for providing such a wonderful outlet for all of our questions.
Ashley
<<Once again, Ashley, we’re happy to help. Tom>>

Brown Dalmatian Mollie fry - deformed spines?   2/13/07
Hi Crew!
<Hello there - this is Jorie>
Hope you are well! My question concerns the fact that I have 3 batches of Dalmatian Mollie fry in a large nursery tank. I know who the father is of the two oldest batches (2 at 8 weeks and about 10 at 21 days old) but not the father of the newest batch (about 15 at 17 days old). The second oldest batch of mollies are definitely Dalmatians but are brown and appear to be of a slightly different shape with longer bodies and a tummy that turns in rather than out.
<Hmmm, this could be a curvature of the spine - this condition is usually seen in guppies, and is likely caused by overbreeding, but it can occur in other livebearers as well.  Depending upon the severity of the deformation, the fish could grow up and be just fine, or they could be stunted, have all sorts of health problems, etc.  In all honesty, this is what "culling" is used for...but many times people destroy the affected fry simply because they won't be of "show quality", which shouldn't matter to many of us...>
They are all well and active.
<That's the most important sign.>
Parameters of the tank are fine although I seem to have a bit of rust mould growing in the tank.
<Likely some sort of algae - I've got the same problem in my 10 gal. Figure 8 puffer tank, due to his messy eating habits.  I suspect if you are feeding pulverized flake food, or other traditional "fry food", some of it isn't actually being eaten and is decaying in the tank, causing what you describe.  Simple solution is an algae-scrubbing pad and more water changes...>
My question is that why is that particular batch of mollies brown and of a different shape?
<Likely caused by genetics...>
I've done some research but can't work it out! I do hope you can help!
<It sounds as though all the fry are moving about and eating. I'd suggest keeping a close eye on them, and if you start seeing problems, then you may have to look into euthanasia. But as it sounds, for now, all is well; enjoy your little cuties!>
Best Regards,
Rachel UK
<Good luck, Jorie>

Male molly  2/12/07
I apologize now for this question may sound like a windup or something purvey, I have a black male molly who has been in the tank for nearly a month, throughout this time he has basically been a sex-pest to a female molly who he shares with a subordinate orange male,
<A bad sex ratio for poeciliids...>
until recently, she has been the only fish the male has been able to harass; recently I have introduced two female molly/ platy crosses for him to harass.
<Oh! Good>
the other day I noticed he (black dominate
<dominant>
male) was hanging round at the bottom of the tank, 'hiding' nearly out of site,
<sight>
when he moved and was visible, and this is why I don't want to sound funny, his 'Gonopodium' (genitalia) which normally sits back or extends round when he is copulating is now permanently sticking out from his body at an odd angle. it also appears that a small black lump on the end of his parts has appeared, though this could be normal as it is his normal coloration. his character has dramatically changed, he hides a lot and he avoids brushing 'it' on things in the tank. I would have used the forum chat, but ppl might accuse me of being some sort of pervert. has he really injured 'himself'?
<Does read as such, yes>
is this a common problem?
<Not atypical>
what can I do?
<Hope, be patient...>
I can send pictures if this helps but I have as yet been unable to find anything on search engines which doesn't bring up obscene porn or strange blogs
mike
<Thanks for sharing. Bob Fenner>