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FAQs on the Molly
Health/Disease 5
Related Articles:
Mollies, & Poeciliids: Guppies, Platies,
Swordtails, Mollies
by Neale Monks, Livebearing Fishes
by Bob Fenner,
Related FAQs: Molly
Disease 1,
Molly Disease 2,
Molly Disease 3,
Molly Disease 4, & Mollies 1,
Mollies 2,
Molly Identification FAQs,
Molly Behavior FAQs,
Molly Compatibility FAQs,
Molly Selection FAQs,
Molly System FAQs,
Molly Feeding FAQs,
Molly Reproduction FAQs,
Livebearers,
Guppies,
Platies, Swordtails,
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Worried for my fish.
Molly-Neon mis-mix, no reading, full moon stuff... 11/18/09
I have one Dalmatian Molly, one gold molly and 4 neon tetras together in
a large tank, it has plenty of plants.
<Do understand Neons and Mollies are not compatible. Neons need cool
(around 22-25 C) water that is soft to moderately hard, and not too
basic (5-15 degrees dH, pH 6.5-7.5). Mollies by contrast need much
warmer water (around 28 C) and the water must be very hard (15+ degrees
dH) and very basic (pH 7.5-8). They almost always do better when some
marine salt mix is added, at a dose of between 3-9 grammes per litre
depending on the tankmates and plants. All of this will be quoted in
aquarium books, which is why we recommend you read a book before buying
any fish.>
I have recently found out that both my mollies are male (thank goodness)
My concern is, for a few weeks now my gold molly has been getting fatter
very ball like and can no longer swim, he sits in one spot all the time
on the bottom of the tank, my Dalmatian molly appears to be fretting for
the gold as he is always going over to him and trying to lift him off
the bottom of the tank, he is continuously trying to push him up, and
when he gets the gold up so far the gold just sinks straight to the
bottom of the tank again,
<He is not "fretting" but being aggressive.>
His breathing has become more erratic and I've noticed his fins are
getting faster in movement but he's still not getting anywhere. He has
also stopped eating now and Im worried he is going to starve as it has
been a few days.
<What are the water conditions? As stated above, Mollies need very
specific conditions to do well.>
I have medicated the tank with a multi purpose treatment but it has had
no affect on him.
<Useless approach. Diagnose the problem, then treat. Imagine if your
doctor couldn't be bothered to check your symptoms, and just gave you
the first pot of pills he pulled from a drawer!>
I separated him from the others but he looked panicky and was constantly
pushing up against the side, while he was in the other tank i noticed
his anus was very white and looked like it was protruding out of his
body like a hemorrhoid.
<Is not this.>
Im concerned for my other fish as my Dalmatian molly is more active then
usual in what looks like a concerned manner. and one of the Neons seams
to be becoming rounder in the tummy and becoming slackish in its
movements.
<Check water quality and water chemistry. For both species, 0 ammonia
and 0 nitrite are critical. But since Neons and Mollies need completely
different water chemistry, it's unlikely (i.e., impossible) to keep both
species 100% successfully in the same aquarium.>
Id appreciate any advice you could give me as I don't want to loose any
of my fish.
<I'm afraid they're doomed. You've thrown two non-compatible species
together, and without giving me any actual data in terms of water
quality, water chemistry, or temperature, I have no idea what precisely
is going on here.>
i have looked all over websites trying to find an answer but nothing
that i can find displays any of his symptoms together.
<These sound like generic "get me out of here" symptoms exhibited by
fish being maintained in a poor (or the wrong) environment.>
Kylie
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: worried for my fish, Molly hlth.
11/18/09
Thank you for your reply.
<You're welcome.>
I have tested the ph in my tank, and it is reading at 7.6, the
temperature is 28 C all of what you have described as good conditions
for the Mollies,
<Indeed.>
but I have not added any salt to the water.
<Ah... this isn't essential, but it really does make a huge difference.>
I have these 6 fish in the same tank for the past 6 months and have had
no problems with them till now.
<As is the nature of things.>
The Neon appears to have gotten over his swollen belly and is back
zipping around the tank like he always has.
<Cool.>
Unfortunately the pot belly molly has gotten worse today an is now lying
on his side, I do not expect him to see out the week. he is non
responsive to me when i approach the tank.
<As I say, Mollies just aren't reliable choices for aquaria where marine
salt mix isn't added. I don't recommend people keep them that way.>
My Dalmatian molly is still trying to lift him off the bottom but not as
much as before, he seems to have gotten attached to his reflection in
the side of the tank and has been fiercely chasing his image back and
forth across that side.
<Again, this "attachment" is aggression. Male Mollies are intolerant of
one another.>
I had done some reading prior to getting the fish, as I have had Neons
in the past and wanted them again, but I also wanted something else to
go with them.
<Tricky things Neons. I think they're good choices for fish that also
like coolish conditions, e.g., Danios and Corydoras. Platies are the
livebearer of choice, being very happy at slightly cool conditions.
Swordtails also do well in cool conditions, but they are a bit more
aggressive (and bigger).
Guppies and Mollies need much warmer water though, and Mollies are
fussier about water quality and water chemistry. Beautiful fish, yes,
but not easy to keep.>
When I when into my pet shop to get the Neons I didn't ask if they were
compatible with the mollies as they were already in the tank together
there, I assumed they at the store new what they were doing and just
asked for what was there.
<Ah, I see.>
I will however be returning to my pet shop to inform them that they do
not belong in the same tank together.
<Should be interesting to hear what they say. As mentioned, not everyone
keeps Mollies in slightly brackish water, but every aquarium writer
agrees that they are often easier kept thus, and many miscellaneous
problems just don't occur when Mollies are kept this way.>
Thank you once again for your advice, and I will be setting up a second
tank right away to separate the two species.
<Certainly one solution. There are lots of fish that tolerate slightly
salty water, including Guppies, Glassfish, Halfbeaks, various Gobies,
and even things like Shrimps and Nerite Snails. Numerous plants will
tolerate slightly salty conditions too (do read WWM re: brackish water
aquaria for more).>
I do hope that by doing this I can save all there lives, Including my
Pot Belly.
<I hope so too.>
Kylie
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: worried for my fish
Neale,
Thank you once again for your hasty reply.
<Happy to help.>
Unfortunately after I sent my last email, I checked on my molly and he
had died.
<Not surprised, really. Sad anyway.>
When I removed him from the tank his belly was extremely swollen but i
could not find any marks on his body and his fins were still in good
condition, I believe he may have just had SBD.
<Ah, now, there's no such thing as "Swim Bladder Disorder". This idea is
a vague, arm-waving thing aquarists mention when they have no idea why
their fish died. Putting aside constipation, the usual reason fish swell
up is because of internal bacterial infections. These are caused by
general environmental shortcomings. In the case of Mollies, this can
very easily be water that is too soft, too cold, and, as I've said,
insufficiently salty.
This is the thing with Mollies, they aren't reliable in freshwater
aquaria.
We can talk about this all day, but it's still the bottom line: Mollies
will sometimes die from stress-related bacterial infections when
maintained in freshwater aquaria. The mystery is that Mollies do just
fine in the wild living in freshwater rivers. So they don't need salty
water in the wild.
There's something about aquaria, possibly nitrogenous wastes, that makes
salt beneficial (salt detoxifies nitrite and nitrate).>
My Dalmatian Molly has become more aggressive towards his reflection, is
there something I can do to calm him down?
<Castration. Serious, this is what male Mollies do. In the wild male
Mollies spend all their time shooing off any male that gets close, so
they can monopolise access to the females.>
It is rather funny to watch but I don't want him to get stressed.
<He'll be fine.>
Should I also put a female molly in with him, as He is rather large and
dominant I don't want him attacking any other males I get.
<He will pester the female.>
As I said before I only had them in the same tank as the Neons because
that is how they had them in the aquarium store.
<And as I said before, you need to read up on a fish before you buy it.>
I when back into the store this morning and asked them what there
opinion was of having the 2 species in the same tank, (they have now
added cardinals to the same tank making it three species)
<Hmm...>
The man told me that they hadn't had any problems with them and that
they understood that Mollies are very hardy and have the ability to
adjust themselves to completely fresh water.
<Note that pet stores keep their fish for a few weeks... they don't care
what happens once the fish is sold.>
After explaining to them that I had been informed they need a little
salt to do well, I was told it didn't really matter to them as they
don't keep them for very long as the Mollies sell very quickly and after
they leave the store its not there problem what happens to the fish.
<Precisely so.>
With this, I left the store. And am now looking for a new aquarium shop.
<Hmm... wouldn't be too hard on them, but as I say, you buy fish after
you know what they need.>
The neon that had been getting fatter, Is now not so fat. and looks much
happier now they are in there own tank. Once again thank you for
replying.
I am definitely looking at buying your books so I am not bothering you
with all my questions.
<We do have a page of recommended books for beginners.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/bookswwmsugg.htm
Not sure what the selection is like in the Land of Oz, but I'd hope your
public library at least will have a few useful tomes.>
Kylie
Re Pot Belly Molly... Really worried... mixed w/ Neon Tetras...
11/18/09
I have one Dalmatian Molly, one Pot Belly Molly and 4 Neon Tetras
together in a 20 gallon tank, with lots of live Plants..
I have recently found out that both of my mollies are male (thank
goodness).
<Hmm... females are actually much easier to keep in groups, especially
virgin females which won't breed and don't fight.>
My concern is, for a few weeks now my Pot Belly Molly has been getting
fatter, very ball like and can no longer swim, he sits in one spot all
the time on the bottom of the tank,
<Likely something like "The Shimmies" -- a neurological issue brought
along by inappropriate maintenance. Mollies are very sensitive to
nitrate (anything above 20 mg/l is toxic under freshwater conditions).
They are also sensitive to chilling (anything below 28 C is risky).
Usually, Mollies are most reliably kept in tanks with a little marine
salt mix added to raise the pH, raise the carbonate hardness, and raise
the salinity. While not 100% necessary, for non-expert fishkeepers the
use of marine salt mix is HIGHLY recommended.>
my Dalmatian Molly appears to be fretting for the Pot Belly as he is
always going over to him and trying to lift him off the bottom of the
tank, he is continuously trying to push him up, and when he gets the Pot
Belly up so far the Pot Belly just sinks straight to the bottom of the
tank again.
<He is being aggressive.>
His breathing has become more erratic and I've noticed his fins are
getting faster in movement but he's still not getting anywhere.
<Indeed not.>
He has also stopped eating now and Im worried he is going to starve as
it has been a few days.
<Likely so.>
I have medicated the tank with a multi purpose treatment but it has had
no affect on him.
<Won't. A useless approach for the reasons I mentioned last time you
wrote with the same message.>
I separated him from the others but he looked panicky and was constantly
pushing up against the side, while he was in the other tank I noticed
his anus was very white and looked like it was protruding out of his
body like a hemorrhoid.
<Not this.>
Im concerned for my other fish as my Dalmatian molly is more active then
usual in what looks like a concerned manner. and one of the Neons seems
to be becoming rounder in the tummy and becoming slow in its movements.
<Neons need specific conditions completely different to those of
Mollies; temperature, hardness, salinity, pH -- all different.>
Id appreciate any advice you could give me as I don't want to loose any
of my fish.
<Good.>
I have looked all over websites trying to find an answer but nothing
that i can find displays any of his symptoms together.
Any help you could give me would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Kylie
<Do read up on the requirements of fish *prior* to purchase. This Molly
likely doomed, but transferring it to a clean, well-run, slightly
brackish aquarium may help. Cheers, Neale.>
Mollies troubles
11/10/09
I have 14 tanks ranging from 5 to 55 gallons mostly Acrylic and mostly
containing fresh water native species. Bluegill, Blue spots, Orange
spots, Longears with a couple of tanks of Rosies.
<Sounds fun! Not a big fan of 5-gallon tanks so far as fish are
concerned,
but a 55-gallon tank full of native fish would be a treat!>
A week ago I bought 8 Mollie from a petstore to put in a 30 gallon
SeaClear eclipse tank that I had cycled with 3 (healthy) goldfish. The
tank has the specified amount of Aquarium salt
<By what do you mean "specified amount"? And is this plain vanilla
aquarium salt, or actual marine mix? Let's be clear on this: Mollies do
best in hard, basic, slightly saline water. Aquarium salt does
little/nothing about hardness and pH, so if you have soft water, adding
aquarium salt merely turns it into salty soft water. Marine salt mix
contains mineral salts that raise pH and hardness, so works great with
Mollies. I recommend between 5-9 grammes per litre, depending on how
hard your water is and how much nitrate there is in the water. In soft
water, or water with more than a trace of nitrate, use higher amounts
(sodium chloride detoxifies nitrate, and this is very beneficial to
Mollies which are super-sensitive to nitrate).>
and I added a couple of very small well washed seashells as per advice
from a book I have. I test the tank every other day and it has remained
consistent. it has a 50 gallon HOB filter, a 30 gallon air pump with 7
inch wands at each end of the tank and a Jager 100 watt heater. The tank
temp is steady at 78 degrees, the PH is 7.5 and the water is toward the
alkaline side. The nitrates are fine.
<As in zero?>
I bought 2 silver Lyretails, 2 gold Lyretails, 2 Dalmatian Lyretails and
2 regular Black Mollies. They came out of 4 different tanks at the pet
store.
I requested all females. By evening I knew one of the Gold Lyretails was
sick. It went to the top of the tank and there it stayed.
<Do review temperature (which should be fairly high, 25-30 C), pH (which
should be stable and around 7.5 to 8), and hardness (which should be at
least 15 degrees dH). Salinity is something there are endless arguments
over, but suffice it to say that Mollies *always* do well in slightly
brackish water, even if they *sometimes* do fine in freshwater. This is
especially true when water conditions are less than perfect in other
regards. Use marine salt mix (plain aquarium salt is a false economy)
and dose at 5 to 9 grammes per litre (SG 1.002 to 1.005 at 25 degrees
C). I'm using metric units here because that's what I learned at
university doing marine biology. It's an especially convenient approach
too since one level teaspoon is about 6 grammes, so adding one level
teaspoon per litre is a very easy approach to take if you're aiming for
SG 1.003 at 25 C. But if you want to use Imperial units and compare them
against changes in water temperature, you can download Brack Calc from
my web site and make the conversions yourself. What you'll quickly
discover is these "teaspoon per gallon" amounts often mentioned among
aquarists are hopelessly low.>
The next morning it was dead on the bottom I took it back to the
petstore only to discover that the tank it had come from now contained
another dead Gold Lyretail as well. This being the case I opted for an
exchange of another Dalmatian. The salesperson at the petstore gave me a
hard time insisting that they needed a water sample other that the one
the dead fish was in but relented and gave me the replacement. At this
point I now have a bag in my refrigerator with 1 black Molly, the second
gold Lyretail, & one of the silver Mollies. I have one of the original
Dalmatians in a hospital tank and don't know if it is going to survive
or not. I now know that you should NEVER put new
fish from different tanks in the same tank. The Gold Lyretail infected
the other fish and at this point I may well lose them all.
<Honestly don't think this is anything contagious. Yes, Mollies can come
down with certain infectious diseases like Ick and Camallanus worms, but
most Mollies die because of environmental issues. They are NOT community
fish and they are NOT easy to keep and they are ARGUABLY NOT even
freshwater fish (at least, fish for freshwater aquaria). The odd thing
is that they're common as anything in freshwater habitats, but for
whatever reason they do not do consistently well in freshwater aquaria.
Various factors have been suggested for this; read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
By default, Mollies should be kept in slightly brackish conditions. They
don't need a lot of marine salt mix, so keeping them thus is inexpensive
and easier than messing about with pH and hardness levels using other
techniques. Many plants will thrive in such conditions, so such tanks
aren't difficult to decorate. All things considered, keeping Mollies in
a slightly brackish aquarium is a "no-brainer".>
My only question at this point has to do with aggression.
<Yes, they are aggressive.>
All of these fish were supposed to be female but the larger Dalmatian
that is still in the 30 gallon SeaClear consistently attacks the
remaining Silver Molly and the other Dalmatian (the replacement for the
Gold Lyretail} which has the regular tail. It ignores the smaller Black
Molly.
Is this normal behavior for a female fish or is it more than likely a
male.
<Generally males are aggressive to some degree. Keep two or more females
per male. They ignore species or variety differences, and a male Molly
will chase any female Molly in range: Black Molly, Balloon Molly,
Sailfin Molly, whatever...>
It is the largest fish of the 8, is fat and round and looking at its
fins appears to be a female but I'm no expert.
<Should be easy to tell. Males have a crooked, tube-like anal fin very
different to the triangular anal fin of the females. Females tend to be
bigger and somewhat rounder as well.>
At this point I am beginning to feel I have been mislead about Mollies.
<Almost certainly the case. But "mislead" is perhaps not the right word
here. Every aquarium book written will state in no uncertain terms that
Mollies are tricky fish that do best in slightly brackish conditions.
The fact people are told by retailers that they're community fish that
do fine in freshwater tanks says more about being cautious about
salespeople tell you than anything else. I wouldn't trust a sales clerk
to recommend me a pair of trousers or a new car, and neither would I
trust them on a particular fish being suitable for my home aquarium.>
So far they are 10 times more difficult than my Sunfish (which are
supposed to be difficult) from every standpoint.
<I'd agree with this, and have often made the point here that Mollies
aren't easy fish.>
I was lead to believe Mollies are peaceful and easy to care for. I have
had a wild caught (with a hook no less) male bluegill for 6 months now
in a 55 gallon tank (moving him to a 120 because he is getting to big to
turn around in the 55) that eats out of my hand and is healthier that I
am. I have raised Blue Spots and Orange spots from fry and not lost a
one while these Mollies are dropping like flies and I DO take care of my
Tanks. I am disabled, at home 24 seven and monitor them almost hourly.
<If you don't already have "North American Native Fishes for the Home
Aquarium" by David Schleser, you really owe it to yourself to track down
a copy. Besides covering lots of material I suspect you'll enjoy, it
includes details on maintaining the North American species of Molly as
well. So you'd find that part of the book very useful. You can
mail-order wild Poecilia latipinna from biological supply houses, and
these native species would probably appeal to you greatly. They're
bigger and very impressive animals, even though (thankfully, in my
opinion) they lack the bright colours of farmed fish.>
Thanks
Sincerely
Phil
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Molly troubles 11/11/09
Thanks for the FASSSST response it was really appreciated!
<Happy to help.>
The 5 gallon tank is home to Daphnia, I have 2 10 gallon glass tanks 1
is a hospital tank and the other is a fry tank. As for the specified
amount of salt I added 1 teaspoon per gallon & Nitrate is ZERO.
<One teaspoon of tonic/aquarium salt per gallon isn't enough. Do read my
message, and understand why you're adding salt. Sodium chloride by
itself has some value in detoxifying nitrite and nitrate, but it doesn't
raise pH and hardness. Marine salt mix at the dose stated, roughly one
teaspoon (6 grammes) per litre (0.26 US gal.) will raise hardness,
carbonate hardness, and pH very effectively. While some people try to
keep Mollies with less salt, or using just tonic/aquarium salt, the
bottom line is they often don't do well under such conditions, so I find
that a bit of a pointless approach. Much better to take Mollies for what
they are, and provide conditions that suit them consistently well.>
I have read that crushed coral added to the substrate is beneficial and
I do have several large pieces of coral that came out of a saltwater
tank, should I follow this advise and add it or not?
<Adding crushed coral in an undergravel filter will help harden the
water and raise the pH. Simply dumping some crushed coral into a tank
without an undergravel filter will have little effect. Think about how
this works.
Crushed coral dissolves into water that is drawn past it. In an system
with an undergravel filter, there is a constant flow of water, so the
coral and the water are constantly reacting with each other. In a tank
without an undergravel filter, only the very top layer of substrate
meets a moving flow of water; once you get a millimetre or two into the
substrate, water flow slows down to practically zero. Hence the amount
of reaction between the water and the crushed coral is tiny. If you
don't have an undergravel filter, the better approach is to put the
crushed coral in a media bag, and throw that into one of the
compartments in an canister filter. If that isn't an option, adding
either marine salt mix or a Rift Valley salt mix (if you don't want to
raise salinity) is the best way forward. Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
>
I have ordered the book you recommended and can't wait to get it.
<Cool.>
Also as to the wild native species could you be a bit more specific
about where I might find them
<This isn't a recommendation by any means, but one of the shops I have
bookmarked is Sachs Aquaculture, here:
http://www.aquaculturestore.com/
If you look at their Freshwater and Brackish water vertebrates pages,
they have a bunch of cool livebearers and killifish that might appeal.
I'm sure a little time spent on Google will reveal other, similar
retailers. Clubs like the American Livebearer Association might also be
good sources of information with regard to where native livebearers
might be purchased.>
The bright colors don't mean a thing to me.
<I guessed as much, and I suspect you'll enjoy the book I mentioned as
well as some of the other species you'll read about in there. Coldwater
fishkeeping is a much neglected part of the hobby.>
If it did I wouldn't have so many Sunfish some of which are pretty plain
Jane but I really like their "personalities."
<As do I.>
I may have missed it but is it common for the female Dalmatian Molly to
be so mean?
<Not common, but happens. Keeping in bigger groups should help, though
Bob often recommends taking aggressive fish out of the tank for a few
hours, and then returning it. With any luck, that'll "reset" the
hierarchy, and the bully won't be so mean.>
I am about ready to give her away (with the info of course that she
needs to be isolated for two reasons)
Thanks again
sincerely
Philip
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Mollies troubles – 11/12/09
Neale,
As I am disabled and don't drive anymore I have to wait until someone
can take me anywhere to buy Aquarium items or order via the internet. I
have a new unopened bottle of Seachem Marine Buffer is this of any use
for my Molly tank?
<Certainly can be used. I'd start with about a half dose though, and see
how things go. That should stabilise the pH between 7.6 and 8.0, which
would be an ideal range for Mollies.>
It is written on the front that it safely raises & maintains ph to 8.3
and that even if more than the prescribed dosage is added it will not
raise the ph above 8.3.
<This is indeed how buffers work.>
It also states that the prescribed dose will raise the alkalinity by
about 1 meg/L. I realize this product is for a saltwater Aquarium so
this is probably a stupid question but I have the stuff so would like to
know if I
can use it to advantage for my Mollies or if it would be harmful or
useless.
<Can be used in freshwater and brackish water tanks safely. Make any
water chemistry changes gradual though. I'd work out how much you need
in millilitres or drops or whatever, and add one-quarter that amount on
day 1, another quarter on day 2, and so on. This will allow your fish
and the filter bacteria time to adjust. You can also look out for any
unusual behaviours that might suggest stress.>
Thanks Again for you help.
Sincerely
Philip
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Molly Spinning, Upside Down Swimming, Exopthalmia & Other
Bizarre Symptoms, 10/25/09
Chris,
<Hi>
I'm checking water before every change to see if it has gotten bad.
I'm using an API liquid/test tube kit for ammonia and a Jungle Labs
Quick Dip strip for nitrates, nitrites, GH, chlorine, KH, pH.
<I'm not a fan of the dip strips but they are probably fine here.>
Everything looks fine, definitely no ammonia problems. If it has changed
at all, it is not discernible - still looks like 0 ppm.
Nitrites are still 0 and Nitrates are <20. A small amount of algae has
begun to grow again. I'm not sure he's eating but then he's probably not
producing waste. I have not vacuumed gravel (too stressful). I guess
with only one fish and very little food, water has managed to stay okay.
Temp is about 77-78 degrees.
<Ok>
Is it possible there are other things in the water that would (over 8
months) cause problems and then, seemingly all of a sudden, sicken the
Molly and cause all of those strange symptoms - I'm mean corkscrew and
upside down swimming was pretty bizarre to me?
<Well, in captivity mollies do pretty poorly in fresh water, but are
nearly bullet proof in brackish, so that may be a partial factor here.>
I only test for the basics. I use well water and "spring" water in just
about equal parts.
Our tap water is softened so the readings are: GH - Very Soft, KH -
High, and pH - Alkaline. Our well water is: GH - Very Hard, KH - High,
and pH - Alkaline. I was buying "spring" water to drink and it read:
GH - Very Soft, KH - Low, pH - Acidic. I gathered an approximate
combination of well and "spring" water, about equal parts or a little
more spring, would be about right for livebearers. I expected a moderate
level of bi-carbonates and carbonates and the right GH and KH and pH. I
seem to remember reading that my fish would be okay with a pH of 7.5.
<For the most part live bears like harder water with a bit higher pH,
but 7.5 is generally acceptable. Sounds like your tap water may be
perfect alone for livebearers.>
I always added water conditioner (no chlorine, but thought it wouldn't
hurt) and aquarium salt pretty much as a "tonic"; didn't really realize
at the time that Mollies like brackish water.
<I would probably forget about the aquarium salt, not really doing
anything here.>
Indeed my water has been very stable over the months. I got ever so
slight white, crusty build up on the filter intake. And I did get a
slight brown algae growth each week. I would brush sides of tank at
water change time. I changed the carbon filter about every 4 weeks.
The well water is very hard. I'm told there is a great deal of limestone
in this area, but I've never heard that there are other troubling (to
humans anyway) hard things. I don't know if we will continue fish
keeping but I am curious about further tests that can be done on water
(especially since that seems to be the biggest issue - actually I'm not
sure if it's water that's the problem or changing the water that's the
problem - I'll just have you know that I was diligent, every week
whether I liked it or not!).
<I think ultimately the medications proved worst than the cure, I'm
thinking that the current symptoms are likely the result of the chemical
combinations.>
Are there other test
kits that would give better info. or would a one time test of the well
water answer that question?
<Not really, you hit most all the tests available that would be relevant
here.>
I just noticed I'm writing past tense - but he is still hanging in
there. I guess I just can't help but think the poor Platy is doomed.
Can I just tell you that this is so frustrating? I'll keep doing water
changes but the only reason it's not overwhelmingly tempting to
intervene and do chemotherapy is that I don't know what to give him
because I can't diagnose what's wrong.
Meg Siira
<Given good water quality fish can be surprisingly resilient, and what I
would do here. A little Methylene blue may help here, but I would not
try anything stronger. Best bet here in my opinion is to maintain the
water quality, try to get the fish to eat, and hope for the best.>
<Chris>
Re: Molly Spinning, Upside Down Swimming, Exopthalmia & Other
Bizarre Symptoms 10/25/2009
Chris,
The Platy died as expected. Thanks for your input. Even "good" water
doesn't mean your fish will be healthy and disease free. A tough lesson
after diligently doing all the things necessary to get the water and
keep the water in the best condition possible.
Meg Siira
<Sorry to hear, better luck in the future.>
<Chris>
Molly Spinning, Upside Down Swimming, Exopthalmia & Other
Bizarre Symptoms 10/21/09
Here are some stats of my aquarium:
10 gal tank
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate < 20
about 8 months old
pH 7.2-7.8
GH Hard
KH about 150 - 180
weekly water changes of about 20-30% conditioner and aquarium salt added
to water used in changes gravel vacuum every other water change water
readings after initial cycling have been very stable except for nitrite
which was initially 0 then gradually showed slightly pink (<20)only one
black molly and one red wag platy (only 3 fish to start but one female
died after birthing)
<Ultimately this tank is too small to keep mollies long term, which also
do best in brackish conditions in captivity. In fact in brackish water
mollies are almost indestructible.>
My question involves disease (no big surprise). Molly's tail looked
"thin", like some of the tissue had come off; it was probably like this
when purchased; went unnoticed until dorsal fin got a split down the
middle; treated with Victoria green, Acriflavine (Fungus Cure), one
dose, and Minocycline (Maracyn II) and erythromycin (Maracyn), one five
day treatment of both. Fin grew back together from bottom up; tail
somewhat better; no other noticeable symptoms. Platy had no symptoms.
Three months later, noticed about two weeks of Molly darting at the top
of tank, then same thing with his tail and dorsal. Intended to give same
treatment but failed to give Victoria green and Acriflavine; gave only
Minocycline and erythromycin. Fifth day of treatment, dorsal fin growing
back together, tail looking a bit better. First day after treatment,
Molly began this series of symptoms in chronological order: swimming
fast, up and down, then spinning while swimming, corkscrew fashion,
still trying to eat, no signs of normal bowels movements, then curvature
in spine, then exopthalmia beginning, then a little difficulty in
getting to top, not eating, then curvature seemed to go away, then
swimming upside down solely, then listing but swimming more upright with
some spinning, gulping, fins becoming ragged, exopthalmia severe in both
eyes, then lying on side on gravel, then mouth protruding (or insides
protruding out). No signs during this time of any fungus, external
parasites. But since common things are common, I did the following in
this order (obviously at first signs of illness): checked water, temp,
filter - all things seemed normal, fed shelled peas and blanched
romaine, removed filter media, gave Victoria green and Acriflavine
(Fungus Cure), one dose, then Praziquantel, Diflubenzuron,
metronidazole, Acriflavine (Parasite Clear) one dose, then later started
Minocycline (Maracyn II) treatment. Only about 24 hours between
medications. I realize I could have killed the Molly with medication,
but he was really bad off, and I was starting to feel even more
helpless. I guess I expected 12 -24 hours of treatment to make some
difference if I was using the correct meds.
Anyway, the whole thing from the fast swimming forward took about 6
days, then he died.
<Could be a reaction to the medications, could be "Whirling disease", an
infection caused by the parasite Myxobolus, especially if you feed your
fish Tubifex worms. First guess would be water quality and reaction to
the various medications.>
Now the Platy is shimmying, and may have a few other subtle changes in
behavior. Obviously there are still medications in the water, probably
all of the above mentioned. The water parameters are still okay but I
suspect the biological filter may be affected soon. I guess different
fishes mean different symptoms but surely the Platy is being affected by
exactly the same culprit. So, my questions are: 1) what is sickening my
fish and should I proceed with Maracyn II treatment and/or something
else
<I would stop all treatments at this point and do lots of water changes
and see if that helps.>
and 2) what should I do about the biological filter - add a product or
can I recycle an existing tank
<Allow it to recycle.>
and 3) what other tests are available for water, meaning what other
things could be in the water that would negatively affect the fish over
8 months that I can test for (since water quality is noted as being the
most likely cause of problems)?
<My first guess is the Victoria Green, aka Malachite Green, pretty toxic
stuff. Combined with the other medications it could do a real number on
the fish.>
Although I'm beginning to feel that a hobby that involves periodic death
is not for me, I must do what I can for this remaining fish. (I also
realize he doesn't want to be alone but until he is better he's going
solo).
<Best move, more fish just complicate things. To be honest with mollies
and platies to a lesser degree, first thing to do is add a bit of marine
salt, brackish conditions seem to do marvels for these fish in
captivity.>
Sorry for such a long message. Thank you for your time.
M. Siira
<Welcome>
<Chris>
Re: Molly Spinning, Upside
Down Swimming, Exopthalmia & Other Bizarre Symptoms 10/22/09
Hi Chris,
<Hello>
Thanks for the information. I actually had fed them a few blood worms.
<Store bought frozen or freeze-dried blood worms are generally very
safe, it is Tubifex worms that should be avoided due to their ability to
transfer disease.>
The Molly was the eager, and therefore, fast eater. I accidentally let
about 7-8 worms get in the tank, which looks like such a small amount,
but I didn't feed them the worms often and usually just 2 or so per
fish (in place of regular food).
<Perfectly fine, my mollies eat blood worms regularly.>
The Molly probably ate them all or most (which is why I thought of
constipation and gave veggies).
<Actually blood worms are pretty good at preventing constipation.>
But I've had this food for the whole time I've had the tank and it has
never seemed to affect them negatively. Is it possible, that this food
contained a "bad bug"? It is Hikari Bio-Pure FD "100% Pure Freeze Dried"
blood worms with vitamins.
<Unlikely, blood worms are very safe and not carriers of disease as
Tubifex can be. I think we are dealing with reactions to medications
here.>
Thanks.
M. Siira
<Welcome>
<Chris>
Re: Molly Spinning, Upside Down Swimming, Exopthalmia & Other
Bizarre Symptoms 10/24/09
Hi Chris,
<Hi>
Thanks again.
<Welcome>
I stopped the meds when you recommended. The shimmying in the Platy
stopped, but then he began staying very still, sitting on the gravel.
His tail and dorsal are changing, black near the body (normally black -
he's a Red Wag Platy), then brownish as it moves outward, and then pale,
almost clear and slightly frayed on the
outermost edges. After ceasing meds, I put filter in and increased water
changes to 20% every 12 hours or so (water parameters are still good).
<Are you sure? Sounds like ammonia poisoning is what is possibly
happening here.>
Now, he may be moving a bit more, tail and fins still look unhealthy,
and his eyes look like they are clouding over and may be protruding
slightly. I'm not sure, but it looks like he may be bumping into the
plants and sides of the tank.
Any more suggestions?
Meg Siira
<Keep up the water changes and run some activated carbon. Double-check
you water parameters because it sounds like there may be a problem
there,>
<Chris>
Dalmatian Molly Sitting at Bottom of Tank (ammonia, no salt,
the usual...) 8/8/09
Hi -
<Hello,>
My apologies up front for what are likely some basic questions, but I
just got a new tank a little over 4 weeks ago and the thing didn't come
with an idiot's guide to setting up and caring for an aquarium and the
fish in them.
<We consistently suggest you buy (or borrow) a book before anything
else.
Sure, you miss out on immediate gratification, but sometimes learning
about a subject before you dive into can make all the difference.>
Most of my problem stems from the fact that every person I ask at
Petsmart has a different answer - and none of them seem to be right!
<Indeed. Here are some thoughts on selecting livestock for the first
aquarium:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestk.htm
>
I have a 29-gallon tank with 2 Neons, 2 guppies, 1 Mickey mouse platy,
and a Dalmatian molly. I was waiting to populate the tank more until the
tank had stabilized.
<Mollies are, essentially, incompatible with most other community fish.
Platies and Guppies happen to be livebearers and will tolerate slight
salinity well, but the Neons won't. Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
If you want Mollies, you should add a little marine salt mix -- not
aquarium or tonic salt -- to the water. This steadies a basic pH, adds
some carbonate hardness, and increases the salinity, and all three of
these
things are helpful with Mollies.>
I woke up this morning to find the molly sitting at the bottom of the
tank - an occasional move of the fins or shifting on the rocks, but
otherwise, just sitting there. When I fed the fish this morning, the
molly (usually
the one eating far more than its share) just stayed along the bottom and
ignored the food. I don't see any of the fungal disease signs mentioned
in the other FAQs, though I suspect water quality is the issue.
<So do I.>
When I got the tank, I was told to change 30% of the water once a month.
So just shy of one month in, I brought in a vial of water to Petsmart to
have it tested and found out the ammonia levels were not toxic, but
pretty darn close.
<Hmm... ammonia is toxic at any level other than zero, end of story, so
if the Petsmart clerk said the level was above zero but not dangerous,
he/she was either lying or ignorant. Mollies are especially sensitive to
ammonia when kept in freshwater tanks.>
I was told to change 30-40% of the water and that should take care of
the problem. I did so by vacuuming the gravel and took the water to be
tested again several days later. The pH levels were too high and the
ammonia hadn't dropped at all. They gave me a pH decrease and ammonia
remover and told me to change the water again and add those.
<This clerk is having a laugh at your expense. Ammonia is a basic
substance, i.e., it raises the pH. So long as you have non-zero ammonia
levels, you'll have a pH higher than it would be without ammonia.
Furthermore, Platies, Mollies, and Guppies all want a basic pH, around
7.5 to 8.2.>
I did that and took yet another vial in a few days later. The pH had
balanced, but the ammonia was still too high - and this person told me
the pH decrease and ammonia remover were worthless. This person told me
to change the water again and add stress coat. I did - and ended up
changing about 50% of the water. Took another vial in this morning after
seeing the molly at the bottom of the tank and was told that the ammonia
levels were still too high (I think they were around 3?).
<3 mg/l is very toxic. If 0.3 mg/l, that's a typical background level to
see in an immature aquarium. In the short term, this is likely to
trigger Finrot and Fungal infections, even if it won't immediately kill
your fish.>
They told me to not change the water for a week because the molly is
likely stressed out from all the water changes (3 in the last 10 days).
<Garbage.>
They told me to add more stress coat today and change 25% of the water
in one week's time. I added the stress coat. They also told me I was
likely overfeeding the fish - two times a day. They said to feed them
only one time every other day - sounds like very little to me.
<Whilst maturing a tank, feeding every other day is about right.>
Not a one of them suggested that the molly would do well with a little
salt in the water - so there's none in there.
<Dismal.>
So here are my questions. Do you suspect that it is a water quality
issue?
<Obviously.>
Should I wait a week to change the water or is the "fish is stressed
out" theory incorrect?
<No, don't wait. The theory is rubbish. Do regular 10-20% water changes,
daily if necessary, to keep ammonia and nitrite as low as possible
through the cycling phase.>
Can you change the water too often?
<Provided pH and hardness and temperature are the same in the new water
as the aquarium, no. In practise, for a tank being matured, changing
around 20% every day or two is an extremely good idea. After 3-4 weeks,
the tank should be cycled, or pretty darn close, and you can fall back
to the usual 25% per week.>
Should I add some salt or will that impact the other fish negatively?
<Remove the Neons to another aquarium, and then add 3-5 grammes of
marine salt mix (the stuff used in marine tanks) per litre of water.>
They told me to change the filter at the time of my first water change -
which I did. Did I lose some or all of the good bacteria in the tank in
the process?
<The filter bacteria are in the biological filter media, typically
sponges or ceramic media. These should be rinsed in a bucket of water
taken from the aquarium during a water change. Clean these every 4-6
weeks, more often if the filter gets clogged easily. Chemical media,
things like carbon, if used, should be replaced once a month; there's no
point cleaning them.>
How often would you feed them?
<Initially every couple of days is fine. Once the tank is cycled and
ammonia and nitrite are zero, feeding a small pinch daily should be
ample.>
Since I can't get a straight answer out of the Petsmart people, should I
invest in my own water testing strips and the internet for answers?
<I know it's heresy in this lazy age of instant information, but books
are what you want. Books are written by experts (people like me!) and
edited professionally to make sure the facts presented are reliable.
Your public library will have a selection of books on fishkeeping, even
if you don't want to part with the $10 required to buy one. Failing
that, WWM has lots of detailed articles on every imaginable aspect of
the hobby.>
Where can I find that idiot's guide to keeping your fish alive?!
<Here.>
Sorry for all the questions. I've been on the web a good chunk of the
evening trying to figure out what's wrong with the molly and this site
seemed to be the most informative and helpful. Seemed the right place to
unload all my "help, I'm a rookie" questions!
<Indeed.>
Thank you for your time and help. I'm really hoping to get that molly
back up and swimming about...
<Once provided with clean, slightly salty water it should pep up.>
Brent
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re Dalmatian Molly Sitting at Bottom of Tank (ammonia, no
salt, the usual...) 8/8/09
<Wasn't clear with this answer...>
Should I wait a week to change the water or is the "fish is stressed
out" theory incorrect?
<No, don't wait. The theory is rubbish. Do regular 10-20% water changes,
daily if necessary, to keep ammonia and nitrite as low as possible
through the cycling phase.>
Re: Dalmatian Molly Sitting at Bottom of Tank (ammonia, no
salt, the usual...) [RMF, please edit the Daily] <?> 8/10/09
<<Neale: What does this mean? BobF>>
Hi Neale -
Thank you very much for all your helpful advice.
<Happy to help.>
I went in and changed a little over a quarter of the water with a
(hopefully) very thorough gravel clean and the water is looking a whole
lot clearer. I'll keep doing daily or every other day 10% water changes
until
things stabilize and add a little marine salt once I'm able to get the
Neons out of there.
<Very good plan.>
We'll see how things go, but regardless, the molly was swimming around
this morning and seemed much more active. Thanks again!
<Yes, Mollies often respond quickly to beneficial changes in their
environment. This is the flip side to the point made last time about how
badly they react when kept inappropriately.>
Brent
<Cheers, Neale.>
Mollies sick, can't figure
out what the problem might be. – 08/04/09
Hi and thanks in advance for your help. We have had three Sailfin
mollies for several months (1 M and 2 F). They have been terrific pets
and are usually very energetic. However a few days ago we noticed that
our male and youngest female have been acting very sluggish, almost
tired. the male has been found hanging upside-down in a plant twice and
both have been spending a lot of time resting on the bottom of the tank.
Suspecting that it was a water quality issue, we tested for Ammonia,
Nitrites, and Nitrates and found 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, and Nitrates
came in between 10 and 15 ppm. We did a 10 gal. water change anyway (29
gal tank) to make sure the water conditions weren't the problem.
Otherwise the conditions in the tank should also be as favorable as they
can for mollies in a freshwater aquarium. Alkalinity is over 8.0 and GH
is 20 dH. Even after the water was changed their behavior remained the
same. We moved the two mollies into a quarantine tank with higher salt
content until we can figure out what is going on. They are both still
eating, and they both seem to be moving around a bit more, but they are
still not right. Any ideas as to what the issue could be? Other aquarium
inhabitants include a handful of Cardinal tetras and Rummynose tetras,
two platies, two Chinese algae eaters, and one male Swordtail (our two
females both passed away after pregnancies).
Thanks,
Mike & Kari
<Hello Mike and Kari. The reality is that Mollies often don't do well in
freshwater tanks, period, end of discussion. So assuming you have good
water quality, the right temperature (a little on the warm side, around
26-28 C), and you're offering them a greens-based diet, then they should
be in good health. The lack of brackish water conditions is really all
that's left.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
I don't recommend Mollies as community fish, and don't advise people to
buy them except in situations where creating brackish water conditions
is an option. Cheers, Neale.>
2 mollies-one sick the other pregnant 7/9/09
Hi, I've been reading all your comments on mollies but couldn't find the
answer I was looking for.
<Oh? Well, let's see...>
I have two mollies, one black and one orange. I'm sorry I don't know
what kind exactly, just that the black is male and the orange is female
and pregnant for the second time. We bought them 28 days ago and the
first night we had them, she gave birth to 7-10 babies. We found them in
the morning and I took the male out because he was chasing one.
<Keep more adult females than males; as I'm sure you read here at WWM as
well as in most any aquarium book, you should buy one male to each two
(or more) females, otherwise the females will be harassed by the males.
Males are "programmed" to constantly try and mate with anything, and if
there's only a single female, she'll be constantly chased, nipped and
inseminated, whether she wants this or not.>
My husband crushed some flakes for them and one was going up and eating,
so I thought they would be okay. The momma molly was relaxed now that
the male was out. She was swimming all over the place before I took him
out.
After work, I saw that the babies had all died as they were all on the
bottom of the aquarium. I know now that the new water must have been the
cause. The two mollies are in a 10 gallon tank,
<Far, far too small for Mollies. You need at least a 20 gallon "long"
tank and realistically 30 gallons.>
with no chlorine (we have a well), good ph steady at 7 and low
alkalinity.
<Nothing "good" about this; Mollies need hard, alkaline water,
preferably with a bit of marine salt mix added, since they do better in
brackish water. Aim for pH 7.5 to 8, 15+ degrees dH, a temperature of
26-28 C, and around 6-9 grammes of marine salt mix added per litre of
water. Do all these things, and keep them in a bigger tank, and you
should find Mollies quite easy to keep.>
I have a mini Penguin Bio-wheel filter system. I did a 25% change of the
water three days ago. The fish were doing well until yesterday when the
black molly started going up a lot and "catching his breath".
<Bad sign.>
Now he stays on the bottom on his side, moving a little because he
changes places but looks dead (he's still breathing).
<Very bad.>
I think we fed them too much lately, because the female being pregnant,
is always going up to see if there's food as soon as she sees us close
to the aquarium. My husband said that they should have more food because
of her reaction. We were feeding once a day in the morning and the last
two days, we have been giving food in the morning and at night. Also,
they might be stressed; I wanted to separate the male from the female
before she has her babies, so I took him out, and put him in a fishbowl,
with some of the water from the aquarium.
<Argh! No, no, no... moving fish about, even if your intentions were
good, will cause problems of all kinds. For one thing, Mollies are
stressed by poor water quality and low temperatures, both problems with
bowls. For reasons too tedious to recount yet again, fish bowls are
useless and totally unsuitable for keeping fish in.>
As soon as he was out, the female started to look for him and was
swimming all over the aquarium.
<No, she wasn't looking for him.>
I thought she would calm down after a few minutes but she didn't. I
didn't want to stress her so I put him back. She calm down right after
she found him and was following his every move for a while. It was funny
to see.
<I think you're anthropomorphising here.>
He kept to the bottom and hide in the plants (plastic by the way). I was
wondering if he was sick and if he would get better soon or should I
take him out and quarantine. If so, what do I do about my female who
can't live without him? I just (today) added a tablespoon of marine salt
because I did that the first time I put them in a month ago. I read that
the salt might help. I have fungal meds but do not think it is fungus
because he has no white stuff on him. Could it be he just ate too much
and will be better in a couple of days?
<No.>
We will go back to feeding once a day but tomorrow they are not getting
any food. Is this bad for the pregnant female? We plan on separating the
two mollies from the fry as soon as they are born by putting a Plexiglas
with tiny wholes in it, in the middle of the aquarium. Is this good? I'm
sorry for the long message but I wanted to give as much details as
possible to anyone with a similar problem as mine. We are new to mollies
but did have a couple of goldfish and a sucker a few years ago, at our
first house. (We didn't have good water at that place.)
<Goldfish and "sucker fish" (by which you presumably mean a
Pterygoplichthys catfish of some sort) aren't compatible, and if they
died, given how hardy they are, I sincerely doubt it was the fact the
water was bad. Do please read about what fish need before buying them;
your experiences here with Mollies are all avoidable and absolutely
classic mistakes that people do when they haven't read a darn thing
about them.
While I'm happy to help, this is like the third sick Molly question of
the day, and there's another in the inbox still to be done. So try
reading, and then act accordingly:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Hope this helps.>
Anyway, thanks for your help! Nicole
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
Very Sick Black Molly... 7/9/09
Hello,
I've heard good things about your site and it has very helpful advice, so I
was hoping maybe I'd find help here.
<Fire away.>
I have a 20 gal. tank occupied by the fry (around a year old?) of one of my
past mollies. There aren't more then ten in the tank. Recently my sister
noticed one of the black mollies, a female (if it matters) has some sort of
bubble-like protrusion coming out of its side. The bubble is mostly clear,
with some pink in it. It actually almost looks to be coming out of the anus,
or somewhere near there, like maybe some of its organs are leaking out (can
this happen?).
<Certainly the area around the vent can become prolapsed, yes, and this is
usually not treatable directly. If the fish is otherwise healthy and eating,
the treating with a systemic antibiotics such as Maracyn may help fix the
bacterial infection that caused the prolapse, and the addition of Epsom salt
at 2-3 teaspoons per US gallon can relieve the swelling a bit (but by itself
it isn't a treatment!). Sometimes protozoans are to blame, in which case
something like Flagyl (Metronidazole) will be needed. Since this also treats
some bacteria, you might prefer to use this one first, and see what happens.
Otherwise, if treatment doesn't help or isn't possible, euthanise the fish:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/euthanasia.htm
>
All the other fish are fine, are sporting no such bubbles, and are eating
normally, etc. I looked everywhere and found nothing on the internet that
sounds similar to this, and every time I found someone mentioning bubbles on
their mollies everyone assured them it was ick. I've treated ick, and this
is not ick. Could it have something to do with the fact that these mollies
are all breeding rather young?
<Probably not.>
We have nowhere else to put them and can't stop them from breeding.
Recently we removed all the fry we could (and placed them in some of our
other tanks) to reduce the population. I once knew a woman (a former
neighbor of mine, quite a while back) who had so many children so close
together that her uterus literally fell out. Could this happen to a molly?
<Probably not.>
Or is it something water-related? I could test my water if you'd like to
know the results.
<Most fish health problems are indeed water quality/chemistry related, so
this info is always helpful. Just to recap, Mollies need hard, alkaline
water with a high temperature and preferably some marine salt mix added; aim
for a temperature of 26-28 C, pH 7.5-8, 15+ degrees dH, and about 6-9
grammes of marine salt mix added per litre.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Nitrate is particularly toxic to mollies, so apart from the usual 0 ammonia
and 0 nitrite, under freshwater conditions at least, you want nitrate levels
of less than 20 mg/l.>
I just find it odd that both our white and black mollies had fry and yet
only the black ones seem to be dying. The black mother died a few weeks
after we bought her, but the white mother lived for a few years. Do fish
pass things like this on genetically (i.e. health problems, weaknesses)?
<Possible.>
That being said, I've never seen anything like this before (but I have only
been a fish owner for a little over two years). One more thing, if you'd
like I could get a picture of the fish (I'd just have to shrink it down a
bit, our camera takes huge pictures).
<Please feel free to send along such a photo.>
And if you require any other info, please let me know and I'll be happy to
send it right along. Thanks so much for reading! We really love our fish!
<Good to hear!>
Brynn B.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Very Sick Black Molly... (RMF? Ever seen this type of
prolapsed vent on a Molly?)<<No.>>
7/9/09
Hello again,
I looked into the tank and found my molly dead a few minutes ago (which I
pretty much expected), but I included a picture of her body nonetheless,
just in case you could tell me any more about the protrusion and maybe help
me prevent my other fish from getting sick.
<Hmm... very odd. Doesn't look at all familiar to me, and seems a bit long
to be a simple prolapsed anus or uterus. I have seen somewhat similar
problems with another livebearer, a halfbeak, but the swelling was a large,
roughly spherical mass rather than a tube. There are a couple of photos on
an article I wrote for Fish Channel, here:
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/disease-prevention/dropsy-malawi-bloat.aspx
(RMF, would be happy to send similar if you'd like to add to this page
directly.)
<<Please do. RMF>>
In this case, the swelling was caused by some sort of problem with the
developing embryos, and after dissection the dead embryos were quite
obviously trapped behind the tumour-like mass, as you can see on the second
photo.>
Is this contagious?
<Very unlikely; however, female livebearers are sensitive to stress, and
while Mollies are not so commonly stressed as, say, pregnant Halfbeaks or
Stingrays, things like miscarriages are far from unknown. This underlines
the importance of providing optimal conditions, despite livebearers being
sold as "easy fish".>
Or will keeping my water quality higher in the future prevent seeing this
again?
<Good water quality will of course ensure your fish remain healthier, across
the board.>
Should I still treat the water with anything in case some fish have it but
aren't showing signs yet? Or will I be able to tell if others have it?
(They're all eating/swimming/acting normally). Thanks loads for your help
and quick response!
<Always happy to offer an opinion.>
Brynn B.
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
 |
Ich Advice, mollies, more - 06/05/09
Hi There,
<Howsit?>
I have been reading your site very diligently over the past two days as
we realized two of our black mollies have ich. The information you have
provided and the q/a section has been very helpful. I am sure every
tank, like every fish has a different story and set of issues :-)
<As does every individual>
In our tank we have 4- 2 yr old silver mollies (not even an 1�), 3 large
red platies, 5 of their off spring and then ~10 of their off spring (3
generations), also 2 pop belly mollies, 3 black mollies, two (heckle and
jeckle) yellow mollies, 3 baby swordtails, one beautiful 5� rainbow
shark
<El rey>
and ~15 more tiny babies of a mix (we thing black and yellow). Our tank
has been very �busy� as of late.
Anyways our tank heater failed a couple weeks ago and the water temp
spiked to almost 90 degrees (yikes). Now we have ich! Our water
chemistry is perfect! The Ph was a bit high but controlled that by
removing a piece of drift wood.
<Unusual... such material/s generally lower pH with their decomposition>
From a treatment perspective we have done the following- removed the
carbon from the Whisper and canister filter, used ½ of the full dose of
Para Guard from Seachem as only two of the black mollies show spots and
we don't want to kill the babies (I would rather extend the treatment
cycle than risk losing them). We have kept the lights (compact
florescent) off except for ~15 minutes to check for spots daily, closed
the curtains to eliminate more light, done ~50% water changing using a
gravel vac and have added the
recommended salt (done once so far). We are slowing raising the temp of
the tank from 74 to 84- should reach 84 by tomorrow night.
<So far...>
I am happy to say that the two fish that visibly had spots are looking
better, the babies and other fish do not look stressed although some are
spending more time near the top � not sucking air though.
My questions:
- how long do we continue this treatment?
<I'd treat at full dose, per the bottle recommendations>
- How often do we really need to do a water change/vacuum if our
chemistry is good (checking daily)?
<Not at all if so>
- Is there anything else we should be doing?
<Not likely>
- Some say that we should stop feeding the fish during this process?
Rumor? I haven't read that on your site.
<I would continue to feed>
- Do we really need to keep the lights off (I miss watching the fish
already)?
<Nope>
Thank you very much for your time and input.
Kerrie Minoia
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Beloved mollies dying en
masse... please help! 6/3/09
Hello all,
<Hi>
About six to eight months ago I bought a 5 gallon rectangular tank and
two pot-bellied mollies (Bonnie & Clyde), a small Penguin BIO-Wheel
filter, and a Marineland submersible heater (as well as other supplies,
such as a hydrometer, net, tropical fish food flakes, etc.).
<Ultimately this tank is too small to be successful with these fish, the
need a larger tank to live out their lives, especially since these fish
are highly interbred and not particularly resilient..>
After this purchase (I now know it should have been before )
I began to research my new fishy companions. I added one more female
(Halo) to ease the effects of the male's 'drive', and bought
Spirulina
flakes for feeding. I fed them the Spirulina twice per day, with the
tropical fish flakes every few days as a treat. I am not proud to say
that I cycled the tank with the fish in it, as I already had fish and
only one tank. The tank was kept between 76 - 78F. I attempted to keep
my water slightly brackish, but experienced difficulties with keeping
the water IN my tank... it didn't have a lid, and after 3 or 4 days, 2
inches of water would have evaporated away. Because of this loss, I
never did water changes so much as water replacements.
<This does not accomplish the same thing.>
Much of the salt (Instant Ocean sea salt) ended up on the rim or down
the side. Each time I added water, I also added one to two drops per
gallon of Genesis (which purportedly removes chlorine from tap water),
but did not increase the temperature of the water, which I know now I
should (for the future, what is the best way to do this?).
<A small heater.>
My filter eventually seemed to stop filtering. The BIO-wheel turned
irregularly, and eventually stopped turning at all.
<Best to clean the filter out, often salt will bind up the bio-wheel and
needs to be removed.>
In a very short period of time, the water got pretty gross. NOW I know
the wheel was fine, and it’s the carbon filter pad that should be
replaced, but I didn't then. Through all of this learning and
unintentional error, my gorgeous mollies were VERY patient, and perhaps
even semi-healthy. One Saturday morning I returned to my college
apartment from home to see unexpected babies . After several attempts at
counting them, I found that one of the females had given birth to 18
fry, one stillborn. There may have been more initially, but it took me a
few days to obtain a breeding net (
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/10982/product.web) to round them
up in, and none of them disappeared or were bothered by the adult
mollies during that time. While I was in the FS searching for a
replacement for my 'broken' filter, a breeding net and some fry food, I
decided to upgrade and bought a brand new Eclipse HEX-5 aquarium kit.
<This is actually a downgrade here and still too small. A tall hex tank
has less surface area, and as a result less gas exchange, and a lower
bioload capacity than a regular rectangular tank.>
I rinsed the gravel and decorations from the old tank with hot tap water
and moved them to the new tank. I filled the HEX with tap water treated
with Genesis, and moved the fry over into their breeding net. The adult
mollies were kept in a large Tupperware container with water from the
tank during the maintenance and renovation, and then moved to the new
tank. About three days after the tank switch, the female molly that I
had originally purchased showed up at the top of the tank, dead and
upside down. All the other fish, adults and babies alike, seemed fine.
<The cleaning of the gravel and decorations probably wiped out a good
portion of your biofilter, causing the tank to recycle.>
It's been about two months since the tank switch and Bonnie's death, and
in the past three days I've lost over 50% of my fish. First, a few of
the fry died. I figured
<Are very sensitive to water quality issues.>
that I might have been overfeeding them, as all of the tank mates seemed
fine (were eating normally, swimming around normally, etc).
<Check your ammonia levels.>
Yesterday the adults didn't seem hungry when I fed them.
<Not a good sign or mollies.>
Today when I came home from work, there were only 5 fry left and Halo
(my treasured favorite) was dead on the bottom of the tank with what
looked like tufts of white (possibly Columnaris?)...
<More likely just postmortem decay.>
Clyde swims in one place and shakes. What caused such rapid devastation
in my tank!?
<Water quality issues here would be the leading candidate.>
I read that high water temperatures accelerate the progression of
Columnaris, so I hesitate to heat up the water.
<I would not think disease is your problem here, instead start doing
some water changes, a gallon a day or so at least until the tank
settles.>
All I have done so far is put in a new filter pad.
<This actually is probably causing more problems at this point, removing
whatever beneficial bacteria you have cultured. Water changes will help
minimize this problem.>
At this point, I plan on increasing the salinity of the water and hoping
to save those that I have left. I have been working tons of overtime at
work and experiencing various other difficulties and I just don't feel
like I've been giving my little guys enough time. I'm shocked and a
little heartbroken - I don't want to be a bad fish 'mom'! I'm almost
ready to give up on keeping fish altogether... please help.
-Jordan
<Your short term issue here is most likely your water quality. The new
tank is still cycling and frequent water changes are necessary to
minimize the impact to your fish. Long term you will need a larger tank
to keep these fish healthy for their entire life span. In reality a 5
gallon tank is not appropriate for most fish, its just too small and
unstable.>
<Chris>
Re: Beloved mollies dying en masse... please help! 6/3/09
Hi,
<Hello>
The cottony material that formed on the dead fish has formed on my last
Molly, and he is still living.
What would explain this besides post-mortem decay?
<Could be a fungal or bacterial infection, a broad spectrum antibiotic
may help here, along with improved water quality and a small amount of
marine salt.>
The water was cloudy and "fuzzy" looking before I changed
the filter pad, and has now cleared up considerably.
<Most likely a bacterial bloom due to the cycle, not uncommon. The
filter pad gave more space for the bacteria to colonize, leading to a
decline of the waterborne material.>
For clarification, I was under the impression that the
BIO-wheel was where the main culture formed, and that the blue carbon
filter pads need to be replaced once a month
according to the gentleman at TFS). Is this true?
<The bio-wheel does hold a lot of bacteria, but so do all surfaces,
including the gravel and filter pad. When these were cleaned and removed
vast amounts of your biofilter went with it. The filter pad should be
changed often but not at the same time as the gravel is washed, its too
much for the tank to handle. The bio-wheels main benefit is not
necessarily the amount of bacteria it holds, but the fact that it is
highly oxygenated which helps the bacteria rapidly break down the
ammonia and nitrite.>
Thank you,
Jordan
<Welcome>
<Chris>
Molly health question 05/23/09
Hi
We have a female bubble molly that has developed a string like discharge
from her rear end that grew to about 5 inches long over a period of
approx 3 days. Mid brown in colour & about 1/16 inch in diameter. It
finally broke away & fish seems unfussed about it. Any suggestions as to
what it is & should we be doing anything about it.
Regards
Geoff & Trudy
<Likely just a dietary thing; Mollies are herbivores and need a
fibre-rich diet. Don't give them carnivorous fish food (standard
tropical flake for example) but instead use things based on algae such
as Spirulina (often sold as Herbivore Flake or similar). Also cooked
spinach, lettuce, peas, etc.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Mollies are generally hardy, but they do have very specific needs with
regard to water quality, water chemistry, and diet that you ignore at
your peril.
Cheers, Neale.>
Possibly swim bladder? (Sick Mollies in a small
freshwater aquarium at pH 7... par for the course really)
5/2/09
Hello!
I am in need of some serious fish help! I have a 15 gallon tank [just a
few months old, we started with a 10 gallon then with all the babies my
fish had, it was time to upgrade] with 6 balloon belly baby mollies and
1 Pleco.
<Reina, the problem is that 15 gallons isn't enough space for either
Mollies or Plecs, and as sure as God made little green apples, some of
your problems will come down to this fundamental issue. Mollies are best
kept in tanks around 30 gallons or bigger. This is because they are
extremely sensitive to poor water quality. Plecs need even bigger tanks;
a 55-gallon system is the bare minimum. Plecs are simply huge fish,
around 45 cm/18 inches after two years, and without masses of space and
strong filtration, they cause major problems.>
I noticed right before I bought my Pleco that one of the babies, a
beautiful orange spotted one, has been itching against the side of our
little house. (medium size cottage with a spinning wheel) For fear of
having parasites, I gave the tank parasite clear medicine as well as a
did some water changes and a few days later [with no improvement]
immediately took her out and put her in a 5 gallon medical tank by
herself. [with introducing the Pleco to the tank, I made sure to do a
water change so the Pleco wouldn't be harmed in any way]I monitored her
behaviour there.
<Why did you stick the Plec in a 5-gallon tank? That makes no sense at
all.
Always understand, a "hospital tank" should only be used if the
conditions in that tank are at least as good as those in the display
tank. A 5-gallon tank is too small for a Molly, let alone a Plec, and if
the filter wasn't matured properly beforehand, then conditions are
likely to be much worse in this tank than the main tank.>
A week or so passed by and I haven't seen her scratching against any
items.
Unfortunately I have noticed that she has been swimming funny. I can't
for the life of me figure out why.
<I can. When Mollies get sick, it's almost always because people keep
them in the wrong conditions. They need warm (around 25-28 C) water with
a high level of hardness, 15-25 degrees dH being about right. The pH
level should be 7.5-8, and this is best achieved by raising the
carbonate hardness.
Without exception, Mollies are healthier and easier to keep in water
that is slightly brackish; add marine salt mix (not "tonic salt" or
"aquarium salt") at a dose of about 6-9 grammes per litre of water.>
the water levels are all safe, maybe the high PH levels that mollies
tend to enjoy is a little lower than standard but not of which I'd think
would be of concern. [the level is reading 7.0] she seem to lay at the
bottom a lot.
<This is far too acidic; raise the carbonate hardness and the pH should
go up to the optimal level. The use of marine salt mix is the easiest
way to raise salinity and carbonate hardness at the same time.
Obviously, you shouldn't keep a Plec in brackish water, so that catfish
will need a new home.>
yet swims up whenever I come near to watch her. I notice that she is
pumping pretty hard to get herself to the surface[when she stops pumping
she seems to sink a little easily]. Her tail is pointing down and her
head is up- sort of as if her body was angled. would this be some form
of swim bladder disease?
<No; this is the "Shimmies" and is very common when people keep Mollies
in the wrong conditions. It's a bacterial infection of some sort, though
the details are vague.>
I am getting increasingly worried. If it is, what should I do for her to
help get her back to normal?
<See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
>
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks, much!
- Reina
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: possibly swim bladder? (Sick Mollies in a small
freshwater aquarium at pH 7... par for the course really) – 05/02/09
Thanks so much for your help. I guess I should have been a bit more
descriptive, but it was pretty late last night, I guess my mind was
falling asleep on me. The Pleco I have stays at a constant size. It is a
Bristlenose Pleco. So I was told he would be fine in my tank.
<Ah, I see. This is why scientific (Latin) names are best! Ancistrus
spp., the common Bristlenose catfishes, are good choices for tanks 15
gallons upwards. On the other hand, they will not tolerate salt, so
aren't a
sensible choice for the Molly aquarium.>
I put the molly that was scratching herself in the hospital tank. Not
the bristlenose. The Hospital tank is a tank that actually housed the
baby mollies when they were first born. It's been cleaned, cycled, and
kept up
since babies were introduced to the big tank. I'm sort of confused
because my mother has a 10 gallon tank, and 5 neon tetras and 3 mollies.
<Neons also need soft water, so they're another bad choice for life with
Mollies. It's really important to review the needs of each species prior
to purchase; at best, advice from "the guy" at the pet shop tends to be
unreliable.>
2 of the mollies were some of the babies that came from my mother molly
who passed away soon after birth. In her tank, they grew to adult size.
Mine haven't been growing as much, and I even invested in a bigger tank.
With mine smaller, and in a bigger space, I'm confused why with her
crowded ten gallon tank which she doesn't maintain as often as I do,
that the babies grew to adult size. Weird, Right?
<Not really; it's actually quite common for livebearers to [a] produce
lots of babies despite [b] being kept in the wrong conditions.>
Yet, I have noticed there have been some growth in some of the babies.
Is this slow rate of growth because my levels need to be higher?
<Could easily be the case that your baby Mollies are growing slowly
because water chemistry and/or water quality isn't adequate.>
Anyways. I'm going to invest in this marine salt, I read somewhere about
using salt to help the tank but I've only known about the aquarium salt.
[I guess it is safe to say that after almost a year, I'm still new at
all of
this.] After raising the levels, is there something that might help with
the shimmies? or would making the tank easier levels to live at going to
improve her condition?
<Tends to get better by itself, when conditions improve. Adding Maracyn
or some other antibiotic can be used if it doesn't.>
Once again, thanks for all the help. Your site has been extremely
helpful, keep up the good work! I'm glad there is somewhere fish lovers
can go besides the sometimes not-so-knowing pet stores.
- Reina
<Do please keep reading! Plenty to learn, even with supposedly "easy"
fish like Mollies. Good luck, Neale.>
Molly's
04/25/09
hello
i hope you can help. i have a molly that i believe is sick. i can't
find anything like it on the web. just behind it's gills are red
spots almost like a chunk has been taken out showing the red flesh.
both sides are like this. would you happen to know what this might
be. she's about 2cm long, she is still very active and eating well.
she is silver in colour. i have 2 others that show no signs of this
thanks
Wayne
<It sounds as if your fish is either developing an ulcer, or else
has sustained some physical damage, e.g., from an attack by another
fish. Ulcers occur for a variety of reasons but are typically
related to water quality problems. As you hopefully know, Mollies
require very clean water (0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, less than 20 mg/l
nitrate) but they are also sensitive to soft water conditions,
requiring very hard, basic water to do well (pH 7.5-8.5, hardness
15+ degrees dH). They are best kept in brackish water, which is NOT
the same thing as water with a teaspoon of salt added per gallon! As
for physical damage, that depends on tankmates primarily, but also
consider the ornaments in the tank, swimming space, clumsy netting
by the aquarist or retailer, etc. Without a photo and some aquarium
statistics (size, water chemistry, water quality) I can't really say
much more than this beyond recommending a suitable, tested
antibacterial medication, e.g., Maracyn or Maracyn 2, as opposed to
fake cures like salt or tea-tree oil. Finally, please, if you write
back, play nicely and hit the Shift key once in a while. We do
specifically ask for properly capitalised sentences, not least of
all because it makes a message easier to read. Proper English is the
"currency" that makes this web site work, financially and otherwise.
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: molly's
4/26/09
Neale
Thank you very much for the advice. I will check all of your
recommendations. My first thought was an injury of some sort. Again I
thank you
Wayne
<Good luck with the fish, and hope it gets better! Cheers, Neale.>
Molly trouble 4/19/09
Hello to the crew at WWM!
<Hello,>
I have looked throughout your website at possible causes that could
be contributing to the illness that one of my mollies, Bass, seems
to have contracted. My fiancée and I jumped into the aquaria hobby
about 18 months ago and haven't looked back! Since mollies were the
fish we had the best luck with, we kept them. As they grew up and
bred (and bred and bred and bred), we just kept increasing their
tank size. The majority of our mollies now live in a 125 gallon, 6'
long tank. Temp is 80 degrees Fahrenheit; ammonia is 0; nitrite is
0; nitrate is 40 (water change is tomorrow). They get dechlorinator
and a bit of non-iodized salt, but
that's it.
<Would up the salt, and rather than using cooking salt, switch to
marine salt mix. Besides raising the salinity, marine salt mix
dramatically improves the pH and hardness levels. I'd recommend 6-9
grammes per litre,
the lower end if you have plants in the tank. Check your other fish
are salt-tolerant before raising the salinity. Almost all general
problems with Mollies just don't happen when they're kept in
brackish -- rather than
freshwater -- conditions. Your nitrate level for example is too high
for Mollies, but the use of brackish water will far reduces the
toxicity effect.>
About six months ago, we purchased a female molly from our LFS and
we decided to name her Bass (we name most of our fish for
identification purposes). Last weekend, around April 11, we noticed
that she was
whirling. We immediately prepped our 10 gallon quarantine tank and
used tank water from the 125 gallon tank and placed her into there
with some Formalin and Epsom salts to treat what was suspected to be
a swim bladder issue. We also stopped feeding her for three days,
then started feeding her shelled peas only at one pea every other
day because it takes a while for her to eat a whole one. She started
swimming fine on Thursday, April 16, so we put her back home into
the 125 gallon tank. Bass then started whirling again, so we put her
back into quarantine. Of course, now she is swimming fine, and we
are still feeding her peas and regular fish food on a pattern basis.
I joke that I think she is faking. Other than whirling and swimming
as if she is drunk, she acts just fine.
<Rocking, listlessness, and "treading water" in Mollies is commonly
put down to something called the Shimmies, a catch-all name for
something caused by a potential variety of things including poor
water quality and certain bacterial infections (particularly
Columnaris). Columnaris, also called Mouth Fungus, is bacterial
infection common among Mollies and often revealed by white-grey
patches on the face and body.>
Are there any suggestions as to what could be the cause of this
behavior/illness?
Thank you very much!
<Would amend water chemistry as noted, and if you suspect
Columnaris, treat accordingly. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Molly trouble 4/19/09
Thank you for your quick and thorough reply!
<Happy to help.>
After I received the message in my inbox, I feel I may have needed
to include a few more details than I did previously. The 125 gallon
is home to only mollies of various ages, backgrounds, and types. It
is sparsely
planted at the moment because the light necessary for some better
plants is expensive. We have already set aside funds for it and will
be purchasing the new light at the end of the month, however. The
plants will definitely help with the nitrate issue.
<OK. Well, since you're keeping Mollies, raising the salinity to SG
1.003 is a no-brainer. Any plants tolerant of salt will accept this
salinity, provided they're otherwise happy. I have a list of
salt-tolerant plants on my Brackish FAQ, here:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/brackishfaq.html>
We used to use Instant Ocean (16 teaspoons for the tank in addition
to 16 teaspoons of non-iodized salt) in the molly tank when we did
water changes.
The problem was that the Instant Ocean stressed them out somewhat.
<Can't think why. If it's safe for seahorses and corals, better
believe it's safe for Mollies!>
Our next step is going to be to find a way to get it set up on a
drip system using an empty water jug, aquarium tubing, and a flow
regulator (this is coming soon) so that we don't have to just dump
the Instant Ocean mixture into the tank all at once.
<Mollies can be acclimated between freshwater and seawater within an
hour.
Have done this many, many times. Certainly true for Sailfin and
Black Mollies, might not be the case for the more inbred mutant
forms like Balloon Mollies, but I don't keep them. Wild Mollies at
least will tolerate
any salinity you throw at them. But, and it's a bit but, your filter
bacteria may need to adjust to dramatic changes in salinity. From
1.000 to 1.003 shouldn't cause problems, but bigger changes might.
Do always use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity; don't rely
on teaspoons or such!
A basic floating glass hydrometer costs $5.>
When we were using Instant Ocean, however, we lost several mollies
within a few weeks of each other.
<Just don't believe these things are connected, unless the Instant
Ocean was somehow contaminated.>
They were in the category I call the "tweens" -- older than fry, not
quite adult.
<Not an issue. Mollies will breed -- readily -- in seawater.>
The symptoms they began to exhibit right after the addition of the
Instant Ocean product were crooked spine and whirling.
<Doesn't sound like a salinity issue; sounds more like a sudden
change in pH, exposure to toxins, or something like that.>
Those fish were immediately euthanized after the crooked spine was
noticed (I will not prolong the suffering of any animal, no matter
how attached I am to him/her/it).
Now we have Bass, who is fine in quarantine but starts moving around
listlessly and whirling once she is placed into general population.
Does this still sound like a myxosporea/nitrate issue?
<Myxosporea is not common in tropical fish because the parasite has
a complex life cycle that requires intermediate hosts. So unless
these Mollies have been kept in a pond, I can't see how Myxosporea
enter into the discussion. As for nitrate, this is an Achilles' heel
for Mollies, but it's difficult to pin down the "toxic level"
accurately. They do seem to be nitrate sensitive compared to other
livebearers, so by analogy to other
nitrate sensitive fish, levels above 20 mg/l probably make them more
prone to sickness. But beyond that, it's hard to say.>
If so, I will gladly find some copper sulfate at our LFS later
today.
<Apropos to what? Copper sulphate isn't much used these days because
it's pretty toxic, though concentrations of 0.15-0.3 mg/l can be
used for up to 4 weeks to treat external parasites and flukes. Won't
do much for fungus, Finrot, etc.>
Thank you very much again!
<Cheers, Neale.>
Shaking Molly has white patches on her side 03/29/09
Hello everyone.
<Ave,>
I have done a lot of reading but am having trouble figuring out what is
wrong with one of my Mollies.
<When Mollies are sick, the very first thing to do is check the
aquarium: they need warm (25-28 C) water that is hard (15+ dH) and basic
(pH 7.5-8) and preferably brackish (SG 1.002+). Water quality needs to
be excellent; zero ammonia, zero nitrite, and minimal nitrate. In
freshwater aquaria, nitrate is a critical factor, though less so when
kept in brackish or marine conditions.>
Last night she started to shake, but otherwise looked fine. She wasn't
really hiding, but she was staying somewhat isolated from the other
fish, all Mollies.
<"Shimmies". This is neurological and apparently related to the
environment, and not caused by a pathogen, so far is known. So you
should review conditions in the aquarium.>
Today, she has a white patch on each side. It doesn't look like there
are spots or pustules; it looks more like an absence of color. Today she
is hiding. She can swim if she has to, and it seems like she can swim in
whichever direction she chooses, but she spends a good amount of time
resting on the gravel. Her breathing looks ok, although maybe a little
faster--I am not sure.
<Still sounds like the Shimmies.>
Several hours before she got sick, I noticed that two other females were
shaking a bit. I thought they might be having babies, because another
fish just had babies a few days ago. I added some salt (in water) to the
aquarium, and I don't know if that helped, but the shaking stopped
completely within a few hours, and all fish seemed fine. When the fish
that
is currently sick started to shake, I thought she would recover as the
other ones did, but she has not. Now she has these white patches on her
sides.
<When you say "added some salt" what are we talking about here? Some
people mistakenly assume aquarium salt (sometimes called tonic salt)
helps. It really doesn't. Such salt is simply cooking salt, sodium
chloride, and while it helps detoxify nitrate, it has no affect at all
on stabilising pH and raising carbonate hardness.>
The water quality is good: no measurable amounts of ammonia, nitrates or
nitrites. It is a brackish system with extremely hard water,
approximately an 8.6 pH, and a temperature of 78-80 degrees F, depending
on the time of day.
<Brackish water is created by using marine salt mix, such as Instant
Ocean or Reef Crystals. In the case of Mollies, I'd recommend around 6
grammes per litre (roughly 0.8 oz per US gallon).>
Nothing in the environment has changed in the past few days, e.g.,
lighting, feeding schedule, etc. I change about 15% of the water once a
week, the last change being the day before any of the fish started to
shake.
What do you think is wrong with her? Is there anything I can do to help
her and to prevent other fish from getting sick?
<It's certainly the Shimmies, and there's really no fix other than
repairing whatever is wrong with the environment. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm>
Thanks so much for your help. I use your site all the time.
Emily
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Shaking Molly has white patches on her side 03/29/09
Thank you for your reply.
<Happy to help.>
I am sorry to say that she died yesterday morning, but I still would
like to figure out what could be wrong with the environment for the sake
of all of her friends.
<OK.>
As I said in my previous email, tests are showing no ammonia, no
nitrite, and no nitrate in the water. I have been testing the water
daily just to be sure, and it is consistently good. The aquarium is, in
fact, brackish; SG 1.014 (marine salt, not aquarium salt). The tank is
well oxygenated, the water is extremely hard and slightly alkaline--it
comes out of the tap that
way, so these conditions are stable.
<All sounds ideal.>
Until I first I noticed the problem, the temperature was regularly 80
deg.F, although occasionally it would drop to 79 or sometimes 78 in the
evening on very cold nights. I have since raised the temperature to 82F,
and it hasn't dropped below 82 at night. (There is nothing I can do to
control this temperature drop; I have two heaters running, one of which
monitors the temperature and is supposed to adjust itself accordingly.
It simply is cold here.)
<Such temperature changes are well within what Mollies can tolerate, so
can't see this being the problem.>
I am concerned for the other fish, because I have seen a few others
display shimmying behaviors in the past few days, although only
intermittently. For example, they will shake for 10 minutes or so, then
they will be fine for the rest of the day. Everyone is eating well and
swimming normally, and there are many attempts at mating taking place.
It's just that once a day
or so, a few of them will hide and shimmy--only the older ones. Haven't
noticed any shimmying today, thankfully.
<All sounds like Shimmies. There's really nothing much to say in terms
of healthcare; usually it's caused by environmental issues, though
occasionally it's connected with Flexibacter columnaris infection, in
which case an anti-Columnaris antibiotic or antibacterial could be used.
Worth a shot, anyway.>
Any thoughts?
<Cheers, Neale.>
Update: No More Shimmies! 4/1/09
Thanks, Neale. I wanted to update you on an interesting turn of events.
<Oh?>
When I received your e-mail suggesting use of an
antibiotic/antibacterial, I decided to do a quick water change first. In
doing so, to my surprise, I found that four of my fish had given birth.
The next day, a fifth one.
Perhaps this was, in fact, what was causing all the odd behavior?
<Possibly, though I'm not aware of any connection (which doesn't mean
there isn't one!). Mollies are generally pregnant 12 months of the year,
so they're almost always going to give birth at some point through
sickness.
So while there may be a connection -- perhaps a stressful labour? -- it
isn't obvious that there should be one.>
Just in case, I am still treating the entire tank for columnaris. Since
the second day of treatment (also the last birthday), I have not seen
any shimmying. Babies everywhere, but no shimmies.
<Well, the end result is healthy fish, and even better if you have ten
times as many as before!>
Thank you again!
Emily
<Happy to help. Enjoy rearing the baby fish; it's a treat! Cheers,
Neale.>
Mollies: Sudden Death, Health, Overstocking,
3/28/2009
We have a 10 gallon tank containing three Glofish and one Cory cat.
<Very close to overstocked for a 10 gallon aquarium>
Ammonia 0ppm with Nitrite <0.3 mg/l and pH 7.0
<Nitrite too high, you want this to be zero., and the pH is too low for
Mollies.>
We purchased a black molly today and she died almost instantly when added
to the tank.
<Can be a combination of things. Water conditions inappropriate for
Mollies, nitrite levels, and perhaps the Mollie was in poor health to begin
with.>
Is it possible that she was sick, in shock or was it something with our
tank.
<There is definitely something wrong with the tank if your nitrite levels
are above 0>
I don't want to try another Black Molly if we have a problem.
<Mollies are not appropriate for this system, Mollies need hard, almost
brackish water to do well.>
If she was sick, is it possible that my tank is now infected and if so, how
do I test?
<Maintain good water quality, keep up with regular changes.>
<Mike>
Mollies with Columnaris and
Ich – 03/22/09
Hello Crew,
<Hello Carla,>
I'm in a bit of a quandary. I purchased three mollies the day before
yesterday, and placed them in my cycled 10 gallon quarantine tank (pH:
8.1, ammonia: 0, nitrites: 0, nitrates: 0 -- I had a bunch of extra
cuttings so
the tank is stuffed with live plants).
<Mollies don't do well in small tanks. They're very sensitive to nitrate
as well as ammonia/nitrite, and in small tanks it is very difficult to
keep them healthy for long. Minimum tank size for small Mollies
(Shortfin
mollies, black mollies, balloon mollies) is 20+ gallons, while large
Mollies (Sailfin mollies, liberty mollies) is over 30 gallons.>
Unfortunately yesterday I observed that one of the mollies had what we
used to call cotton mouth or mouth fungus.
<Very common with Mollies, especially when kept in freshwater
conditions.>
I understand, from researching your site, that this is likely Columnaris
(bacterial).
<Indeed. You will need a suitable antibiotic or antibacterial (as
opposed to a make-believe solution such as tea-tree oil or salt.>
Today I also observed two Ich spots (sure glad I quarantined). I was
going to go the salt + heat route, but I learned (also from researching
your site), that Columnaris grows faster with higher heat.
<Your options are limited here, but in this case, I'd raise the salinity
to deal with the Ick, and treat with an antibiotic/antibacterial at the
same time. Since Mollies are best kept at SG 1.003, I'd recommend 6
grammes of marine salt mix per litre of water. There's not much point
trying to keep Mollies in a freshwater aquarium because they rarely
(seemingly, less than 50% of the time) do well. You're also fighting
with one hand behind your back because the tank is so small, so a
difficult job is being made twice as hard.>
My questions are: Should I raise the heat, and how I can treat both the
Columnaris and Ich concurrently? Also, should I remove my plants?
<Plants will not be affected by antibiotics or antibacterials used
correctly, and a salinity of SG 1.003 is fine for hardy, salt-tolerant
plants.>
Thanks very much for your help and your wonderful website.
Carla
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Mollies with Columnaris
and Ich 3/23/09
Thanks very much for your help. The Mollies are currently in a ten
gallon tank because they are in quarantine (their permanent home will be
a 40-gallon heavily-planted breeder tank).
<Ah, that makes sense. A 40-gallon system will be perfect.>
The water parameters of that tank are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Carbonate hardness: approximately 200 mg/L CaCO3
<That's 200/17.8 = 11.2 degrees KH. That's extremely high, and while
perfect for Mbuna or Central American livebearers, a lot of other fish
will find that a bit on the hard side for their tastes. Do be aware when
choosing fish and plants.>
Their tankmates will be Wrestling Halfbeaks, Scarlet Badis, White
Clouds, and Threadfin Rainbows.
<Halfbeaks will thrive, the others should tolerate, but may not show
optimal colours or longevity.>
I was hoping the Mollies would do well without salt because of the high
pH and hardness, and I wasn't sure (aside from the Halfbeaks) whether
the plants and other residents would appreciate the salt.
<Plants that tolerate hard water generally do well in slightly brackish
water too; species such as Vallisneria, Hygrophila, Java ferns, hardy
Crypts, etc. If you have plants that need soft water, chances are they
aren't going to thrive a this level of carbonate hardness either, so
it's a moot point. As for the fish: Halfbeaks tolerate salt well, but
the others are truly freshwater fish.>
But I will add salt and remove some of the other residents and non-salt
tolerant plants if necessary.
<Would be my recommendation. Mollies deserve a tank of their own:
they're spectacular fish, and wonderful pets. But they are finicky in
freshwater systems. They need perfect water quality. You might decide to
medicate them in the quarantine tank, and when they're healthy again,
try them out in a plain freshwater tank. With luck, you'll be okay. But
if you find you're constantly having to deal with Fungus and Finrot,
remove the Minnows, Rainbows and Badis, add a little salt, and maintain
the system at SG 1.002-1.003.>
I've started to slowly raise the salinity of the quarantine tank, and
I'm off to the LFS to pick up the antibiotic and a hydrometer. I believe
we have Maracyn and Maracyn II available here (Canada), so I will
purchase
both.
<Cool.>
A couple more questions, if you'll bear with me:
<Of course.>
Which Maracyn product would be most effective against Columnaris?
<Maracyn rather than Maracyn 2 is usually used first. It contains
Erythromycin, which should work on Flexibacter columnaris.>
If the Mollies recover, when would it be safe to place them into my main
tank (so that Columnaris does not contaminate that tank).
<Columnaris, like Finrot, is a disease latent in all tanks, and the
bacteria involved is presumably harmless most of the time. It appears
not because a fish "caught" the disease, but because the fish was
somehow
weakened, and its immune system overwhelmed. So provided the other fish
are healthy, you shouldn't worry about cross-contamination.>
Thanks again...
<No probs.>
Carla
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Mollies with Columnaris and Ich - Update 04/03/09
Thanks very much, Neale, for your advice. Just thought I would give you
an update on the Mollies. I used the salt + heat treatment for the ick,
and the ick has disappeared.
<Good.>
For the mouth rot, I couldn't find Maracyn at my LFS, so I used TC
capsules (tetracycline). The mouth rot hung around during the course of
the treatment (5 days), and then I had an ammonia spike (the packaging
on the TC capsules claims that they will not affect the biological
filter, but I suspect otherwise).
<Oh dear.>
Unfortunately one of the Mollies died (oddly, it was the healthiest,
dominant female).
<Sorry to hear that; I wonder why?>
I subsequently performed 75% water changes for the next several days to
control the ammonia, used activated carbon to remove the tetracycline,
then added some nice filthy filter media from my other tank to
repopulate the nitrifying bacteria. Over the next several days, the
mouth rot on the remaining Mollies disappeared, but I'm not sure if I
can attribute it to the tetracycline or the water changes.
<It's a combination: the antibiotic kills off the bacteria, but improved
water quality allows the fish's immune system to repair the damage and
prevent re-infection>
Anyway, the remaining Mollies have recovered, and in a week or so, I
will remove them from quarantine and place them in my 40-gallon tank.
<Great.>
Also, you were right, the salt did not seem to affect my plants
(Hygrophila polysperma, Hygrophila corymbosa, Rotala rotundifolia, Java
Moss, and Bacopa monnieri).
<Not sure about Rotala, but certainly the others are happy in brackish
water, let alone slightly salty/warm water of the sort used to treat
Ick.>
Thanks again for your help,
Carla
<Thanks for the update, Neale.>
Sad State of a Dalmatian
Molly
FW System/Stocking/Toxic Water Conditions 3/18/2009
Dear WWM Crew-
<Hello Kim, Mike V here.>
I have tiresomely researched what could be wrong with my Molly- but to
no avail. Please help! This is quite a detailed history, but hopefully
my including it will allow your expertise to see what I cannot. The
situation is as follows:
<Will certainly try to help.>
I wanted to expose my son to the wonderful world of fish and begin
teaching him how to properly care for an aquarium. I have had an
aquarium in the past and understand it is not a "passive" pet. I also
understood that I would be doing all of the work (he's only 2) so I
refreshed myself with books from the library, researched on line and
asked advice of friends.
<Kudos to you for researching!>
In January, 2009 I decided upon a 10 gallon tank and chose 5 Platys and
2 Dalmatian Mollies.
<A bit overstocked for a 10 gallon tank. Mollies are not easily kept in
these conditions.>
I was using a Bio-Wheel 100 filter. I am religious with 20%-25% water
changes every Saturday, and am careful to maintain a water temperature
of 76-78 degrees. I add aquarium salt once per month for the
Mollies and use stress-zyme and water conditioner with every change. My
fish were doing well and I had 2 batches of fry- some were Platys and
some Mollies. I installed a floating breeder trap for the babies, and
purchased baby brine shrimp for the fry, feeding them ½ frozen cube per
day. I feed the elder-fish flake food, then substitute a treat of frozen
blood worms or Daphnia once a week.
<Sounds good so far.>
Last month my filter died. Stopped completely- I do not know why. I
purchased another filter immediately and installed it the next morning.
I was encouraged to buy an Aqueon. The Bio-Wheel 100s were
out of stock, and I was told this was a better filter anyway.
Approximately 3 days after the filter change, all but 3 of the babies
have died, along with one of the Dalmatian Mollies. I tested the water
and came back with a horror- Ammonia at nearly 5 ppm, Nitrite and
Nitrate off the chart and a Ph of 7.5.
<Mollies are much more sensitive to water quality than the Platys>
Obviously, the water conditions were atrocious. I did an immediate 50%
water change, followed by a 25% water change every 3 days for a week,
hoping to clear out the mess.
<The biological filtration was removed when the old filter stopped
running, forcing the tank to cycle over again..>
Current conditions are Ammonia at 0.25, nitrate/trite at 5 and Ph at
7.8. I think the water changes have really stressed my molly- she hovers
by the heater, head up, near the top of the tank (not floating).
<Not the water changes, the toxic water conditions.>
My Platys and 3 remaining babies are doing well. However, I cannot get
the Ammonia or Nitrate/Nitrite to 0. I do not know what is happening. Is
it possible the helpful bacteria Bio-Wheel in the
older filter disappeared when I switched filters?
<This is exactly what happened. The biological filtration will come back
with time.>
The day after the male Dalmatian molly died, the remaining female
Dalmatian Molly swam around
incessantly. I would say frantically. Now she hovers close to the heater
(temp is 78) and faces head up toward the top of the water. She is
swimming (not floating), and comes out for food.
<Ammonia\Nitrite poisoning>
I will continue with water changes until 0 is reached for ammonia and
nitrate/nitrite, but is the frequency of
water changes also destroying any good bacteria growth or causing her
additional stress? Please advise- I am hoping to save my Molly.
<Monitor water quality closely and stop feeding. by feeding, you are
adding more ammonia to the tank. Add a product called PRIME - It will
detoxify the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.>
Thank you-
<My Pleasure>
Kim
<Mike>
Re: System/Stocking/Toxic
Water Conditions Follow Up 3/19/2009
Re: Sad State of a Dalmatian Molly
Mike-
<Hi Kim>
Thank you so much for you quick and helpful reply!
<You're very welcome>
Although I was unable to find PRIME at my local store I did purchase and
use AmQuel Plus.
<That will work as well.>
I am VERY happy to say that my tank is already testing better.
.<Excellent news.>
I did an additional 20% water change today, added the AmQuel Plus and
several hours later re-tested the water. Although Ammonia is still
registering at 0.25, the Nitrite is at 0.5 ,Nitrate at O and Ph at 7.4.
The water changes may have helped this before the AmQuel (unless it gets
such quick results)- but I am still thrilled.
<A combination of both really, the AmQuel detoxified the ammonia and
nitrite - which is why you are still detecting it.>
My fish are breathing a sigh of relief as well - especially the Molly.
She is swimming around, no longer hovering and seems quite alert. I have
3 additional questions:
1. You suggested I stop feeding for the time being. For how long? Until
ammonia is at 0, perhaps?
<Stop feeding (or feed very little every two days) until the ammonia and
nitrites drop to zero.>
2. Do you suggest I add the Amquel Plus with each water change until
ammonia is at 0? (The directions on the AmQuel are unclear!)
<Yes>
3. What could I have done to avoid this? When a filter fails like that
is there a proper way to protect your fish - I don't ever want to put
them (or me) through this again.
<The biological filter was on the bio-wheel. When that was removed, the
tank crashed. In my opinion, this is the one significant weakness of a
bio-wheel system - they work a little too well. Do make sure that your
biological filter does not get disturbed. You can rinse them off in
dechlorinated water, but that is all. If it were me, I would add a few
small pieces of dead reef rock (A couple pieces of rubble) - it will
buffer
your system slightly, and is porous enough that a bacterial colony can
be established inside the tank as well as on the filter.>
Again, thank you. I am hopeful my tank will finish its new cycle soon
and all will be well in the aquarium again. For now- my Molly and
friends thank you.
<Again, my pleasure, do let me know how it all turns out.>
Kim
<Mike>
Itching, shimmying, clamped fins? Reading, FW 2/24/09
Hello, I have been reading up and I think some of my mollies either have ich
or parasites. Some of them are glancing against objects such as gravel, plants,
my log ornament etc... I have seen that many medications require to "remove
carbon from filter." What does that to anything and how would I go about doing
that? <Is to prevent the carbon from chemically filtering, removing the
medication> If this helps I have a 12 gallon eclipse system that has a
bio-wheel. I have 3 full grown mollies and one younger, smaller one, and two
guppies. I have already removed one fish with serious "itch", shimming, and
clamped fins (The symptoms in my main tank.) My nitrate and everything is fine
but my nitrite increased to a scary level. I have been doing daily 30 percent
water changes for around a week but nothing has helped. Plus what
medication/advice would you say to use to help my tank? Thanks for
everything, Hannah <... In order to help you we need to know what your
water quality is, the history of this set-up... Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm and the linked files
above... and write back with information as others have. Bob Fenner>
Black molly with shiny scales near gills 2/21/09
My son has a black molly in a ten gallon tank that appears that its gills are
turning shiny (or falling off...can't tell). It was in serious distress a few
days ago (not eating, staying at the bottom of the tank with little movement),
but seems better as I discovered the pH was very low. I am currently adding salt
(as Mollies need) and baking soda staggered between water changes to get the
levels as needed. The molly is responding, but the shiny area remains near the
gills and on the head a bit. Might this be velvet or Ich? What is the difference
in a Molly? I am also noticing a few (3) small spots on its body. This molly is
in a 10 gallon tank with 4 tetras, 1 goldfish, 1 Gourami, 1 Otocinclus, and 1
very young platy. Your help is appreciated...Wanda
<Wanda, Mollies aren't really good community fish and certainly can't be kept in
a 10 gallon tank. They're too sensitive to water quality issues and pH
variation. The fact the pH has dropped in your tank clearly shows that it is
dramatically overstocked. There's no real solution to this problem until you up
the size of the aquarium to at least 20 gallons for Mollies and in all honesty
30+ gallons for Goldfish. Me telling you anything else would be lying. In the
short term, adding marine salt mix (not tonic salt or baking soda!) at a dose of
6 grammes per litre will dramatically improve your success with Black Mollies.
While Platies will tolerate such conditions well enough, Tetras, Gouramis,
Goldfish and Otocinclus will not. So it's an either have those fish OR have
healthy Mollies, but there's nothing really in between. It's most likely your
Molly has either Finrot or Fungus, both being exceedingly common when Mollies
are kept inappropriately. The face region gets silvery as excess mucous is
produced by the skin. Treated properly (e.g., with anti-Finrot medication other
than Melafix/Pimafix) it clears up quite well. But it will come right back if
the fish is kept in the wrong conditions.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm Finally, please let me
stress than small children don't "have" pet fish, or really any other kind of
animal. The responsibility lies with their parents, and it's up to you to decide
whether to own pet animals and if so, to make sure those animals are correctly
maintained. In this instance, there's a too-small tank filled with fish that are
fundamentally incompatible with one another. Little kids don't know better,
but their parents should be able to navigate a book store or library prior to
purchase. The fact Mollies are difficult fish is far from a secret, as is the
fact that tetras and Otocinclus are social animals that need to be kept in
groups of 6+ specimens. I've written a few words on stocking 10-gallon tanks at
the link below, and would suggest you peruse this for some ideas. If
upgrading your tank isn't an option, any decent retailer will take back unwanted
fish, usually for credit.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/stocking.htm Cheers,
Neale.>
Poecilia/Mollienesia (health, water quality) 2/10/09
Hi, my name is mike. <Hello Mike,>
I have a white balloon Molly that is sick. My water parameters are: pH is 7.2,
Ammonia is 0 ppm, Nitrate is 5.0 ppm, Nitrite is 0.25 ppm. The tank is a 20 gal.
freshwater with no salt at all. <Well, there's the first problem. The tank is
too small and has the wrong water for Mollies. Mollies need big tanks because
they are sensitive to poor water quality. You have poor water; ergo, your
Mollies will get sick. In fact the nitrite level is way too high for any
aquarium, and you need to URGENTLY review feeding, stocking, and filtration.
Your tank will never work correctly with 0.25 mg/l nitrite: fish will constantly
be getting sick. As you mention salt, you probably realise Mollies appreciate
salty water. It isn't essential in a well-run, big, clean tank with hard,
alkaline water -- but your aquarium is none of those things. The addition of
marine salt mix (not tonic/aquarium salt!) will raise the pH, hardness, and
salinity to levels that favour Mollies, and indeed many other livebearers as
well.> The tank is shared with two Goldfish, One Dwarf Gourami, One Angel
fish, two Platy's and two Cory's. <Platies are good companions for Mollies,
Goldfish potentially so, but the others shouldn't be here because they don't
really like brackish water. Up to around 3 g/l, both Platies and Goldfish will
do fine.> None of the fish nip at each other and all look well after almost
three months together (after cycling for a month) The Molly, just one day ago,
has been laying on the bottom of the tank breathing very shallow, not eating and
not passing waste, listing and swimming nose down on occasion and backwards
sometimes, but every once and awhile will swim just fine and go to the surface
(but very rare) the fish looks like it's paralyzed to a degree. <Shimmies or
equivalent... dying...> The Molly has Been in a separate tank for about 20
hours now, filled with some water from the original tank and some new water,
both tanks have identical water and the filters are the same with an air stone
working off the same air pump as in the larger tank. I've looked through most of
the site about Mollies and some about Angel fish, and found similar but not the
same symptoms. I feel horrible for the poor thing and was wondering if there is
anything at all I could do to help it. Thank you in advance for the help trying
to make the fish better. <Angels and Mollies are not compatible. Review the
needs of Mollies, set up a tank as required, and enjoy better success.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Poecilia/Mollienesia (health, water quality)
2/11/09 Thank you so much for your reply and the advice you
gave, but unfortunately the molly didn't make it. I feel horrible that
my incompetence killed an amazing little fish like that. <Not
incompetence, merely lack of knowledge. Do read a fish encyclopaedia
before spending any money: it's pretty widely known Mollies like a
little marine salt mix in their water, and while not essential, it does
make them much easier to keep. Because of this requirement, I recommend
keeping them with species that tolerate or enjoy a little salt too, such
as Platies, Swordtails, or Guppies. Indeed, most any livebearer will do
well. Australian Rainbowfish and many Killifish also fall into the
salt-tolerant category, so it's really not that big of a deal. A box of
Instant Ocean marine salt mix will last months at the required dosage,
so it's a lot cheaper than [a] buying new fish and [b] buying fish
medications.> I bought a larger tank yesterday afternoon (along with
a canister filter and new sandy substrate) and look forward to creating
a much better environment for the fish that have me and my family glued
to the tank for hours at a time (well maybe just me most of the time)
<Ah, a tank with a sandy substrate opens up LOTS of options, such as
Gobies. Look up Knight Gobies (Stigmatogobius sadanundio) and Violet
Gobies (Gobioides broussonnetii) as examples.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brackishsubwebindex/knightgobyfaqs.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brackishsubwebindex/bracgobioids.htm They
need brackish water, and positively THRIVE alongside Mollies at, say, SG
1.005 (about 9 grammes salt mix per litre). Violet Gobies are big, ugly
but really funky animals that make great pets. Faces only a mother could
love! Watching them filter feeding on live brine shrimp is one of
the most fun things in the hobby. They're gentle giants, and won't even
eat livebearer fry if properly fed on worms, crustaceans and the odd
algae wafer.> I do thank you for the advice and all the priceless
information you guys diligently dole out about such a great hobby and
hope that one day I will be able to help someone with as well. <We're
happy to help.> Thanks so much Mike <Cheers, Neale.>
Molly disease? 1/19/09
Hello, <Hi> I bought a female Sailfin molly from a pet store 2 days ago.
It was in a brackish/ marine tank (1.019ppm), and when I got home, I realized it
had around 6 white spots on its tail that didn’t look quite like ich, or fungus.
Ich treatments didn’t work, so she is on Pimafix now. What should I do?
Thanks <What water conditions is it in now? If it came home with "Marine
Ich", Cryptocaryon irritans, and it is now being kept near FW levels then that
alone will solve the problem. Also there is no treatment that would cause you to
see a change in just two days, all need the parasite to cycle to a different
stage of it's lifecycle to be effective. I would discontinue the Pimafix, as it
is worthless at best, and monitor for now. Also in future correspondence please
spell and grammar check your queries before submitting, otherwise we need to do
this for you before posting.> <Chris>
Sick Dalmatian molly, 1/19/09
Hi I have a 20 gallon tank. <Ok> I started it about three weeks ago with a
male Dalmatian molly. And about four days later I added 2 female Dalmatian
mollies, then I got three peppered Cory cats about a week after that. <I am
guessing this is a freshwater tank, in which mollies are very difficult to keep.
You would probably be better served switching them out with one of the other
livebearers, such as swordtails or platies which are much more forgiving.>
Then I was having my water tested about 2-3 times weekly and everything has been
fine so today we decided to get some more fish to finish our tank. We got 3
golden mollies, 4 guppies (2 female, 2 male), 7 neon tetras. <This is too
much and incompatible life. Mollies and guppies do much better in brackish
water, or at least very hard freshwater, while the tetras are at the other end
of the spectrum needing soft, acidic water. Also neon tetras can be very
difficult to keep as well, definitely not what I would consider "beginner"
fish.> I asked the guy at the Petco if that would be to many fish for my
tank and he told me no as long as I do a water change every three weeks. <I
disagree, I think you do have too much, and fish that just don't share the same
environmental needs.> But I got home and let my fish get use to the water for
20 minutes before adding then I put them all in. And now my male Dalmatian molly
will sit at the bottom of the tank and he kind of jerks from side to side I'm
not sure if he's just stressed out from me adding all of the fish at once or if
something else is wrong with him. <Could be water quality related, adding
this much life quickly can cause ammonia spikes as the bio-filter bacteria
catches up to the new waste levels. The mollies would be the first fish to show
signs of this.> I really don't want to lose him is there anything I can do
for him? Thanks, Cherie <For now lots of water changes and minimal
feeding until parameters stabilize, but I think you will need to address your
stocking choices to help you achieve long term success. Please see here for more
on Mollies http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebInd ex/mollies.htm .>
<Chris>
Molly Behavior/disease 1/4/09
Hello, I have a 55 gallon freshwater community tank. I have some tetras,
livebearers, and small catfish. I specifically have 4 small black mollies (still
babies), 4 silver mollies, and 1 starburst molly. My water is perfectly fine. My
male silver molly has been acting strange. He hides in every corner he can find,
and when not hiding, he is swimming behind plants, head up. He never eats
the food, and just hides. He acts sick, but there is nothing on his skin. 3 of
my 4 black mollies are in a quarantine tank for lip fungus. Help! <Hello
Rachel. One problem with Mollies is that they are not reliable freshwater fish.
Most aquarists experience what you do when they are kept in freshwater tanks:
lethargy, loss of colour, odd swimming behaviour, and random diseases including
Finrot and fungus. The only 100% reliable way to maintain Mollies is to treat
them as brackish water fish. Buy some marine salt mix -- not "aquarium salt" or
"tonic salt" -- and add the marine salt mix to each bucket of water at a dose of
around 5-6 grammes per litre. Marine salt mix contains carbonate salts that
raise the hardness and sodium chloride that raises salinity. Together these
things stabilise the pH and reduce the toxicity of nitrate, and it appears to be
these things that help. (Tonic/aquarium salt only contains sodium chloride, and
so doesn't do both these things, and is consequently a waste of money.) Mollies
thrive in brackish water, and at low salinities so will other livebearers
including Guppies, Platies and Swordtails. But do understand that most catfish
and tetras do not appreciate brackish conditions, and consequently shouldn't be
kept with Mollies. It's a very common mistake for people to buy Mollies for
community tanks -- despite the fact most aquarium books state clearly Mollies
prefer slightly saline conditions. Do read here for more:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm Cheers, Neale.>
Thanks! <Most welcome. Neale.>
Molly Disease Question
Hello Neale, Earlier I asked about my molly acting strange, and not swimming,
and he died. I have 9+ mollies and all are completely healthy, so I really don't
want to change my tank to brackish. I was worried if that was some kind of
disease, and will it spread to my other mollies? <It isn't a disease so much
as an environmental issue. In freshwater aquaria, Mollies simply aren't durable.
Put it this way, something like 50% of the Mollies stuck in freshwater tanks die
within a few months. Sometimes it's from an obvious disease like Fungus or
Finrot, and sometimes from something probably related to poisoning of some type,
resulting in lethargy and odd swimming behaviours, what aquarists call "the
Shimmies" after the dance. Either way, the Mollies die. But when Mollies are
kept in brackish or saltwater tanks (yes, saltwater tanks) they are
astonishingly hardy, and can be used even to cycle filters! Your Mollies may
well be fine in your freshwater aquarium, but three, six, twelve months down the
line things could be (and likely will be) very different. It is absolutely true
that Mollies are usually freshwater fish in the wild, so they don't "need" salty
water in the wild. But under aquarium conditions, for whatever reason, adding a
small amount of marine salt mix seems to make all the difference. I recommend
around 5-6 grammes of marine salt mix (Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals or whatever)
per litre of water. This won't cost much, and at this dose, you can keep Mollies
perfectly well with other livebearers.> I don't want my very nice mollies to
die. I did a complete water change yesterday, and all are fine so far. <OK.>
I would like to know what was that disease? <It's honestly a mystery. At the
moment, either nitrate/nitrite toxicity (which sodium chloride reduces) or pH
variation (which carbonate hardness prevents) are the suspected issues. Either
way, marine salt mix counters the two problems, and thereby provides a useful
tool. If your tank has a high level of carbonate hardness (7+ degrees KH) and
zero nitrite and nitrate, you might be able to keep your Mollies just fine
without marine salt mix. But the reality is that for casual fishkeepers who
don't have the time to fuss over water chemistry and quality, and just want to
keep their fish the easy way, in local tap water, changing 25% each week, adding
marine salt mix is the solution.> Thanks! <Cheers, Neale.>
re: Molly Disease Question Ok! Thanks for all
your help! <No problems. Cheers, Neale.>
|
White Feces ~ 01/01/09
Hello, <Hello again!> About a year ago I emailed you about my sick
mollies, since then I moved them into a brackish tank, and they have
been perfect! <That's the idea!> I even added two more females and
was surprised to find baby mollies a few days later. The babies are all
grown now and everything has been great, until today. I noticed today
that my adult balloon molly, Flo, had white stringy fecal matter hanging
from her bum, that has not dropped, its been there for more than an
hour. <There are really three things that can be relevant here. If
there are red worms appearing from the anus (usually obvious because
they move) then the Molly is infected with Camallanus and will need to
be treated with an anti-worm medication.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/nematodesfwf.htm If the
faeces contain much mucous, so that they appear pale, often semi
transparent, then your fish might have a Hexamita infection, and will be
needed to be treated with an anti-Hexamita (Hole-in-the-Head)
medication. Hexamita is commonly associated with lethargy and
general lack of condition (pale colours, weak swimming, etc.).
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/metranidazole.htm Finally, there's plain
vanilla constipation: very common where herbivorous fish such as Mollies
are concerned. In this case the faeces will be coloured, often brownish
or off-white, but solid rather than semi transparent, and dry looking
rather than mucous covered. Mollies need to eat mostly green foods, and
in the aquarium things like thinly sliced cucumber and sushi Nori sheet
work great alongside a balanced algae flake or algae wafer staple food.
Daphnia and brine shrimp are good aids to constipation, as is adding
small amounts of Epsom salt. Although the article linked here is written
for Mollies, it applies 100% for Mollies.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/gldfshmalnut.htm > I have
never seen this before, and after reading a bit online, I am very
concerned that she has parasites. <By all means try a systemic anti
parasite infection that treats worms and Protozoans, as they're the two
likely causes of troubles in the digestive tract.> I am very attached
to Flo, she is my first fish. What should I do? Should I wait to do
anything? How do I treat her, and not kill the babies? <Medications
safe for Flo should be fine with her babies.> The mollies are in a 16
gallon brackish system, currently there are 14 mollies in the tank, 5 of
which are babies. I just did a 25% water change today, and all levels
are normal. Please Help! Thanks, Lauren <Hope this helps,
Neale.>
|
 |
Sick Balloon Molly 11/25/08 Hi
there, I wrote to you a little while ago and I think you probably
saved my fishes, I'm just hoping you're able to do the same again!
I have a 90L tank with 2 female mollies, 5 guppies, and about 20
Molly fry. About 2 weeks back I noticed that my Dalmatian
balloon molly was acting a little subdued, hiding and not swimming
about much. I checked the levels and the nitrites were high, I
sorted those out and she seemed to go back to normal. I've recently
noticed all of the fish (including the fry) scraping themselves on
everything solid in the tank, but none had any outward signs of
parasites. I went out and bought Sterazin Gill and Body Flukes
treatment, and have been using the recommended dose. After 2 doses,
I have come home to find my Dalmatian molly, pointing downwards,
trapped between a plant and the wall. I thought she was dead but
noticed she was still breathing. After bringing a net close to her,
she swum off but has looked very ill since. Her stability seems
severely affected, she's floating all over the place, just moving
with the flow of the water, seemingly unable to control her
movements, and bashing into things. She's often completely vertical,
either pointing either up or down. Occasionally she'll come to rest
in a plant upside down, and stay there motionless until I get scared
and make her move. What's wrong with her? Do you think that I can
save her? And should I stop the fluke treatment? Thanks for you help
<Sterazin is a medication that has been around for years. It is
generally well regarded, and I'd be surprised if it was causing ill
health, assuming it was used correctly. Do check you dosed the tank
correctly: all medications are poisons, and the "art" is using them
in the right amounts. When measuring out the dose, it's
important not to overdose. It's also a good idea to increase
aeration when treating, because sometimes these medications cause
the amount of oxygen in the water to drop. Also you have to remember
to remove carbon from the filter; if you don't, the medication gets
sucked up by the filter without doing its job. In any case, the
thing with Mollies is that it is extremely difficult to separate
actual diseases from the fact they almost never do well in plain
freshwater conditions. I'd insist they be kept in brackish water
conditions, at least SG 1.003 (about 6 grammes marine salt mix per
litre). It's remarkable how many sick Mollies pep up when kept in
brackish water conditions. The "treading water" behaviour often seen
with Mollies is called the Shimmies, and is particularly common in
tanks where Mollies are kept in freshwater. And no, adding a
teaspoon of tonic salt per gallon doesn't make an aquarium brackish!
Besides salinity, nitrate is highly toxic to Mollies, as are rapid
pH changes, so these are two factors to review. Since Mollies and
Guppies both do extremely well in brackish water, adding marine salt
mix is the cheap and easy way to keep them in good health. Cheers,
Neale.> Re: black mollies 11/25/08
hi its me again so i went looking for marine salt and cant find it can i
use the aquarium salt and i have also bought ick remover i put some in
do i do my water change every day for two weeks or every other day?
<Marine salt mix is better. MUCH better. If you're serious about keeping
Mollies, make an effort to get (perhaps mail order) marine salt mix.
Ordinary aquarium salt is not nearly as good. It doesn't raise the pH
and it doesn't increase carbonate hardness, both critical to ensuring
Mollies stay healthy. Some people make the mistake of thinking aquarium
salt is a cheap alternative to marine salt mix: it is not! Marine salt
mix is better. If you live in North America or Europe, buying
marine salt mix should not be difficult. As for water changes,
ordinarily you should be doing them weekly, or at least every two weeks
if the tank isn't heavily stocked. But when using medications, usually
the instructions of the medication will tell you when to do water
changes. Commonly you do NO water changes until AFTER the last dose.
Finally, please use proper grammar next time (e.g., capital letters). We
often just bounce back messages that ignore this rule. You've been
warned! Good luck, Neale.> Re: black mollies, sys.
11/25/08 Hi, is Marineland Instant Ocean Marine/Reef Sea
Salt the kind of salt that i need? I'm going to order in online but i
want to make sure it's right. <Yes indeed! Absolutely perfect.
Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Crystal Sea, Kent Sea Salt, Petco Premium
Sea Salt... buy whichever is cheapest in your neighbourhood. All are
perfect for brackish water fish and superb for use with
livebearers such as Mollies and Guppies. Use 6 grammes per litre of
water (about 0.8 oz per US gallon). This isn't very much: between 15-20%
the amount needed to make normal seawater, so a box that makes 25
gallons will actually make around 150 gallons of water suitable
for your Mollies. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Help! Mollies/BB Gobies 11/17/2008
Hello, again, <Hi there, BobF this time> I had written in a couple of
months ago with a concern about my Dalmatian mollies after the BB gobies I had
purchased all died (see below). <Noted> Since then, everything had been
fine with the mollies, until the other night. My adult molly, Lucky, seems to be
ill - but I'm not sure if she is really sick, or just getting old. I got Lucky
10 months ago, but I'm guessing she's much older since the babies she had when I
first got her are still only half her size. Anyway, I noticed Lucky lying at
the bottom of the tank two nights ago, very lethargic. I sat there watching her
for a while, wondering what was wrong. She didn't come up to eat with the
others, so I continued to watch. After a few minutes she moved to the other side
of the tank, hid behind a plant, then began what looked like a seizure, for lack
of a better word. She started shaking her head back and forth, then rolled a
couple times, then went nose down and just lay there. <Yikes!> I thought
that was the end, but she was still breathing, and by the next morning she
seemed fine. She came up to eat, nibbled on some seaweed, then went on about her
business. Again in the evening, she was lying at the bottom, lethargic again,
then the same seizure-like activity happened and she sank to the bottom and
rested on her side. Same thing today - eating fine in the morning, seemingly
normal, then by the evening lethargic, not eating, seizure. She looks fine,
physically - she doesn't appear pregnant, did not just have babies, it's just
her behavior that is very concerning. Any ideas? <Alarming behavior...
perhaps something internal... not treatable> About the tank - I have a 30
gallon brackish (1.004-1.005) tank. Nitrites, nitrates, and Ammonia are all
zero, pH is 7.6. In the tank I have Lucky, along with 2 "teenage" mollies, and 5
baby mollies - about 4 months old. There are a couple Anubias plants, but
mostly artificial plants. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Everyone
else in the tank seems happy and healthy - knock wood. Thanks for you help,
Amy <Given your report of the system, conditions, apparent sophistication...
health of other livestock, I do think this is "something" anomalous with the one
fish... perhaps attributable/label-able as "old age"... Bob Fenner>
Black mollies... Hlth., sys. 11/14/08 hi i
have two black mollies and one has white discoloration on him and i understand
it could be a fungus and i should do a 50% water change and use Maroxy to help
and add a tea spoon of salt to my tank but im worried for my other fish i also
have guppies and other mollies and platys will the Maroxy or the salt harm them?
<Greetings. Guppies, Mollies and Platies will all do well in brackish water.
Maintain this aquarium at SG 1.003 (6 grammes, about one teaspoon, or MARINE
salt mix per litre of water). Understand this: aquarium or cooking salt won't
help. You need to be using marine salt mix, i.e., products like Instant Ocean or
Reef Crystals. These not only add salt, but also raise the pH and hardness
levels. Black Mollies, and indeed all Mollies, do best in brackish water and
almost always get sick in precisely the way you describe when kept in freshwater
tanks.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm Cheers, Neale.>
Dalmatian Molly 11/11/08
I have a Dalmatian Molly and I think it may be pregnant. Another person said it
could have bloat, I have never heard that term before. I have tried looking at
pictures on line, but my molly is twice the size. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Lynn
<Lynn, "bloat" is another word for dropsy (technically, oedema). It follows on
from organ failure, and is almost always associated with chronically poor
environmental conditions. The give-away clue to oedema is that when viewed from
above, the scales bristle outwards from the body, so that the fish looks like a
pine cone. In the case of Mollies, the most common problem is trying to keep
them in freshwater. Mollies rarely do well in freshwater, and unless you're a
super-expert fishkeeper willing to carefully monitor pH and nitrate
concentration, just isn't worth trying. When Mollies are kept in brackish
water they are infinitely hardier and more easily maintained (aim for around SG
1.003, upwards of 6 g (one teaspoon) of marine salt mix per liter). Next up is
diet. Mollies are herbivores, and a very common mistake people make is to give
them standard tropical fish food. Mollies should receive such foods only
occasionally, a couple of times per week maybe. Otherwise their diet should be
algae, algae, and more algae. There are algae-based flakes and pellets on the
market, and these are ideal. If given the wrong food, Mollies are prone to
constipation, and this causes symptoms similar to oedema. Finally, there's
pregnancy. When pregnant Mollies do indeed swell up, but around the abdomen
only. The fish should only look "swollen" for a couple of weeks, at which point
the fish gives birth and quickly deflates down to her normal size.
Gestation is actually about 4-6 weeks, but only the last couple of weeks cause
really substantial swelling. Once you've bred Mollies a few times, it's easy to
recognize the cycle. Do read more about Mollies here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
|
Molly skin lesions 10/23/08
Hello Crew,
I would like to express my gratitude for the invaluable resource you
provide. My fish also thank you for improving their quality of life.
<Thanks for the kind words.>
I have a cycled 20ga brackish tank with a whisper EX30 filter, a heater,
a bubble stone, wisteria, Amazon sword, and horn-wort plants.
<I'm amazed these plants are growing at SG 1.008! Pretty darn salty for
most freshwater plants. Are you sure your hydrometer is accurate or
you're using it right? Usually freshwater plants struggle above SG
1.005, though there are exceptions.>
The substrate is 5 cm deep fine gravel. I have been testing the water
daily with an API freshwater kit and an Instant Ocean hydrometer since
adding two Nerite snails and three creamsicle lyre-tail mollies (1 male,
2 females) 2 weeks ago. As expected I needed to change the water daily
for the first week to keep nitrite levels under control while the
biological filter caught up with the new load.
<Nitrite is toxic to Mollies in freshwater tanks, but seemingly much
less so in brackish/marine conditions. That's why Mollies can be used to
cycle marine aquaria, something that would kill Mollies under freshwater
conditions.>
My values are S.G. 1.008, salinity 10 ppt, ammonia = 0, nitrite =
0.25mg/L(before changes), nitrate = 2.5 mg/L(before changes), pH = 7.8,
temp = 79 F.
<Apart from the nitrite, this is all fine. SG 1.008 is actually around
13 grammes of marine salt mix per litre. In all fairness, this is far
more salt than Mollies need to be happy, and SG 1.003-1.005 (6-9 grammes
per litre) is ample. Your plants should do better at a reduced salinity,
and you'll also save money too!>
Thus far all three fish are active, gregarious, and voracious. They even
take food from my hand. I am feeding ~50% Spirulina flakes, ~25%
TetraMin flakes, ~ 25% freeze dried bloodworms, freeze dried brine
shrimp. Both females appear to be quite gravid and I have a 10 ga tank
started cycling for the fry.
<OK.>
I have attached a picture of one of the females showing a distressing
looking (to me at least) opaque lesion on her dorsum ranging cranially
from her lips to the caudal aspect of the base of her dorsal fin.
<From the photo I can't really see much: but it doesn't look obviously
damaged. I'd actually imagine this is simply its colouration, and not be
too worried.>
To me it resembles the outside of a powdered donut though not entirely
white, looking rather flattish and dimpled as opposed to cottony or
stringy. The other female has a much smaller area also on her dorsal
aspect but it is less pronounced and encompasses a smaller area cranial
to her dorsal fin.
<Hmm... do honestly need a sharper image to say anything sensible.>
I have attached a picture of the worst of the two afflicted fish with
the hope of obtaining a tentative diagnosis. My fear is that I am
dealing with columnaris or a pernicious fungal infection. I do have some
background in veterinary medicine (companion animal emergency/critical
care) but no practical experience with aquatic critters and I am
stumped.
<Well, fungus is pretty rare in brackish water tanks. Finrot and
Columnaris are both bacterial infections, but neither is obviously the
case here. While you might treat the tank with, for example Maracyn, do
take care whatever you use is safe with Nerite snails. Copper-based
medications (most anything that turns the water blue or green) can be
lethal to snails.>
I don't want to give arbitrary medications based on the somewhat dubious
advice of my LFS. Can you tell from the picture what may be going on and
advise accordingly?
<Unfortunately can't diagnose the problem, if any, from these photos.
Because both fish have similarly placed and coloured "lesions" I'd
actually suggest that you're looking at a distinctive colouration of
this breed of fish. If the fish are otherwise healthy, and the mouth and
fins in particular look clean, I'd be fairly positive about their
health, and basically sit back and observe for the time being. But I
can't be 100% without a sharper photo.>
Respectfully,
Kendra
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
 |
Re: Molly
skin lesions 10/24/08
Neale,
<Kendra,>
Thanks for your response. Sorry the resolution was so poor. Maybe this
one is better? (I hope...)
<Yes, certainly sharper. But still not seeing anything obviously
"wrong". Yes, there is a white pattern leading back from behind (its)
right eye over the shoulder and along the dorsal surface towards the
right side of the dorsal fin. But this isn't obviously (to me) a disease
as such. One complicating factor is that many "fancy" varieties of fish
are extremely inbred, and you can get all sorts of genetic
abnormalities. So before diagnosing Finrot or Lymphocystis or whatever,
I'd be looking to see if these are merely aberrantly coloured scales or
something along those lines. I'd also check to see that scales haven't
fallen off. That happens sometimes for no particular reason, though it
is more often a sign of fighting or physical damage, e.g., by rough
handling or even (failed) predation. Conversely, I'd be looking out for
clear signs of ill health, specifically loss of appetite and/or shyness.
Livebearers seem (in my experience) to become very withdrawn when ill,
and that's often the first sign something is amiss.>
I will take a water sample to the office with me today and recheck the
S.G. on one of our refractometers to compare results.
<Have a sneaking suspicion you will be surprised. Swing-arm hydrometers
are notoriously inaccurate, perhaps because of friction around the
pivot, especially given a build-up of lime or salt. I prefer to weigh
out the salt mix, and then use a floating hydrometer to double check the
specific gravity. If you haven't tried it out, download my "Brack Calc"
tool to see the relationship between salinity, specific gravity, and
water temperature.>
Thank you so much.
-Kendra
<Happy to help. Cheers, Neale.> |
Dalmatian
Molly is sick....I think (Mollienesia; the usual)
10/14/08
I have a 6mos old 10gal tank, water temp stays at 76 F, hardness 180ppm,
nitrates ~10ppm, nitrites ~0-1ppm, KH at 50ppm and PH 6.9-7.2
<Way, way too soft and acidic for Mollies. Do understand that Mollies will not,
repeat WILL NOT, tolerate anything other than rock hard, alkaline water. We're
talking pH 7.5-8.5, 15+ degrees dH. Arguably -- and it's a VERY strong argument
-- they are best kept in slightly brackish water, around SG 1.003 to 1.005.
Moreover, they are VERY INTOLERANT of nitrite, so if you can detect ammonia or
nitrite, and you aren't keeping them in brackish/marine conditions, that's as
good as signing a Death Warrant. In any case, the tank is too small for Mollies.
Even a tank 3 times this big would be marginal. They are NOT easy fish to keep,
hence the constant flood of messages to WWM about sick Mollies!
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
>
We use an AquaClear 3 stage power filter. We have one each of the following;
neon tetra, white cloud, sunburst, Dalmatian molly, algae eater.
<One Neon? One Minnow? These are SCHOOLING fish, and MUST be kept in groups of
six or more. Please please please read up on the needs of your fish. I wonder
what the "algae eater" is? If either Pterygoplichthys ("Plec") or Gyrinocheilus
("Chinese Algae Eater") you will live to regret this purchase. Both are huge
animals, and Gyrinocheilus famous for being nasty, aggressive fish when mature.>
The molly was the last fish we added. At that time the water clear, we added the
molly..loved the
algae on the shells. the a small algae bloom appeared. Added Algaefix and within
3 days the water was crystal clear and ALL fish were happy.
<Algae is not a problem as such. Do understand it's TELLING you something about
the tank. Don't "fix" the algae, but instead concentrate on what might be amiss.
Is the tank getting direct sunlight? Is the water stagnant? Are there too many
fish?>
We recently moved (next door) so I took the tank down between a half and 2/3, so
I could carry it over. Then refilled the tank. Added a little aqua plus which we
used when we originally setup the tank. Since the move a very large algae bloom
began taking over the tank, green algae. I added Algaefix again. I have noticed
though when I add algae fix the molly becomes unhappy and camps at the bottom of
the tank.
<Algae is what Mollies eat. They like it. Indeed, they're healthier fed on algae
than flake! Besides, anything poisonous to algae will, at best, cause conditions
to decline as the dead algae decays. At worst, the Algicide will stress your
plants and irritate your fish. There is NO GOOD REASON to use algae killing
medications, and plenty of excellent reasons not to.>
So rather than keep up those treatments I have been doing weekly 25% water
changes and cleaning the filter each time. The molly seems to like the water
adds, very active.
<Yes; they like clean water. Between water changes the water quality drops, and
the Molly gets stressed. Do a water change, and he peps right up.>
But when I treat the algae it seems to dislike it. This has been going on now
for a month. This past weekend I decided to do about a 30-40% water change, tank
was VERY cloudy with algae. I also added cycle to the tank to try and address
any issue with the bacterial cycle. This was about 3 days ago. Today the molly
is staying at the bottom and trying to lay to it's side, when it begins to tip
is catches itself and tries to resettle again, sometimes it goes all the way on
its side, but rights itself each time if it begins to drift upwards. I also
notice it occasionally tremors as it camps on the bottom trying to get settled.
<This is something akin to "the Shimmies", and a VERY good sign that your Molly
is not healthy.>
All the other fish are very happy, except the molly. The water is still cloudy
but much reduced. I changed the location of the tank. less sunlight exposure and
leaving the light off most the time...Bottom line I don't know what's going
on..very new to this and could use your guidance.
Cycle, Algaefix and Aqua plus are the only chemicals I have used.
<Lay off the chemicals, and hit some books instead...><<Bingo! B>>
We use TetraColor tropical flakes as their food...
<Mollies are herbivores and need algae-based flake foods. In any case, colour
enhancing foods are much misunderstood and best ignored in favour of varied,
balanced diet.>
Thanks in advance for any help!!!!
<Hope this helps! Please review in particular: diet, water chemistry, water
quality. Maintain your Molly in a tank offering what this species need, and he
should be fine. At the moment, things look gloomy. Cheers, Neale.>
Molly Problems – 10/02/08
Good Morning, <Hello,> I read through almost all of the
information here on your site looking for answers to my issues, and as
well searched the web for help to no avail. I have a well cycled
freshwater tank. It is a Marineland Eclipse system 12 gal. It's been up
and running since May of this year. <Twelve gallons is next to
nothing in terms of aquarium stocking -- do be extremely careful what
fish you add. Even Guppies are too big/energetic for this tank in the
long term. Have written much about the problems of sub-20 gallon systems
here at WWM, so please do review.> Water quality is near perfect, and
I keep the temp around 76-78 degrees with a digital heater. The first
fish introduced to the tank about three weeks after set-up were two
small fancy fin zebra Danios. <Too active for this tank... need a
tank 60 cm upwards in length once fully grown, given their size and
boisterousness. Also, they're schooling fish, so groups of six or more
essential. In smaller groups they're definitely unhappy (even if you
can't tell) and often become aggressive, chasing and nipping each other
and their tankmates. Please do get a fish book from the library or book
store, and review the needs of fish PRIOR to purchase.> They did very
well, and helped cycle the tank. About three weeks later I purchased two
red dwarf gouramis. They did exceptionally well, and were thriving.
<For now, anyway... Not my favourite fish for lots of reasons.>
Finally I added two Cory catfish to help with tank clean-up.
<Clean-up is YOUR job, not theirs. Moreover, Corydoras need to be kept
in groups of six or more. Few species are small enough for you to keep
six specimens in twelve gallons of water. Only "dwarf" species like
Corydoras hastatus and Corydoras habrosus would be viable. Peppered
catfish (Corydoras paleatus) are the most commonly traded species, but
at up to 7 cm long, they're WAY too big for a 12 gallon tank.> All
was well until a few days ago I decided to add some Mollies to the tank.
I was told by the pet store that adding mollies would be okay, for the
other fish I had were community fish. <Again, read a book. Almost all
problems in fishkeeping can be avoided this way. Mollies are FAR FROM
ideal community fish, not least of all because they need very specific
environmental conditions to thrive, ideally brackish water conditions.>
So I purchased two platinum Lyretail mollies, and one black Sailfin
molly. The Sailfin molly died within 12 hours. She seemed fine, but then
I found here floating upside down. That was weird, but I figured maybe
she was unstable to begin with and the shock of the move did her in. I
pulled the dead fish out and went to bed ( I leave a small red led light
on at night so the fish are not in total darkness. good idea or bad?)
<Neither, but a waste of electricity so for the sake of global warming,
how about switching it off...?> So anyway, in the morning one Gourami
was dead, fins eaten, and scales missing, and the other Gourami was
being hunted down and eaten alive. <Hmm... could be many things going
on here. For a start, two male Colisa lalia will not coexist in 12
gallons. One will become dominant, and the other will be (at best)
bullied and at worst stressed to death, unable to feed normally. Next
up, mass produced Colisa lalia are of such abysmally poor quality that
no-one in their right mind should buy them (at least not without a
one-year guarantee!). Have written about this here and elsewhere so do
review. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebindex/anabantoids.htm
Thirdly, Gouramis and Mollies have utterly different water chemistry
requirements, so anything suitable for one will be harmful to the
other.> By the time I realized what was happening it was basically
too late for him. He was already battered, and they were relentless in
their pursuit. So I pulled him out and euthanized him with seltzer
water. <That's not euthanasia, that's a horrible way to go! Where'd
that idea come from? It's basically dropping a fish into an acid bath...
do think back to your High School chemistry: CO2 plus water = carbonic
acid. Nothing there particularly good for giving your fish a painless,
rapid death. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/euthanasiafaqs.htm > The mollies were
acting like a pair of piranhas. Now the next day I notice that one of
the mollies lips and mouth are red and swollen with almost bloody spots
at the corners of his mouth. His eyes are wide with stress, and he
appears to be in pain. What is going on here? <What's the water
chemistry? Be under no illusions here: Mollies MUST HAVE hard, alkaline
water around pH 7.5-8.2, hardness 15+ degrees dH. They are infinitely
healthier in brackish water around SG 1.003 upwards. They are extremely
intolerant of ammonia, nitrite, and even nitrate. Being herbivores, they
will not stay healthy given a non-herbivorous diet. All these things are
amply discussed in the literature and here at WWM.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm In small tanks
they never do well because of their sensitivity to rapid pH changes and
nitrate accumulation. Even 20 gallons is too small for them, especially
given some varieties will reach 10-15 cm in length. Recommend not less
than 30 gallons if you want even half a chance of keeping Mollies
properly.> I left him in the tank to watch to see if the culprit is
the other molly attacking him, but she never touches him. She swims near
then darts away. Within a few hours this molly is dead. So I have now
just one molly and my cories. Now today I notice that her mouth is
swollen and pink. Her lips are bumpy rather than smooth, and she is
acting weird. <Could be Mouth Fungus (also known as Columnaris) but
equally easily Finrot or even incipient Fungus. Extremely common when
Mollies are kept in freshwater conditions. Just to make this point clear
to all our readers -- Mollies just aren't "good" freshwater aquarium
fish, and inexperienced aquarists should NEVER keep them thus. Stick
them in a brackish water tank and they're tough as nails, and in
saltwater tanks can be used to cycle filters from scratch! All good
clues to what these fish actually want, as opposed to what we sometimes
try to foist onto them.> Just sitting stationary in one corner near
the heater. <Likely "the Shimmies", again, very common.> I've
never seen a problem like this, nor seen mollies act so violently.
<Unlikely the Mollies killed the Gouramis, though adding new fish to an
overstocked aquarium could easily tip the balance such that the
"surplus" fish died. That said, male Mollies are mutually aggressive,
and again, that's why they need BIG TANKS.> Can you please give me
some advice, for it looks like I'll be restocking soon for all my fish
have died. I am at a loss. Help! Thank you!!! <Please, first thing
you do is grab a pH and hardness test kit and establish what your water
conditions are. Then go read a book of fish species, and when you see a
species you like, cross-check its requirements with what you have in
your tank. If you have soft, slightly acidic water, then tetras and
barbs will be fine, but livebearers and many cichlids won't be
appropriate. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestk.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlvstksel.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestocking.htm Now, I'll
tell you that in a mere 12 US gallons your choices are extremely limited
for all kinds of reasons to do with activity, adult size, sensitivity to
pH changes, and so on. Avoid anything above 2.5-3 cm in length, and
don't pick anything noted for being either aggressive or an active
swimmer. Neon tetras, gobies, Kuhli loaches, pygmy Corydoras species,
shrimps and snails are all good choices for very small tanks.> Joanne
from New Jersey <Cheers, Neale.>
Mystery
Mollie Illness? Reading 8/24/08
Hi there! Thank you so much for taking time out of your lives to create this
site for us. In my ten gallon tank
<Mmm, small... volumes are hard to keep stable>
I currently have three bronze cories, one Otocinclus, two silver mollies,
two Dalmatian mollies, and a Crowntail Betta ( perhaps you'll tell me it's
overcrowded but I have not had any problems with nipping or bullying.) I'm
having some problems with one of my female silver mollies. Her dorsal is
clamped and she has a slight pink hue on the top of her head between her
eyes. She also has a dusting of tiny black spots across her body and the
edge of her dorsal is black when looking at it from the top. Her gills also
seem a bit more pink than usual. I thought it was fin rot, but after a round
of Melafix
<... not a fan. Little practical use, and can malaffect nitrification>
and Tetracycline I didn't see any improvements. I treated the whole tank but
am now considering separating her and beginning anti-parasitic treatments. I
was thinking of velvet as an initial possibility, but the spots seem too
dark for that. All
the other fish seem fine. All advice would be most appreciated!!
Oh, and water conditions are:
pH - 7.0
Temp - 78 F
Nitrates, Nitrites, and Ammonia are all at 0
<Good>
I also add a few teaspoons of aquarium salt and Aquarisol
<Mmm, I wouldn't use this... the copper is too toxic>
every time I change the water (about 50% every two weeks) along with the
typical water conditioner. It is a lightly planted tank with gravel
substrate.
Thank you so much!
<I suspect the usual trouble with mixing Mollies here... Inappropriate
environment. Please read Neale's piece here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
and the linked Disease FAQs above. Bob Fenner>
Molly and Platy "issues"
6/22/08
Hello again
And once again I must extend my gratitude for all the support you
lend to us "novice" fish-keepers and our finned-friends.
<We're happy to help.>
To start I am attaching a picture of my mama speckled molly....As I
hope you can see, she has developed this "wart-like" growth above
her eye. It has gotten a little bigger over the last few days but
her personality hasn't really changed much. She is still eating like
a champ but she might not be swimming around as much as usual, its
hard to tell now that I have taken the male molly that used to chase
her daily out of the tank (for different reasons). My water
parameters all check out (0,0,10) and this started before I added my
most recent additions. I did lose my 2 German rams over the last 3
weeks for unknown reason (I suspect its because my husband
accidentally unplugged one of the heaters twice overnight when he
turned off the light and since they are so sensitive the 5 degree
dip in temp (usually hovers around 80 but went down to 75 both
times) because they each passed around the times that this happened.
At any rate, back to the molly...What on earth do you think this is?
Should I QT her? How do I treat it (if I can)? Do I need to worry
about my other fish in the tank?
<I'm not 100% sure, but this looks a lot like Lymphocystis. This a
non-contagious (or at least only weakly contagious) viral disease
caused (almost certainly) by environmental issues. The bad news is
that it can't be treated. The good news is that it doesn't kill fish
and usually goes away by itself (though this may take months). No
need to quarantine her. Strong need to review the environment, for
example is the carbonate hardness nice and high, are you using
enough marine salt mix, does she get enough algae to eat, and so on.
All the usual Molly stuff. In any case, the "growth" is certainly
some sort of cyst, and as such not likely to be either treatable or
dangerous.>
My second issue is housed in my QT tank (my main reason for not
putting my molly girl in there just yet) I emailed you guys about
this problem a few weeks back and didn't really get an answer (I
think it was Neale and he sounded just as baffled as I was) I have
had this female platy in there for many many months now (I'll attach
a photo of her too just in case you can see something that I can't)
and she has lived though numerous treatments of every medication
known to tropical fish (mainly because my QT tank is the only QT
tank for both mine and my dad's tanks and every sick fish is treated
in there) Her spinning/flipping/darting has never improved nor
gotten worse. I am still stumped on what to do with her and I am
really tempted to just put her back in my main tank so I don 't have
to continue keeping this tank running for her. (not that I mind all
that much but I am sure she is bored in a bare tank all by herself.)
<She looks fine.>
To repeat the story, It started at least 4-5 months ago about a week
after I got her home from the fish store (okay, wasn't really a fish
store...I'll admit my momentarily lapse of judgment and admit I
bought her at W**-Mart...Not the smartest thing, I know)
..I noticed she was having trouble staying upright and upon closer
inspection I noticed that one of her gills not only looked a little
torn but it looked like it had a severe internal hemorrhage. She
would swim erratically, dart, spin, hide, and for the first few
weeks wouldn't eat. I thought she was a goner for sure. Well, after
a while her gill healed, she began eating and swimming around but,
she would still have frequent episodes of spinning, flipping,
swimming on her side and basically freaking out. They don't last
forever but do happen often...she can still swim normally but for
the most part just hangs out in the corner. Her color has gotten
lighter but I don't know if that just because I keep the tanks
lights off the majority of the time or what. I am hoping that
someone has some idea what this is, if I could return her to one of
my main tanks, and/or how to treat it. I used to think it was
"whirling" disease but considering she isn't a trout and she has
lived so long I don't think that this is the case.
<Quite so.>
I have also considered parasites but like I said, she has undergone
every treatment (including every parasite treatment) and still
spins/flips/darts. She has had some noted improvement and that I
think occurred around the time I was treating one of my dads molly's
for parasites but I can't say for sure. Any advice on these matter
would be greatly appreciated.
<Absolutely no idea what this is!>
Respectfully,
Grace
<Don't think anything too serious, so provided all else is perfect,
would leave this fish figure out their own problems. Could be
genetic issues for example, or exposure to heavy metals at some
point in their life. Variety of things. Good luck, Neale.>
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Heeelllppp... molly dis. - 06/08/2007
Hey guys, Alia here. I'm having trouble with my female creamcicle molly. Two
nights ago I found six fry in my 20 gallon tank that I keep at a SG of 1.010.
The water qualities were at GH 180, KH 200, pH 7.5, and nitrites and nitrates at
0. The GH is too high so just added a water softener pillow last night (2 oz
should lower GH 80 ppm). I am assuming that these fry are from her, because last
time she had fry, before I added the other fish (black and Dalmatian mollies) it
was a small batch as well. (sorry I forgot to mention that I have 6 other
mollies in the tank 1 other male creamcicle, 2 black mollies 1 female 1 male, 2
Dalmatian mollies both females, and 1 silver molly). Then, yesterday I found
around 40 fry, which I am assuming are from my female black molly because her
stomach has recently deflated after having a mighty large belly for some weeks.
I removed most of the fry and added them to my 10 gallon tank. There are about
30-35 in the 10 gallon as of now.
<Will be crowded>
There are around 8-10 fry in the 20 gallon. Those in my 20 gallon have plenty of
hiding places: floating plants, rock sculpture, plastic plants. I am wondering
how I can keep these molly fry. I plan on finding them homes and/or passing them
on to a respected fish store once they mature. Is that too many fish to have in
either one of my tanks?
Now, on to Laila, my creamcicle molly. I've noticed that she is hanging around
the top of the tank and keeping to herself. She is still eating, however she is
not as aggressive at getting the food as she once was. Her caudal fin is
drooping a little and her coloration is on the dull side. I noticed a change in
her scaling on her stomach. It has a darker grey shade to it and it almost looks
like some scales are missing. In addition, her feaces are white and not solid.
<Mmmm>
It looks like there is a string that is connecting the clumps of fecal matter
together. I am assuming the change in feaces are from an internal parasite.
However, I don't know what is causing the grayness on her underside.
<Could be just "age"... is it only the one fish that is affected?>
I have a book on fish health and I cannot seem to find anything that talks about
different coloration. What do you think this is, and how can I treat her?? I
only have two tanks and one of them is a fry nursery so I cannot isolate her in
that without risking the lives of those fry. What is causing this?
<Perhaps a good idea to isolate the one fish... but I do not think this
situation is pathogenic... i.e. that it's borne of a parasitic or infectious
agent. Otherwise all would be affected. I would not treat this system, fish per
se>
Thank you so much for any help. You guys are life savers!
[p.s. My blank male molly is very territorial with my silver molly. He chases
her around the tank all the time. Could this be his way of trying to keep the
gene pool clean by chasing away the "genetically impaired" silver molly?
<Interesting speculation... I would move either one... separate them>
I love my silver molly, Ira, and I would love to keep her, however is she
getting bullied to much by Nile? Should I give her back to the fish store? I
really want to keep her, so if there is a way to keep her, I will!]
Thanks again!!!
<Sometimes giving such aggressive fish a "time out" by placing them in isolation
(a floating trap or net... even a small plastic colander) for a few days will
"take the spit" out of them... Bob Fenner>
Re: Heeelllppp. Molly hlth. – 6/8/08
Hi Bob,
<Alia>
I added two tablets of Jungle Parasite Clear last night. I thought it might have
been a parasite infection because her tail was kinked at the tips-she's a
Lyretail. Anyway her coloration looks better ad her tail is no longer kinked.
The reason why I added the parasite clear was I noticed her "huffing", like she
is short of breath. She is still huffing.
<Let's hope this fish recovers from whatever the cause is here... Do you have
detectable nitrates?>
How long do you recommend isolating Nile?
<A week or so>
Thank you!
<Welcome! BobF>
Re: Heeelllppp, sick molly – 6/9/08
The 5 in 1 test strips
<Mmm, do look into a more accurate means... simple liquid colorimetric... is
much better>
showed 5 or less ppm of nitrates. I am not sure how old she is. I bought her and
Blade, a cremecicle Lyretail as well, around August of last year. They were both
full grown. I've read that mollies live for 3-4 years. Maybe it is just from old
age.
<Likely so>
Blade looks a little lethargic as well. The other fish are just fine. Do you
think her heath problem could be from her pregnancy?
Thanks!
<Perhaps related. B> |
Sick Dalmatian Molly
5/27/2008
Hello Bob!
My Dalmatian molly has recently got a white growth (it looks kind of puffy) on
its tail and right above one of its eyes. I have one other molly in with it in a
10 gallon aquarium.
<There's one problem. Mollies are very intolerant of poor water conditions,
particularly pH changes and high levels of nitrogenous waste, including nitrate.
In a 10 gallon tank there's realistically no way you can maintain stable pH and
good water quality.>
They had fry a few weeks ago and I was getting ready to put them all together
when I notices the growth. I watched him (it's a male) for a while and noticed
he looked sick. He lays on the bottom of the tank unless he gets disturbed and
when we swims he doesn't swim in a straight line and his body looks bent. My
other molly sucked on him a few times while I was watching. I haven't gotten my
water tested lately, but I'm going to get it tested tomorrow. I don't know what
to do! I'm a beginner with tropical fish.
<Mollies aren't beginners' fish. They need very hard, very clean water with a
basic pH. Ideally they should be kept in brackish water, and frankly they don't
tend to do well kept otherwise.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Add 3-6 grammes of marine salt mix per litre and your Mollies health will
dramatically improve.>
I was wondering if I should isolate him in a separate tank and treat him for ICH
or something, or if maybe I should just let him be and see if he would stick
through it and get healthy again.
<Almost certainly Finrot and/or Fungus, so use a medication that treats both.
Maracyn, eSHa 2000, or equivalent. Skip Melafix type products; they're
unreliable.>
This is urgent so please reply as soon as possible. I'm going to a local pet
store tomorrow to ask some questions, but they have never been much help before.
If you can help me that would be great. I hope I gave you enough information.
Thanks a bunch,
Amanda
<Cheers, Neale.>
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Weird Molly issue... env. hlth.
5/27/2008
Hey Crew,
Just a little background, I grew up with fish tanks in my room and have
always had fish... however mostly hardy cichlids, Kribs an convicts and
the like. My mother had a 500 gallon reef tank in my room when I was a
kid, she sells to local pet shops. She taught the importance of water
changes and chemistry. She got me hooked at 6 with a comet goldfish that
I had for 18 years. "Mary Kay" was 38 inches
<... not a goldfish... perhaps a carp of some sort>
when a freak accident involving a cat and an aquarium hood ended her
life... Anyway... I digress.
<I'll say!>
My Issue is I just recently decided to acquire some Mollies and have had
them for about 5 months...
<...? Recently... five months?>
Have had multiple "broods" of fry.. gave A LOT of mollies away... lol
I have a 55 gallon long custom made tank (weird measurements) was a hand
me down from Mom... it had a breeding pair of angels in it last Feb..
and sat empty for awhile..
all new freshly washed gravel (about 1/2 inch cover on bottom). 2 sponge
filters from other tanks (so I had starter bacteria, one on each end of
the tank. no ammonia spikes noticed in weekly testing) also I have a
whisper external filter. lots of aeration ( 5, 4 in stones) (mollies are
dirty fish, and need extra filtration I've read)
<Agreed>
feed every other day and alternate flake and live blood worms or freeze
dried shrimp once a week. (they also eat the unfortunate insects that
happen to fall in)
nitrites 0
ammonia 0
ph 7.6
nitrates are about 25 as of last testing (2 days ago)
<Too high for Mollienesia>
there is about 3-4 tablespoons per 15 gallons salt
76 degree f water.
we have somewhat hard water.. (artesian spring fed "well")
there are 10 mollies and a Cory cat (to eat up leftovers :D)
3 Sailfins, (1 crème-sickle female, a gold-dust Lyretail female and red
eyed
sunset male)
2 platinum molly females (1 Lyretail, 1 normal)
2 marbled females, (about 50% blk and 50% white 1 Lyretail, 1 normal)
1 black normal tailed female,
1 Dalmatian normal tailed female (mostly white with a few chocolate
colored spots, red eyed :D)
1 "tuxedo" normal tailed female (don't know what else to call her looks
like she's wearing a tux of "pepper" :D)
and about 15 to 20 (all that made it from the original 30 or so) nearly
1/2 in fry (fry are leaving next week, most are tux patterned like the
mother)
Also have several sword plants and java's and crypts of different
varieties and 5 or 6 "bunches" of hornwort (great filtering plant!!!)
(plants came from a different established tank that had some of my
mothers cobra guppies)
I do 10 to 15 % water changes weekly and 50% every month vacuum the
gravel with the big changes...( water is generally pretty clear though).
I'm not really a novice but have never had a problem with anything more
serious than ick every now and then. Never had mollies before either :P
(usually if the power goes out in the winter and there is a temp
fluctuate, power goes out at least once a winter.. don't know why
though.. lol but then the ick strikes....)
the fish are quite friendly and "beg" for their supper my boyfriend
(having never been around fish before) thinks its about the neatest
thing to watch lol (i think he's getting "hooked") ok BACK to the
issue..
The "tux" female "Sally" had fry 17 days ago then suddenly she had what
looked like salt sprinkled on her tail.. I thought, "oh great ick,"...
but then it "morphed" into very fine almost invisible, strings of
cottony stuff on her tail and pectoral fins ONLY. no damage to them just
the "goo" as I have started calling it. Not on her dorsal or anal fins
either... I moved her to a 5 gallon hex "hospital tank" and added in
another tablespoon of salt... (she doesn't seem to mind one bit) there
is no Dashing or itching...
she is active and her appetite is great (sides a tad "sunk in" but she
had 30 fry or so geez :P) I treated for ick with some "tonic" (brand
name...contains meth blue/Acriflavine (sp?)/malachite green) it
temporarily stained the "goo" but it didn't go away. also treated with
some Maracyn AND when that had no effect Ampicillex (spendy stuff!!)
still with no results, Ill assume her immune system got "messy" due to
the stress of the big baby load, but really I would love to get her back
in the tank... all the other fish are great with the exception of the
other molly that is also in isolation...(but having 2 hospital tanks is
taxing me lol..) What else should be tried... haven't treated for
parasites really because it doesn't look like them... what do you think?
<I would address the nitrate issue and return this fish to the main
tank>
The other fishy is the crème-sickle female molly "Cindy" She has been
isolated for 6 weeks. WAY before Sally gave birth. She had great color
and it slowly faded a bit as she was getting chased relentlessly by the
male " Randy" (cause face it he IS randy lol). she then got this weird
"salting" look on the top of her head and now it looks like there is a
"hole" about the size of a pencil lead that is "whiter" but NOT fuzzy,
no irritation, redness or swelling... . it has remained completely the
same for 5 weeks.
her appetite is great and otherwise she looks healthy and robust.
treated her with the "tonic" and when it didn't work I upped her salt
and switched to a bit o' meth blue for preventative... I am pretty sure
this isn't normal I have seen quite a few of these fishes and never have
seen this before. I just don't think its a fungus either because of the
lack of "fuzzy" It doesn't seem to bother her. she isn't itching on
anything. My mom assumes that's she's normal and I should put her back
in with the rest, I would like a second opinion.
<Something going on here parasite wise... but can't discern from your
writing or pix what it is>
My mother came and looked at them both.. has no idea on sally as the
treatments have failed... I have spent a lot of money on Sally's mystery
illness, and do not wish to stress Cindy by treating her with
ineffective drugs... I do apologize for the poor quality images... but
you can see some of the fuzz on sally and the area of the hole on
Cindy... do you have any idea how hard it is to take pics of fish??!!!
<This I do>
There isn't a knowledgeable fish shop in the area, they know less than
we do and usually call my mom for questions like this.
I am so sorry for being long winded, I get to rambling.. lol
At wits end,
Amanda
<I think the system (other than the NO3) is likely fine... I would try
bolstering these fishes immune system with improved feeding... Perhaps
"try" a routine of one time treatment with Metronidazole/Flagyl AND a
vermifuge... (Praziquantel)... Bob Fenner>
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Help!! Molly Tank Disaster 05/20/08
Dear Neal,
<Hello,>
I am having lots of problems with my 40G molly tank at the moment
(Brackish water).
<What is the salinity? "Teaspoon per gallon" quantities of salt aren't
adequate for brackish water aquaria, and have little impact on Molly
health. You want around SG 1.003-1.005, or about 6-9 grams sea salt mix
per litre.>
2 weeks ago I cleaned up some decorations in the 40 gallon tank and put
them back in. A few days later I found detectable nitrite level in the
water (0.15~0.2ppm) for maybe 3 days.
<Unlikely the decorations caused the problem.>
I made a few 25% water change every day and use Seachem's prime &
stability. Finally nitrite went down to zero last Tuesday. However, at
the same time some of mollies start to get mouth fungus / eye fungus (or
cloud) / body fungus. I tried to put them in QT for
medication but it cured only half of them. Two are even getting worse.
(I am using Furan compounds).
<Mollies invariably react to Nitrite this way. This is why they're not
beginner's fish. You often see black Mollies turning grey in front of
your eyes as the mucous pours out of their skins. Assuming you treat
with a suitable Fungus/Finrot medication, they should get better,
especially in brackish water. Do see this article for suitable
combination medications:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwfishmeds.htm
In the US, Maracyn is the drug of choice, but I have no personal
experience of antibiotics with fish. Here in the UK, it's organic dyes
like those in eSHa 2000 that are used instead, and that product at least
works extremely well.>
Every morning I find 2 more sick fish in the big tank. I do not have any
extra QT to use. I guess I have to medicate the whole tank now. These
are all males so they are very aggressive to each other. This makes the
treatment less effective.
<Your observation here is spot on. Male Mollies, and indeed male
livebearers generally, can be extremely aggressive towards one another.
Again, this is why I recommend to people not to treat Mollies as "easy"
fish. They're not! They're actually quite difficult to look after over a
long period. Beautiful fish, yes, but difficult. Maybe not coral reef
tank difficult, but still a challenge. Generally, you must make sure the
males aren't overcrowded and also that females outnumber the males
(ideally two to one). Whilst males shouldn't damage one another when
they fight, they can do, and you sometimes see nips and missing scales,
presumably following fights.>
Also, I notice maybe 4 or 5 mollies have these on them, mainly on the
top of their head. They look like scratches, shinny blue silver color. I
wish it is not velvet.
<Suspect this is likely mucous between the scales, though possibly
fungus on the body. Either way, treat with Maracyn or an organic dye
like eSHa 2000.>
I saw this when one molly was very small, not obvious. I assumed it was
just his identity. Now fish grow bigger and these show more. Is it
normal? If this is velvet, is it possible the sick fish can live such
long? And only 4 or 5 mollies have them in the whole tank. (I would say
the fish have been in the tank for 7 months.) No new fish were ever
added to the tank at all.
<Velvet wouldn't likely come "out of the blue", which again makes me
think this is likely a reaction to water quality, i.e., the nitrite.
Mollies rapidly lose condition when sick in this way, and can be dead
within a few weeks. So prompt treatment is helpful. With Mollies (and
indeed other salt-tolerant fish) I like to do seawater dips on a daily
basis. This helps clean up the "wounds" on the outside of the fish. Used
with medication, the results are very good. A seawater dip is easy: add
35 grams of marine salt mix (or even cooking sea salt) to a litre of
aquarium water. Stir well until it dissolves. Grab the fish in a net,
and dip for 2-20 minutes depending on your intuition. The idea is to dip
the fish for long enough the bacteria and fungi on the skin are killed,
but the fish is OK. With Mollies, 5-10 minutes should be easily safe,
but if you see the fish roll over as if it has lost balance, pull the
fish out and put back in the aquarium. Repeat the next day or daily
until the fish is better.>
I took a couple of pictures to show what I saw. Hope you can help me to
identify.
<Looks consistent with my thoughts above.>
Thanks for your time and help.
Kathy
<Good luck, Neale.>
|
|
 
|
Help!! Molly Tank Disaster
05/21/08
Hi Neale,
<Kathy,>
Thanks for your quick reply. The salinity in this tank is 1.002~1.003.
Should I add more salt?
<That should be fine.>
However, I always use Seachem Livebearer Salt as I used to have plants
in the tank.
<Not a big fan of "livebearer salt" mixes; they tend to be more
expensive than marine salt mix per kilo, and moreover don't necessarily
have the right balance of salinity with carbonate hardness. For Mollies,
you need both of these things. The sodium chloride itself helps with
detoxifying nitrite and nitrate, but the carbonate hardness is what
helps to maintain a steady pH. The Seachem web site isn't very clear
about what precisely Seachem Livebearer Salt actually is; they say it
has "minimal" sodium chloride for example. Marine salt mix is mostly
sodium chloride, but with a large proportion of other mineral salts such
as calcium carbonate.>
My water source is very hard already. Can I still use Ocean Salt?
<I'd actually recommend it.>
Also, if I start to switch, will the mixed salt types in the water safe
and okay for the fish?
<Perfectly safe. Provided your fish and plants are salt-tolerant, it
shouldn't make much difference to them. Many plants are surprisingly
salt-tolerant, but the big favourites for brackish water tanks are Java
fern, Java moss, Anubias, Vallisneria, Hygrophila, some of the
Cryptocorynes, and Indian Fern.>
I agree Mollies are not beginner's fish and they need lots of attention
& care. (I am into this hobby just for 1 year... sometimes thought I
finally knew what I was doing but still can sometimes get into troubles
and do not know what to do next.) Until I manage these difficult mollies
will I consider having a saltwater tank... maybe in 10 years!!
<Funnily enough, Mollies are bomb-proof in saltwater tanks! Before we
had things like living rock to quickly mature marine tanks, Mollies were
widely used to mature saltwater tanks. At least for a short period,
relatively high levels of ammonia and nitrite rarely did them much harm
in marine conditions. Strange but true.>
I have Maracyn, Maracyn two and Maroxy on hand. Their guide shows it's
okay to all of them at the same time. So, perhaps I should use them all
to get the situation under control first. Maracyn is available for
freshwater and saltwater. I always use the one formulated for
freshwater. Is this right?
<Yes, this is correct. But at your salinity, the freshwater version
should be fine.>
This morning I gave the FUN guys a Methylene Blue dip. The instruction
says "no more than 10 seconds", so I was very careful when putting the
fish in. Thanks for your suggestion re seawater dip. I'll start giving
them the dip tomorrow. Hope these mollies will get well soon.
<I find saltwater dips very useful. Freshwater dips are standard issue
treatments for saltwater fish, but the reverse isn't widely done any
more. Back in the past, it was actually quite common to use saltwater
dips because the range of off-the-shelf medications was more limited.
While you can't use saltwater dips on all freshwater fish, salt-tolerant
fish like livebearers, cichlids and puffers can benefit from them,
particularly when used alongside an antibiotic or antibacterial.>
Yours truly,
Kathy
<Sincerely, Neale.>
|
Sick molly 5/17/08
I had a female silver molly that started to swim vertically with her
nose pointed upward. I had suspected she might be in labor so I waited before
doing anything. Two days later, 13 fry appeared, but when I found the female she
was dead. The babies, so far, are all happy and healthy in a two-way breeder,
but now the male silver molly is showing the same symptoms that the female did.
He swims vertically every now and then and looks as though he has to put extra
effort into swimming anywhere. I started to notice an orange-ish coloring along
the top of his top fin and it spread to his sides so that there's an almost
metallic orange sheen to him. Just today I've noticed dark grey vertical lines
on his sides. He still eats and gets around, but he's definitely not doing
great. (None of my other fish; platies, tetras, guppies, snails, ghost shrimp,
have any problems) I hope you can help. Thank you so much in advance.
<Greetings. By the sounds of things, the Molly has Finrot. The "orange" you're
seeing is (I'm guessing) inflamed, dying tissue under attack from
Aeromonas/Pseudomonas bacteria. Understand this: Mollies simply do not do well
in freshwater. Yes, Mollies are freshwater fish in the wild, but for reasons to
do with osmoregulation, pH changes, and/or nitrate sensitivity, they do far
better in brackish water aquaria. So, with that said, you likely need to add
marine salt mix to the aquarium for Mollies to be a long term success. Apart
from the Guppies, Shrimps, and possibly Platies, none of your other livestock
will tolerate brackish water. This is why experienced fishkeepers make the point
that Mollies *are not community fish*. They never have been and never will be.
But unfortunately aquarium shops stock them and sell them as community fish. So
your predicament is not at all uncommon. Obviously you need to start by treating
for Finrot. Maracyn (in the US) is the drug of choice; elsewhere antibacterials
like eSHa 2000 should be used. Avoid Melafix/Pimafix-type things. Also read my
article on Mollies, here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Hope this helps, Neale.>
HELP!! I have a sick mollie!
05/08/08
Hey guys, it's Alia again! You were so helpful last time, I didn't think I would
need your assistance again. I have a 10 gallon brackish tank with five mollies
(I'm getting a new one though! :) I have a twenty gallon long tank setup). The
pH, in my ten gallon tank, is 7.8, alkalinity 240 ppm, hardness 185 ppm, nitrite
0 ppm, nitrate 20 ppm. I know the nitrate is, currently, too high. I replaced
the carbon filter last night, hoping that it would help lower the nitrate levels
along with frequent water changes (once-a-week). Anyway, on to my sick mollie.
Blade, my male mollie that is sick, has been rather lethargic for the past two
weeks. I separated him from the rest of the mollies, with a tank divider, for a
couple of days. He is now back with the others and I just noticed that he
shivered and he looked like his skin was itchy. He tried rubbing against a tank
ornament. I checked and he didn't have any white spots due to ick; however he
swims around with
his dorsal and posterior fins sagging moderately. I know I've read about a
disease with symptoms similar to this. My problem is that I can't remember what
the disease is and how to cure it. Please help me save my little Blade! Thank
you so much!!
<Not sure precisely what this disease is; could be "the shimmies". Do also look
for signs of Finrot and Fungus. If "the shimmies", then optimal water quality,
plus reasonably brackish water (around 9 grammes of salt per litre) should do
the trick. "Teaspoon per gallon" amounts of salt *do not* make brackish water,
and won't help. 9 grammes of salt is about 1.5 level teaspoons of salt, and
that's about how much you need per litre for greatest chance of success. Cheers,
Neale.>
Black molly, red protrusion... Camallanus
4/25/08
Hi,
We have a black female molly that has a red string protruding from it's anus.
She was born January 20, 2008. She is in a 29 gallon tank with 5 brothers and
sisters, 2 silver female, 1 silver male, 1 black female and 1 black male. There
is also 2 adult silver female, 1 adult yellow female and 1 adult male guppy. We
change 25% of the water on Sunday's. We can't figure out what the protrusion
could be. It almost looks like feces when I feed them blood worms, but they
haven't had any for a week and it's bigger in diameter. It's bright red in color
and hasn't moved for 2 days. I'm thinking about pulling on it to remove it. She
also doesn't have an appetite. Any information would be helpful.
Thank You,
Grant
<Likely Camallanus or other parasitic worm. Try inserting this term, and "Molly
disease" in the search tool here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm
reading the cached views. Bob Fenner>
|
Dead Molly Baby 4/20/08
Hi everyone. I love your site and find it very helpful. I am hoping you can
answer a molly question for me. My mama molly had a baby (just one) on
Wednesday. First of all, I thought she would have a whole bunch because she was
really big. I had put her in a breeder net about a week ago and I made sure I
had plenty of fake plants in the net for the babies to hide in. Well, Friday the
baby was dead. I found it at the bottom of the net on the gravel. What do you
think could have happened? I have a total of 4 mollies and 2 goldfish in the 10
gal tank. I am getting rid of the goldfish because I have learned they need
different water conditions than mollies, and they are too big for a 10 gallon.
All my fish seem fine. I think I have another pregnant molly, but not too sure
yet. Should I put her in the net when she gets closer to having the babies or
should I leave her free in the tank? I want to raise mollies really bad. I think
they are really pretty and fun fish to watch. Any suggestions besides getting
rid of the goldfish? Thanks for your help!
Shona
<Hello Shona. You say your fish "seem fine" and yet you have dead baby fish. So
things obviously *are not* fine. Let's take things from the top. 10 gallons is
too small for either Goldfish or Mollies, let alone both. You will find it
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to maintain good water quality. This
isn't a topic up for debate, and when we say this here at WWM, it's on the basis
of decades of experience. Mollies need at least 20 gallons, and Goldfish
honestly need 30 gallons upwards. So yes, they need new tanks. Next up, Mollies
are an order of magnitude hardier when maintained in brackish water. Again,
there's no point debating this, because it's a statement of fact you ignore at
your peril. Thirdly, Mollies must never be put in breeding traps. Mollies are
too big and easily stressed. Among other things they miscarry, and that's likely
what happened here. Breeding traps have almost no useful function in
fishkeeping, and are mostly a way of allowing shops to get lots of money from
inexperienced fishkeepers in return for cheap bits of plastic. If you want to
raise Mollies, here what you do: transfer the females to a 20 gallon aquarium
filled with brackish water and with a high level of carbonate hardness (using
3-6 grammes of marine salt mix per litre should take care of both salinity and
hardness; don't waste your money on "tonic salt" or "aquarium salt"). Add lots
of floating plants. Every day, check the plants for baby fish, and remove them
to the 10 gallon tank, filled with water of identical water chemistry. There's a
reason fish farms rear Mollies in brackish water: it works! Your Goldfish should
of course be kept in a 30 gallon tank with regular (not brackish) water, or
better yet a pond. This is what you need to do for successful fishkeeping. Your
move. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Dead Molly Baby
4/20/08
Thanks for the advice. As soon as I find a new home for the goldfish they
are gone. I'll not use the breeder net again! Do you think that is what killed
the baby?
<Difficult to say precisely, but certainly one of the more probable factors.
When you find dead baby fish immediately after birth, they've either been
snapped at by the mother, or simply miscarried. In either case, a breeding trap
is a probable cause.>
Any particular kind of floating plants that you would recommend. I have lots of
plants (fake) on the bottom, but no floaters.
<Hornwort and plain vanilla pondweed ("Elodea") do just fine. Neither costs
much, and they can be replaced cheaply and easily if they start looking a bit
sad. Plastic plants left floating at the top will work just as well.>
I'm looking for a bigger tank for my mollies. Thanks for the help!
<You're welcome. Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
Troubled Mollie, hlth.
4/20/08
Hello!
I have been on your web site all day now trying to find what could be wrong with
my fish. Here is the scoop. I have a 10 gallon tank that has been up and running
for about a month and a half now. I am a newbie to the world of fish..... and
have learned quite a bit in this short amount of time. In my tank I have two pot
bellied mollies, one black Mollie, one serpae tetra, one star burst platy, and
four striped danios. I do use aquarium salt in the tank, and just recently did a
50% water change two days ago. The temp hangs around 80 degrees F. I have been
testing the water every other day.? Here are the results from today: PH 7.2,
Ammonia 0.5, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 0.
The Problem
One of my pot bellied mollies has not been swimming right. He was staying on the
top of the tank in a corner for a day or so, with his tail clamped and wasn't
able to stay balanced, I thought he was dying, but he seemed to pull out of it
and is now in the middle of the tank. But, he still seems to swim off balanced,
like he has Parkinson's disease. He has no spots, or growths. He will
occasionally rub on some of the decorations. My other pot bellied Mollie will
also occasionally rub on some of the decor. All of the other fish are acting
normal. I have asked people in my local fish store and have read the other sick
Mollie posts, but I still don't know what could be wrong. I figured you guys
would be able to help.
Thanks,
Lauren
<Hi Lauren. What you describe is a neurological disease often called "the
Shimmies" by fishkeepers. It is very common when Mollies are kept badly. Mollies
need brackish water (3-6 grammes of marine salt mix, not tonic salt or aquarium
salt, per litre) to get the level of hardness and high pH they need. Your pH is
too low for a start, and the marine mix will fix that. The salinity also
provides a level of support to Mollies that freshwater does not. While some
people argue about whether Mollies really, truly need to be kept in brackish
water, the bottom line is ALL Mollies prosper in brackish water, whereas only
SOME Mollies do equally well in freshwater. You also have dangerously high
levels of Ammonia and Nitrite, implying the tank is either overstocked,
under-filtered, or overfed. A 10 gallon tank is too small for Mollies and really
you are going to have a very hard time maintaining the good water quality they
need. So these are the three things you need to fix: use Marine salt mix at 3-6
grammes per litre; ensure ammonia and nitrite are zero; and move the Mollies to
a 20 gallon system. Obviously not all your other fish will tolerate brackish
water, but other livebearers like Platies at least should be fine. Without
fixing these things your Mollies will eventually weaken and die. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Troubled Mollie 04/21/08
Thank you so much for your info! I will definitely start another tank, and
make it to suit the mollies. Would a new brackish tank fix Moe the sick molly?
Or do I need to do something else? Do you have any suggestions for fish that
would do well in a 20 gallon tank with mollies?
Thanks again!
Lauren
<Hi Lauren. By itself, adjusting Mollies to brackish rather than freshwater
will, more often than not, fix "the Shimmies". Does rather depend on the
severity of the symptoms, and if the fish is too far gone, you may not see any
recovery. But usually this works well. Add about 6 grammes of marine salt (i.e.,
Instant Ocean and other such things) per litre (that's about 0.8 oz per US
gallon). The more salt you add, the better/faster the fish will recover, but
don't exceed 9 grammes per litre (1.2 oz per US gallon) because that will stress
the filter bacteria. Do also raise the temperature a bit, maybe even to 27 C/81
F, because Mollies like warmth. This amount of salt will do no harm to other
livebearers such as Guppies, so there's no worries there. But most (though not
all) freshwater fish dislike salt over the long term, so do remove other fish.
There are many excellent companions for Mollies in slightly brackish water.
Among my favourites are Glassfish, Wrestling Halfbeaks, Guppies, Limia
nigrofasciata (a lovely striped livebearers), Florida Flagfish, Asian Panchax
killifish (though these will eat the baby mollies!), Violet Gobies, Knight
Gobies (also eat baby mollies), 'Freshwater' Flatfish, and Orange Chromides.
Actually, the list of brackish water fish is huge -- the thing is that not all
species are available all the time, so you have to keep an eye out. Figure-8
Pufferfish can work, but tend to be a bit nippy so are not recommended in small
tanks where other fish don't have space to "avoid trouble". Some people keep
plants in brackish water, but it's best to stick with plastic and use things
like shells and barnacle clusters for decoration. Hope this helps. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: Troubled Molly 4/22/08
Hello Again,
I set up a new aquarium yesterday, and added Instant Ocean Salt to the tank. I
measured the SG this morning and it is reading 1.009. I am assuming that this is
too high to move my Mollies to.
<Actually the Mollies will be perfectly happy in it! They're fine to full
strength seawater (SG 1.025). I take about 30-60 minutes to acclimate Mollies
between freshwater and seawater, so changing Mollies from freshwater to SG 1.009
shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so.>
Do you know what SG I should be at, so that the move doesn't hurt them?
<Doesn't matter for the Mollies; what matters is for the filter: go from
freshwater to above SG 1.005 and the filter bacteria may die, and you'll need to
"cycle" the tank again. Funnily enough, Mollies are quite good fish for cycling
brackish or marine aquaria -- they are almost indestructible when kept in salty
water, compared with being tissue paper flimsy in freshwater.>
Also, because this is a new filter, should I wait for it to cycle.
<Yes, but if you're careful, add the Mollies, check the nitrite every day or
two, and do water changes as required. Not the ideal way of doing things, but
should work well enough.>
If my fish were healthy and it was a just move because of tank size I would
wait, but because it's to fix my sick Mollie, I want to help him ASAP. He still
isn't swimming gracefully, and is hanging at the bottom of the tank.
Thanks again for all your advice!
Lauren
<While you can't cure the Shimmies directly, the reality is that moving them to
brackish or salt water usually allows the fish to get healthy itself. Good luck,
Neale.>
Re: Troubled Mollie 05/06/08
Hello!
I just want to thank you again for your all of your help. Unfortunately Moe
didn't make it :( I was really bummed.
<Ah, too bad. Sorry to hear this.>
I wish I would have known about your website before putting them in a freshwater
aquarium. His companion, Flo, is doing great. She loves her new tank, and seems
to be so much happier.
<Great! Mollies are just so much happier in slightly salty water, that you'll
wonder why anyone keeps them otherwise.>
Because of space issues, I had to go with a 16 gallon tank.
<If you can, make sure the water movement is pretty vigorous. If they have to
swim a little harder than otherwise, the tank will "feel" bigger. Kind of like a
treadmill.>
I would like to add some tank mates for Flo, but I want to make sure that they
will mesh well. You mentioned that the bumblebee goby does well in brackish
conditions, is a 16 gallon tank too small for them?
<Should be fine. Awkward to feed because they must have live or wet frozen foods
(like bloodworms) but otherwise lovely. Also look out for Chlamydogobius
eremius, Rhinogobius duospilus, and Redigobius balteatus -- all small gobies of
similar temperament and size that would work fine in a slightly brackish
aquarium. Other options would be Rice fish (Oryzias latipes), Florida Flag fish
(Jordanella floridae) and Wrestling Halfbeaks (Dermogenys pusilla). All good
fish for small tanks.>
I have read that they are territorial and should I say "grumpy"..... is this
true?
<Yes, but all they need is a cave (e.g., a seashell) plus about a gallon or two
of space per specimen.>
Should I just stick with live bearers?
<If you want to. My current favourite is Lamia nigrofasciata, a funky little
livebearer that's suddenly become quite common in England. It's very hardy, easy
to breed, and tolerant of both fresh and brackish water.>
Thanks Again,
Lauren :)
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
HELP!! I have
a sick golden Lyretail Molly!!! Env. 4/16/08
Dear Crew,
<Alia>
Many thanks in advance! I recently notice a difference in behavior with
my golden Lyretail Molly, Laila. I have sent a picture or her below.
Laila's tail has been sinking, which I presume is due to a swim bladder
problem.
<Mmm... of what cause?>
The top of her tail is puffy. Her dorsal fin is not extended as it
usually is.
<These symptoms... this is an environmental issue... at least largely>
Laila is accompanied by four other mollies: a mail Lyretail (orange),
two black mollies (one female, one male), and a silver Molly. They all
live in my 10 gallon brackish water tank.
<Hard to keep such small volumes stable>
My female black Molly is pregnant, so I have her separated with a tank
divider. Last night I checked my water quality variables. The pH was
7.5, the hardness was extremely low at 15, the alkalinity was low at
120ppm, and the nitrite and nitrate levels were normal at 1.0 and 40.
<!!!? My friend, these are very toxic! Nitrite must be zero, and mollies
are quite sensitive to NO3... I would not allow the Nitrate to
accumulate to any more than 10 ppm total. This, or should I state, the
cause of these nitrogenous readings IS the problem here>
I fed her a defrosted frozen pea in hopes that it would help with her
swim bladder problem. Today, Monday March 14, 2008, I made a 25% water
change and added 3 tsp. of baking soda to raise
the buffeting capacity and the water's hardness. I also added a
tablespoon of aquarium salt to the new water. I checked the water
quality variables again and they improved. The alkalinity was 245, the
hardness was 250, the nitrite was 0.5, the nitrate was 45,
<Still debilitating to deadly toxic>
but the pH was very high at 8.2. Then I added pH down (20 drops) which
is supposed to bring the pH down 0.2 points. So I plan to add 20 drops
each day until the pH is at 7.8. The problem I am having is the growth
on Laila's tail. Is this a disease??
<Mmm, yes... environmental, not pathogenic>
Can she spread it to my other fish? I don't have another filtered tank
to quarantine her in. What about her swim bladder? How can I help her
with that? Please, your advice is greatly appreciated!!
-Alia
<Mmm... please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
and the linked files above... Bob Fenner> |
|
 |
Strange oozing in very
pregnant Molly 4/6/08
Let me start by saying I read through your FAQ on Molly reproduction (I have
the whole thing printed out and have referred to it several times since finding
out I have a very pregnant molly), and tried to use the search tool. That didn't
work, and please accept my apologies for this email if it turns out that this is
posted already. Either my computer sabotaged me, or I couldn't figure out the
search tool. I tried it several times and all I got for my efforts was a blank
page. Anyway, here is the scenario. We have a 60 gallon long tank that has been
running now for about 2 and a half months. We use a power filter (Aqua Clear
110), as well as an undergravel filter, and we have ammonia and PH monitors in
the tank. Since we live in the desert and our water is very hard, we bought a
tap water filtration system which we use for our bigger water changes.
<Don't waste your time softening the water for Mollies; liquid rock is what they
like! You want hardness 20 degrees dH or more, and pH around 8. Ideally with
marine salt mix added for all kinds of reasons. Your should never, ever use
water from a domestic water softener in an aquarium. It has all the wrong
mineral composition for fish.>
We do about a 10% water change weekly.
<Not enough really; Mollies are super-sensitive to Nitrate, and in fact
pollutants generally, and they need at least 25% weekly water changes, and quite
likely more if you aren't using salt (salt moderates to toxicity of nitrate).>
Just recently, when a fish died within days of being introduced, we took the
fish back to the store with a water sample, which they said was the best water
quality they had ever seen in the area. This might be a little more history than
you wanted, but just in case any of it is relevant, here it goes.
<OK.>
For starter fish we picked out 6 silver Lyretail mollies and 6 Danios.
The very next day one of the mollies was dead (seemed to be fine the night
before) and soon after a molly we believed to be extremely pregnant turned out
to be a case of dropsy and though we moved her to a hospital tank and tried to
treat it, being unsure what to do and hesitant, we failed miserably.
<Mollies are in fact terrible fish for "starting" a tank, because they are
incredibly sensitive to variations in water quality and chemistry. Mollies
aren't community fish and they aren't fish for beginners; they're lovely fish
best kept in very specific conditions all their own. In freshwater tanks
something like 50% of them either get sick or simply die within months as far as
I can judge. In brackish water and marine aquaria they are virtually
indestructible. That tells you everything you need to know about them, really!>
That left us with two males and two females, so we gave away a male to improve
the ratio. The tank and the mollies all stabilized, and we had no problems until
about 4 weeks ago, when the smaller female seemed to have some kind of fungus.
We treated it, to all appearances successfully, but soon after being returned to
the main tank she unexpectedly died. We did about a 20% water change. None of
the Danios had any problems.
<This is all absolutely standard when Mollies are kept in freshwater tanks,
especially if you're "softening" the water using a domestic water softener. I
can't make this clearer: Mollies need hard, basic water, preferably with salt
added. They aren't freshwater community tank fish.>
By now (4 weeks ago), the surviving female is extremely huge, overnight the
ammonia levels are down to almost nil and practically the next day the female
drops about 18 babies (they are very good at hiding so this could be an
inaccurate count). We didn't have a nursery tank, but we sectioned off part of
the main tank, provided floating fake plants for cover and plenty of baby food.
About two weeks ago, we added 4 small catfish, 4 algae eaters (that's what the
store called them, I can't be any more specific than that for the moment), and 2
rainbow sharks, with the babies still in their separate section.
<I hope your "algae eaters" aren't Gyrinocheilus aymonieri or Pterygoplichthys
multiradiatus. Too big, too difficult to keep, and in the former case,
aggressive towards tankmates once adult.>
All fish seem to be getting along fine, and all seem to be in good condition.
The babies seemed big enough to join the rest of the fish last weekend, and we
removed the partition. We're hoping there are still 18 of them, but we have yet
to see more than half a dozen at a time since.
Now, the question... Over the last few days, on about 3 different occasions I
noticed that the (still) very pregnant Molly seemed to be oozing something.
whatever it is is perfectly clear, and can be detected only by the tiny air
bubbles that get trapped in it. It is stringy and long, appears to be coming
from the belly area, and judging from the pattern of bubbles looks very slimy in
nature. The Molly is acting perfectly normal, eating and swimming as usual. The
male, which had been busy getting acquainted with the new fish in the tank for
the last two weeks, is back to chasing her around, and she is taking t with her
usual patience. We tested the water and all is fine, the PH and ammonia monitors
register safe levels and none of the other fish are showing any signs of this
thing, whatever it is. The Molly doesn't have this ooze with her all the time,
but since I have seen it a few times this week, and never before, I decided to
investigate. The books we bought are not helpful, and I have not been able to
find anything about this yet - which probably results from the fact that I have
no idea what I'm looking for.
<I'm a bit concerned about you saying the pH and ammonia are at "safe" levels,
because earlier on you've said ammonia was "almost nil". Let's be crystal clear
about this: any ammonia or nitrite other than ZERO is dangerous. Period.
Especially for Mollies. So these are likely stress factors. If the pH isn't at
8.0 and sticking there, the pH variation is another major issue. Either of these
issues could be causing general ill health, and from the sounds of things we're
dealing with that.>
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you will reply that it's something normal,
or at least fairly harmless, but I didn't want to take a chance on losing this
Molly also, not to mention the babies she is carrying.
Thank you for your help,
Hannah
<Hope this helps, and good luck with the babies, Neale.>
Molly Question 03/26/2008
Hi I've got a 160ltr tank which has been going for about 10 months now, it's
got mollies, platys, Endler's and guppies in it. I've had a issue before with
platy's dying from the skinnies, but I've never had a problem with mollies
before until now.
<What's the "Skinnies"?>
I have 6 second generation marble mollies, and over the last few days they have
been feeling poorly with the shimmers and tail fin clamping. Today they seem
much better, they are swimming around happily, eating and I haven't seen a
shimmer in over 24 hours.
<Do check temperature and salinity, both key factors with Mollies. Given you're
keeping all livebearers together, adding salt to this tank is easy and safe. I'd
be going with 6 grammes per litre of water, and use MARINE SALT MIX, not
"aquarium salt". The Mollies will be altogether healthier in every way, and the
other livebearers will appreciate the extra alkalinity. If you have a
hydrometer, what you're aiming for is a specific gravity of SG 1.003.>
However on 3 of them I've noticed what appear to be 2 red spikes coming out of
them. It's not fecael matter, it's different to that, one of them it's coming
from it's anus, but the other two has it coming from higher up their bodies
towards their stomachs. Is this a normal thing? I've never seen it before.
<These are Camallanus worms, seemingly quite common among livebearers in both
the US and UK. So I'm guessing there's an issue here with breeding and
transport. In any case, you need an anti-helminth medication. See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwwormdisfaqs.htm
>
I'm sorry if I'm being really stupid about this, I've have raised them since
birth and I really don't want to lose them now!
<Indeed!>
Any help would be appreciated.
Annabel
<Cheers, Neale.>
Black Molly health
3/14/08
Hi Guys,
I did my research but I need a real opinion.
I have a very pregnant BLACK MOLLY in a 10G nursery tank (large pebble caves,
eco complete & heavily planted with hornwort and Java moss.
<Too small for Mollies. These fish are notoriously sensitive to fluctuations in
water chemistry and quality. In particular, nitrate causes them great harm.
Minimum size for these fish is 20 gallons, and I'd recommend more than that. Do
see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
>
I just noticed last night that she has two tiny white lines (not spots) on one
side and one on the other side. They're still there tonight. It doesn't look
like ich (which I've seen) but I'm concerned they could be parasites. I've see
her flashing against the large pebbles quite a lot in the last hour.
<Difficult to say without a photo, but fungus and Finrot are the two likely
issues. Extremely common when Mollies are kept in freshwater aquaria (as opposed
to brackish and marine aquaria where they are generally very hardy).>
All water tests, ammonia, nitrates, nitrates etc. are perfect. .PH, GH, KH,
everything is exactly how it should be.
<Don't tell me this, tell me the numbers! For example, nitrates must be less
than 20 mg/l, and nitrite and ammonia zero. The pH should be around 8.0,
certainly not less than 7.5. The general hardness needs to be 20 degrees dH and
carbonate hardness at least 7 degrees KH.>
The water is the right temp and is crystal clear ready for the fry. The
substrate has been gravel vac'd twice in the last week and I've been doing 15%
water changes (very carefully so as not to stress her) every day.
<OK.>
I would say she will definitely have the babies within the next 7 days as she is
huge already so I'm very hesitant to put any meds in there unless I have to -
especially as I don't know if meds would
harm the unborn fry or harm them after they are born.
<Cause no harm. Use them.>
But it definitely seems like something is wrong. I have 4 teaspoons of aquarium
salt always in the tank.
<Ah, not nearly enough salt. Use MARINE SALT MIX not rubbish tonic salt (a waste
of money, frankly) at a dose of not less than 6 grammes per litre (0.8 ounces
per US gallon). ONLY marine salt mix raises the carbonate hardness as well as
the salinity. The amount of salt you're adding is trivial and wouldn't make a
blind bit of difference to the healthcare of Mollies.>
I usually get to the bottom of things but I've spent 2 hours Googling and I'm
more confused than I was before.
<There's a lot of contradictory information about Mollies out there. While often
said to be freshwater fish, this is really only true within certain limits. For
consistently good health each and every time you keep Mollies, keeping them in
brackish water is simply much more reliable.>
So I've had to email you guys.
Thanks,
John
<Cheers, Neale.>
Mollie with
red spots around eye and more questions! – 03/10/08
Hi there,
I discovered your website a few nights ago and have read through it
quite a bit. We have a 20 gallon tank with 6 mollies (2 Dalmatian, 2
yellow, 2 black) and 2 red platys, and 1 Pleco. I discovered a little
over a week ago that there were fry in the tank! We have a total of 8,
they are all in a breeder net for now. One of the platys kept going
after the fry so I decided to put them in the net until they got a bit
bigger. Six of the fry look like they could be Dalmatian/white/black
mollies. The other two look to be the red platys. I don't have a clue
which fish had the fry so I don't know if the platys had fry along with
the mollies of if they bred together. I thought they wouldn't breed
together until I read a few things on your site. I also don't have a
clue what any of their sexes are. I've tried to figure it out but it
just doesn't seem distinct enough to me to make a decision.
<Platies (Xiphophorus hybrids) and Mollies (Poecilia hybrids) will not
cross breed. So the Platies are making baby Platies, and the Mollies
baby Mollies. Sexing these fish is easy: the males have a tube-like anal
fin that essentially substitutes as a penis, and is used to inseminate
the females. The females have a plain vanilla triangular anal fin.>
My first concern is for our black mollies. They seem to have ich. They
are small white spots on their body. I purchased Wardens Essentials Ick
Away with malachite green. It seems to be working alright. I noticed,
however, that one of them had spots that looked like rough scratches on
its scales. That one didn't appear to have ich, though. I know I
probably should do a water change. Unfortunately, we have been low on
money lately and haven't been able to buy a siphon to completely clear
out the rocks and everything completely.
<OK, money isn't an issue here. If you don't have a siphon, don't worry.
Any old piece of tubing will do. I use a section cut from a garden hose!
Those fancy siphons sold in pet stores with "vacuum cleaner" attachments
are something I have never used in 25 years of fishkeeping! In smaller
tanks, old 1-litre food cartons of the sort used for ice cream and the
like can also be used to scoop out water. Slow, but it does the job. The
main thing is you do at least a 25% water change per week. Mollies are
super-sensitive to "old" water and will keep getting ill when kept in
dirty tanks. In my opinion (and experience) Mollies are simply easier to
keep in brackish water with around 6-9 grammes of marine salt mix (not
tonic salt) per litre. Please see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
>
My second concern is the two Dalmatian mollies. A few nights ago I
noticed them with their mouths to each others tail, swimming in circles.
They'd occasionally swim away from each other and then go right back at
the circles. I couldn't tell if they were biting each other or not. To
me it almost seemed aggressive. I have never seen them be aggressive
like that so it was new for me. After they stopped one of them stayed in
one part of the tank and would fend off any fish that swam near it. The
other one had a split in its tail. Were they fighting? Mating? And is
there anything I can do for the split tail? So far it looks to be
alright.
<Yes, they're fighting. Your tank is too small for more than one male
Molly.>
And now my last concern. (I think!) One of the yellow mollies is acting
a bit weird tonight. When I fed them they all came right up to the top
of the tank, as usual. Except the one yellow molly. It was at the bottom
of the tank for a bit and then suddenly decided to swim up to eat. A
while later I noticed it seemed to be swimming weird. It was almost like
it was favoring one side and kept its head "leaning" to that side.
Occasionally it'll take off and swim like nothing is wrong. Then it goes
back to favoring the one side. Then I noticed that by one of its eyes it
looks like it has a red "bruise" under the scaled. The other eye looks a
tiny bit red under it. (not the eye itself, but the scales under the
eye) would it have just bumped into rocks or it this something to be
concerned about? I've read a ton of things on your website and don't
know if I'm creating these problems in my head or if something is wrong
with it!!
<Not sure what I'm looking at in your photo. In any case, I'd treat with
combination Finrot/Fungus medication like Maracyn or eSHa 2000
pre-emptively in case there is physical damage here.>
We've had the two yellow mollies and 2 red platys since Feb 4. The other
5 we got a few weeks prior. I checked the levels in the water tonight
and all seemed to be alright. I did it with just a quick strip test kid
(all I have). I also checked the ammonia. It was high on the safe side
so I treated it with some of those ammonia tablets. (again, all I have
on hand)
<Ammonia tablets (whatever they are) aren't the solution here --
filtration is the issue. In a mature aquarium there shouldn't be any
ammonia. And any ammonia above ZERO is dangerous, and likely causing
illness. Reflect on stocking, feeding, filtration and act accordingly.>
The temp is always between 80 and 82. We also have 3 plants in the tank.
One larger one, 2 small ones. Attached is a photo of the tank.
Thank you for your time and help!
-Tara
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Another from me...
I emailed you a little bit ago and have discovered something else with
my yellow molly. (The one who was staying at the bottom, swimming weird,
seemed to lean to one side) It is still staying at the bottom of the
tank. Not really swimming much, just sitting there. Since earlier I have
noticed a white string on one of the fins. (on the side it was leaning
towards) I can't tell if its something attached to the fin, something
growing out of the fin, or part of the fin that has started to fall off.
I want to treat this as soon as possible but I don't have a clue what it
is. I don't want it to spread to my other fish and we don't have
anywhere else to put it.
I was reading through more stuff and noticed people writing about white
or clear feces. I have noticed this a lot with all the fish. They eat
TetraMin tropical crisps and I also put in Aquarian Algae chips. All the
fish feed off of those. I have Hikari "First Bites" food for the fry. I
have learned (from your site) that they need more fiber foods and I do
plan on getting stuff for that. Would the white/clear feces be a food
problem or something worse? And can I use the sea weed pet stores sell
to get them fiber? Also, I have never added salt to the tank. I wasn't
aware of it until I came to your website. I live in Texas and our water
is always "hard", would they still need salt?
Sorry I didn't add this stuff to my previous email! Thank you so much
for your time and help!!
-Tara
<The fin damage is likely Finrot or Fungus, and needs to be treated.
While it won't "spread" to the other fish, if the water conditions are
poor (which they are) the other fish may develop this problem all by
themselves. Seaweed sold in pet stores is a fine food for Mollies,
though Sushi Nori from Asian food stores is usually a lot cheaper. Yes,
salt makes a difference, regardless of the water chemistry. Marine salt
mix does two things -- it moderates the toxicity of nitrate, and it
increases the carbonate hardness -- both things Mollies appreciate. Salt
will be tolerated by Platies but likely not by the catfish, at least not
above SG 1.003. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Another from me... molly
hlth., self-esteem 3/10/08
Hi there,
Thank you so much for all the info! The yellow molly looks to be doing better.
Its fin has some spots where I can tell it has came off but the white stringy
thing on its fin is gone and it is swimming a lot better. No longer hanging out
at the bottom of the tank. I will definitely get some medication for it and keep
a better eye on the water quality. As for the sexing, I've looked at all of them
countless times and they all look the same. Either I'm just not seeing the mail
fin or we have all females and they came pregnant from the store. I'll just have
to sneak up to the tank when they are calm. If they see me they'll all start
swimming like crazy at the top of the tank. I am going to do everything
suggested and hope my lovely fish do alright. Again, thank you for all the
answers!!
-Tara
<Very good. Please keep reading and observing. Mollies are not easy fish and I
never recommend them for inexperienced aquarists. So if you want success, you
have a lot of work ahead of you! Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
 |
Molly issues. Hlth., env.
3/3/08
Hello, and I hope you can help.
I've searched through the archives and I have a problem that seems to be a
combination of things. I had two mollies in my ~7 gallon tank.
<Too small... Mollies are hypersensitive to fluctuating/poor water quality, and
simply don't do well in small tanks. 20-gallons is the minimum. To be honest, a
7-gallon tank isn't much good for anything; even an expert fishkeeper will have
trouble keeping stuff alive in there.>
The first molly has unfortunately passed, probably due to my ignorance (the pet
store
did not inform me of the semi-intense care that mollies require upon my
purchase).
<Not sure "intense" is the word; but yes, Mollies have very specific needs.
Ignore them, and they die. End of story. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Unless you are an expert fishkeeper (and forgive me if you are) then I would
recommend, nay, insist, you keep Mollies in brackish water. They are altogether
hardier under such conditions.>
I am attempting to save the remaining molly, but she is showing some of the same
symptoms as the one that perished. They are both Dalmatian mollies. I did not
have a heater in my tank, so I think the first molly may have gone into shock
which may have depressed his immune system.
<Why no heater? Mollies are tropical fish, and in fact like water a bit on the
warm side; 26-28 C seems to be the optimum, and certainly never less than 25 C.>
The second molly is now hanging out at the bottom of the tank. She seems hungry,
but when she attempts to eat the flakes that I give her it looks like she is
spitting them back out, then hungrily goes to the next flake only to spit it out
again.
<Fish will spit out food if they are not hungry or don't like it. Try something
else. Frozen bloodworms (not freeze dried) and algae-based flake foods are the
staples for these and indeed most other Poecilia. Generic flake foods aren't
really what they want/need.>
I noticed my first molly doing the same thing, but she never did until now. When
she has evacuations (she must be eating something), they are generally long and
occasionally have a long trail of transparent mucous-like substance trailing
them.
<Evacuations? Is that a euphemism for defecation? If what we're talking about is
the faeces are long, stringy and pale, then that doesn't necessarily mean
disaster but it can indicate lack of overall health, constipation, etc. Lots of
people forget Mollies are herbivores and feed them standard tropical flake food.
This is not good for them. They need algae, algae and more algae!>
I tried giving her spinach yesterday because I read on your site that the issue
may be constipation, but she didn't touch it. I don't notice any growth on her
gills, but she is much more lethargic than she used to be. I've only had her for
about two weeks.
<Sounds doomed to me... Unless you're prepared to raise your game here the fish
isn't going to live long.>
I put a pH-balancing tablet and an ammonia-eliminating tablet into the water.
<What on Earth are these items? OK, let's make this crystal clear: there is no
such thing as an ammonia-removing tablet. If they sold you this in the store,
they obviously see you as the perfect customer, i.e., you'll buy anything. What
makes ammonia go away is the biological filter, which you (I hope) have in place
by cycling the aquarium for 4-6 weeks before adding any fish. Or else you took
live media from another tank. But please tell me what you didn't do is stick two
Mollies into a brand new aquarium. If you did, you may as well have stuck your
fish on the barbecue for all the chance they'll have of surviving. Now, the "pH
tablet" is something you should stop playing with. At this stage in your
fishkeeping career you should not even be thinking about changing the pH or
hardness of the water. You first test the pH and hardness of your tap water, and
then you buy fish that will thrive in it. If you have soft water, but want to
keep livebearers, then buy some MARINE salt mix, and add a certain amount (I'd
recommend 6-9 grammes per litre) into each bucket of water added to the tank.
Mollies MUST have hard water, and if you water is soft, adding marine salt mix
will raise that hardness as well as the salinity in a safe, convenient, and
inexpensive way.>
I now have a heater and ensure that the temperature stays around 80 degrees
Fahrenheit.
<Thank the Gods!>
I am trying to grow live plants in the tank. She hovers over the bottom of the
tank and her gills are opening fairly rapidly.
<Dying. This is called "the Shimmies" and indicates when Mollies are being kept
chronically badly.>
Also, I noticed that after a while the rocks in the water start to emit a blue
dye.
<No idea what this is. But GET THOSE DAMN ROCKS OUT NOW! Nothing you put in a
fish tank should do this. ONLY buy aquarium-safe rocks.>
I have cleaned out the rocks thinking that was the problem, but she is still
showing the same symptoms.
<Doubt the rocks are the key thing here, to be honest.>
Could the problem be an internal parasite?
<Nope; bad fishkeeping.>
I was also wondering if she might be pregnant, but I don't know the signs of
pregnancy.
<May well be, but this isn't what's causing the problems.>
Any advice you could give would be helpful!
<Read a book. Please. The only way you could be keeping this fish worse is by
forgetting to put water in the tank. You are doing everything wrong. I really,
REALLY want you to enjoy this hobby, and even more want that poor little fish to
survive. But you MUST raise your game. Short term: stop feeding the fish until
you buy a NITRITE test kit and learn how to use it. Do 50% water changes daily
for as long as you detect nitrite in the water. Add marine salt, not less than 3
g/l. Don't use "tonic salt" or "aquarium salt" or anything like that. You want
the stuff marine fishkeepers use because ONLY that will raise the carbonate
hardness along with the salinity. These perform together to make Mollies happy.
Once you've done that, start saving your pennies for a bigger tank; not less
than 20 gallons.>
Thanks,
Cara
<Good luck, Neale.>
Mollienesia: health, environment
2/19/08
Hi there,
I just found your website and it's amazing. Have bookmarked it for future
reference :)
Just have a small question. I got a new Dalmatian molly today as a present for
my newly cycled tank. I first found you whilst looking up his odd behaviour.
He's been swimming rather strangely -tilted to one side when swimming straight,
when stationary his head will drift slowly upwards and he'll stay like that for
a while before swimming backwards (still with head vertical) and rubbing himself
against other fish. At first I thought it might just be a quirk, but I checked
out nitrite etc just to be sure. They're all fine. I wanted to be sure it wasn't
a swim bladder infection or anything, so I started watching him a bit more
closely. I noticed he's got a small injury just above his mouth on one side, and
it's this side that he rubs against other fish. I'm quite worried he might have
an infection but am not sure how to tell, and if he does whether I should
quarantine him or not. The injury also looks very clean, so there is a chance
that it's slightly older and healing and it's this that's caused his behavioural
change.
Please help!
A very worried Su xx
<The first thing to ask is whether this Molly is being kept in freshwater or
brackish. While these fish *can* be kept in hard, alkaline freshwater
conditions, under aquarium conditions they are much easier to maintain in
brackish water conditions. Around 10% to 25% seawater salinity (around SG
1.002-1.005) is ample. You need to be using marine salt mix, not tonic salt,
when keeping Mollies because it is the extra carbonate hardness as well as the
salinity that helps. De see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Mollies aren't community fish and shouldn't be sold/bought as such. They need
very specific conditions to work well. I have no idea what is precisely wrong
with your Molly, but these "mystery diseases" are all too common when Mollies
are kept in freshwater tanks and in environments with nitrate above 20 mg/l. At
least one problem, known as the "Shimmies", manifests itself as water-treading
behaviour, when the fish seems to rock from side to side. This could very easily
be mistaken for a swim bladder infection. The Shimmies is almost entirely
observed when Mollies are kept too cold, in water without sufficient carbonate
hardness, and/or there's a high concentration of nitrate. The addition of sea
salt to the aquarium is one treatment that helps, provided the fish isn't too
far gone. Cheers, Neale.>
Sick Mollies, Medicated Food, And More - 02/07/2007
Hello crew!
<Hi Mary>
Thank you so much for all of your help when I was setting up me aquariums, we
now have three situations. I am sorry, this is going to be a long one, thanks in
advance for all your help again!
<Don't think I helped you last time, but you're welcome, on behalf of WWM Crew.
I'll try to help you out this time, though..,<
Situation number one: After all that I went through with getting the two kids'
aquariums up and running, it was clear that when we were close to being able to
stock the tanks I wanted to quarantine any new fish first, we had already been
through way too much to endanger our two healthy tanks!
<Excellent decision!>
So I now have 6 new fish in a separate quarantine tank. We have 3 Dalmatian
Mollies and 3 platys in the QT tank. I am doing a 50% water change every morning
to keep the water clean, and all the fish seem to be very healthy.
<Sounds like you are taking very good care of these little guys.>
Except for one thing. The day after we brought them home, one of the platys was
hiding a lot and had stringy white feces. We had experienced this with other
fish from the pet store that eventually died.
<Sounds like this fish had an internal parasite - not uncommon, and just to
note, a great illustration of the importance of a quarantine, as you yourself
know!>
So I treated the water with Jungle parasite fungus clear. I figured in a
quarantine tank we aren’t trying to establish a cycle anyway.
<That's true, but generally speaking, internal parasites respond better to
medicated food, specifically something containing Oxytetracycline. Here's where
I buy mine from (it's hard to find, at least around Chicagoland):
http://flguppiesplus.safeshopper.com/255/cat255.htm?785 >
Within the next day the fish seemed to perk up and now 9 days later they all
seem very perky. Except now 3 of the
fish seem to have stringy white feces. It literally looks like they
swallowed a human hair and are excreting it out, with little spots of feces
stuck on the “hair” along the way. Sometimes it gets to be like twice as long as
the length of the fish! But again, the fish all look really peppy and healthy.
So that’s situation number one. Any thoughts on the feces?
<Do try the medicated food. Sometimes it can be challenging to get fish to eat
it (I'm thinking it probably tastes bad, just like some human meds!), so soaking
it in a couple of drops of Kent's Garlic Xtreme (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5016&Ntt=garlic%20xtreme&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
) can stimulate their interest in the food. That's the best way to combat
internal parasites, in my experience. Should clear the problem right up.>
Should I worry or wait and see how they are doing in a few days? Should I just
treat them to prevent any problems?
<I'd try the food - this isn't a problem that will just "go away".>
Situation number two: My daughter started off her brand new tank with 2 platys
and an algae eater. The first platy died the next day, and the second within 2
days of setting up the tank. They both had red spots on their bodies which we
originally thought were pretty coloring and now I think they were a symptom of
some type of disease.
<Can you describe the "spots" a bit more? How many, how large, etc. What color
are these platys to begin with? My first thought was some sort of ammonia burn,
but I see below that your parameters are good. These "spots" don't move, do
they? My next thought is a parasite, but that's just a guess...>
We got one more platy after the first one died.
The algae eater wedged himself under a decoration on day 4,
with no signs of disease at all, I think he just got stuck. Poor thing!
<Did he perish as well? Some of these store-bought aquarium decorations can
actually be dangerous - I learned that lesson the hard way after one of my
Bettas got stuck inside one, and eventually died from the trauma. Make sure you
inspect everything carefully, just as you would for little children - it seems
as though if the fish can get stuck, they will...>
So now it had been 2 and ½ weeks and we had one fish left alive in the tank.
The tank has fully cycled, with nitrates and nitrites testing at 0 for a total
of 5 days, hardness steady at 75, alkalinity at between 40 and 80 (kH) ppm on my
test strip and PH between 6.8 and 7.2.
<Am I to understand that the tank was cycling with the fish in it? If so, that's
likely what caused the platys to perish, and the red spots were likely burns
from ammonia, as I first suspected. Generally it's best to do a "fishless"
cycle, using a small bit of fish food, and measuring the water's parameters the
same way.
On another note, those "test strips" you refer to are notorious inaccurate -
I'd recommend investing in a quality liquid test kit that contains ammonia,
nitrite, nitrate, and pH tests - I personally like the one made by Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals.>
A lot of algae, so we went to the store and bought an algae eater from the pet
store and put him straight in to the tank. Maybe not the best idea but my
thought was that they eat scum, they must be somewhat more resistant than other
fish. What do you think?
<I think there are better ways to combat algae, like feeing less, reducing the
amount of light on the tank, and increasing water changes. Also, when
phosphates are a problem, it's usually due to elevated phosphate levels - you
may want to invest in a test kit for that as well. If phosphates are your
issue, adding a filter media like PolyFilter (
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4335&Ntt=polyfilter&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
) can help keep the phosphates under control. What sort of "algae eater" did you
get? Is it a common Pleco, or something else? If it's a Pleco, be aware these
grow very large (12-18"). Finally, I don't know of any fish that eats "scum",
as you put it...certain fish eat specific types of algae, but really, water
changes are the best way to combat algae (along with the ideas above).>
So I am wondering, she has three platys in the quarantine area
and we leave for vacation in 10 days. The fish have been in quarantine for 9
days now. When would you advise starting to add the 3 new platys? I know usually
we would wait 21 days and then go one at a time but while we are gone the fish
will not be getting the obsessive attention they have been getting, so I am
trying to weigh the benefits of adding one at a time and waiting a few days
between additions vs. leaving them in quarantine for longer.
<This can be a tough call. Based on my own personal experience of not keeping
livebearers in QT long enough, coupled with the fact that your fish haven't been
entirely healthy during the QT period, I'd leave them where they are. Do you
have someone feeding your fish while you are away, then? I'd suggest making
little baggies of food for each tank, for each feeding, keeping in mind that
less is more, in this situation, since I imagine the kind person watching your
tanks won't be changing water...>
I really would love your advice here!
<I suggest leaving the fish where they are, for the reasons listed above.>
Situation number three: My son started off his brand new tank with 2 mollies and
an algae eater.
<Again, what type of "algae eater"? A Siamese algae eater, Chinese algae eater,
Pleco, etc., etc...>
They were doing great! And then suddenly Bob (male molly) started swimming
upside down (vertical) and losing all sense of direction and balance. He looked
grayish and dull, not shiny and sparkly
like a healthy fish.
<First thing to always check are water parameters...>
I took him out of the tank and treated him for bacterial and parasites, (each
after water changes and a day between) but
Bob died after 3 days.
<Best not to throw all sorts of medication at a fish, as this can cause more
harm than good. It can be hard to diagnose a fish, but that's the best thing to
try and do. First thing, I would have checked the environmental conditions. If
all was well there (no ammonia or nitrites, and nitrates less than 20 ppm), then
I'd start looking at diseases. Based on your description, sounds as though this
may have been Costiasis, a/k/a "skin slime disease". It is not uncommon for this
to be present in fish acquired from local fish stores. It can kill very
quickly. If it were that, I would have treated with Metronidazole. Just
information for the future - not trying to beat you up for the decisions you
made!>
He was such a great fish! We were heart broken.
<I'm sorry.>
But Molly (female) was doing great and appeared pregnant.
<Female livebearers kept in community tanks usually are...>
Molly kept right on doing great for another week and a half or so, but suddenly
yesterday she was not swimming right. She is grey and dull like Bob was, has one
white cloudy eye, and seems to not have her equilibrium under control. She is
not swimming upside down like Bob was but she is not doing well either. And her
feces is stringy and white exactly like the ones in quarantine. The nitrites
were running really high (between 3.0 and 5.0 on my test strip) when this all
started, and the rest of the tank parameters are identical to what is listed
above.
<Again, I suggest getting a more reliable test kit. But, if the nitrites truly
were at between 3 and 5, that's WAY TOO HIGH - they need to be at zero. How
often do you change the water on this tank? The stringy white feces, as
discussed above, sound like internal parasites, for which Oxytetracycline
medicated food is generally a good course of action...>
The one good thing is she is still eating. She is not eating
at all like she normally does but she is trying. She has also gotten thinner and
does not look pregnant at all. I have looked at her with a flashlight and she
does not appear to have ich. First thing I did was a 50% water change.
<Did you re-test the water after that? With nitrites as high as they were, you
need to be sure they were effectively reduced to ZERO.>
Then I treated the water yesterday with Jungle parasite clear, and did a 50%
water change today and tonight I treated in with Jungle fungus clear, which
claims to also cure swim bladder and white cloudy eye. I am treating her in the
regular tank because the quarantine tank is already taken up with the new fish.
(took out the charcoal).
<It is very dangerous to mix medications. I know you were anxious to help, but
in fish illness situations, the best thing to do is step back, try to diagnose
based on all the observable criteria, and treat accordingly. Your description
of Molly doesn't lead me to think fungus is an issue. The white cloudy eye
sounds like pop-eye, a condition caused by poor environmental conditions. Many
times the eye will clear itself up once the environment is improved, but in more
severe cases, Epsom salts are usually a good course of action. Honestly, if it
were me, I'd get the water issues under control ASAP and carefully watch the
fish to see if she improved in a day or two, and I'd feed her medicated
flakes. If no improvement with the swimming in a day or two, then I'd start
entertaining medication. You must be aware that many fish "diseases" are nothing
more than reactions to bad water quality - something that can be fixed through
good husbandry alone!>
Would you advise cleaning everything out and starting from scratch if she dies?
<Actually, I'd advise putting the carbon filter back in place and doing a large
water change - you have too many medications in that tank, which could very well
kill her. Get the water clean, feed the medicated flake, and observe
closely...>
Could this be contaminating our tank now? And of course now we will have to
start the cycle over again, because I’m sure the medication killed everything we
had started.
<Yes and yes.>
So now I’m really not sure what to do with the new mollies that I
have in the quarantine tank, we are leaving town and that tank will not be
cycled. Help!!!
<OK, perhaps you can prepare some water for water changes, and persuade the
tank-sitter to change the water at least once or twice? That would be the best
solution. I would not, under any circumstances, though, move the fish around; at
this point, you'd likely do much more harm than good.>
The algae eater is doing great in the tank and has grown a ton!
<Yes - you need to find out exactly what type of fish this is, as he may
eventually need a larger home!>
Also, do you have any advice on how to buy fish? What to look for etc?
<I like to look at ALL the tanks at the store, as all the freshwater ones are
likely on the same filtration system. Get a sense of how clean the tanks are,
how many dead/dying fish there are (ideally, there shouldn't be any...a classic
sign of a bad fish store is one that lets deceased fish be cannibalized by
others in the tank...), etc. Ask the shopkeeper how long the fish you are
interested in have been there - ask what they are being fed, etc. You can even
ask for the storekeeper to feed the fish in front of you - nothing wrong with
that at all, many folks do it. Of course, you don't want to buy any fish that
looks lethargic, has clamped fins or other signs of disease, etc. Try to find
some pictures (either in books or online) of the fish you're interested in
buying, so that you know what a healthy specimen should look like.>
<Hope I've helped - best of luck, and enjoy your vacation. Jorie>
? sick molly,
2/2/08
Hi,
I have a new tank, a 37 gallon eclipse with a built in Bio-wheel filter and two
power heads, that has been up for 8 days. I've been using the Stress-zyme
bacteria additive to help my tank cycle.
<Mmm, too often this product doesn't work... Do look into a fresh packet of
BioSpira here>
I've also been changing 25% of the water every 2 to 3 days, depending on my work
schedule (I work 12 hour shifts),
<Yikes! Only half time?!>
just because I'm paranoid. The temp is 78 degrees F, the ammonia is 0, nitrates
0, nitrites 0, added 1 tablespoon aquarium salt per 10 gallons, the pH is 6.6
... I don't know how the pH is so low - with my last tank when I lived 6 miles
north of here it was always 8.8 ...
<Yeeikes>
which is why I just used the aquarium salt and not salt water mix. I expected my
pH to be super high already. I am in a different town, so possibly that explains
the difference in pH.
<Mmm, yes... different source>
Fish: 5 female creamsicle mollies, 2 male creamsicle mollies, 4 emerald green
Cory cats, 1 rubber nose Pleco (that's what PetSmart calls it, but it's not the
"real" name - it only gets 4" long).
<These catfishes don't "like" salt/s>
Food: tetra flake, Spirulina flake, algae wafer, flake pellet occasionally for
cats but pig mollies try to eat it too,
<Good for them>
cucumber for Pleco but mollies eat it too, one day had frozen blood worms as
treat. Oh, there is also a "moss ball" that Petco sells that they nibble on.
So, all of the fish but one seem really happy, the cats love the current in the
back of the tank, the mollies love swimming all over.
But, one female molly has been just kind of hanging out in one spot above the
(fake) wood formation. Her fins are not clamped, but her two side ventral fins
are open wide a lot of the time, like she's using them to balance or something
while she hovers in the tank. The males come to check her out, but then leave
without really touching her. Her breathing is a little different than the others
but not exactly harder - but I can see her breathing. Her tail is slightly set
lower than the others, but just barely. She acts uninterested in her
surroundings, while the other fish are looking for things to nibble on and
swimming around having fun. Once in a while she'll swim around, not that much.
When it's time to eat, she suddenly acts 100% normal. After eating, she goes
back to acting different though. She has no discolorations or spots.
This is my son's tank ... and I'm feeling tempted to get another (small) tank
and pop it on his dresser, make it full brackish and pop her in it and see if it
straightens her up.
<A good idea>
If it does, leave her in it, and get her a few more mollies and some bumblebee
goby friends.
<Excellent>
Something is wrong with her, but it's just not obvious what yet ...
I keep waiting for her to spin or shimmy, but haven't seen it yet.
Thanks for any ideas you might have!
Michele
<Good descriptions, bad behavior... Not able to discern anything particular to
react to here. Please (re)read: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Neale's excellent piece, and the linked files above... in the hope that
something/s will come live to your consciousness. Bob Fenner>
Re: ? sick molly 2/3/08
Thank you for your reply! I had already read all of your molly pages ...
I'll keep reading over them and see if I can figure something out.
She's acting more "normal" today than she has, not sure why. Her tail is back up
and she's swimming around a lot more, but the two ventral fins are still down
(none of the other mollies are). Maybe it was something in the water that is not
measured that was bugging her.
<Mmm, possibly. But then why not the other mollies?>
I'll also look for some BioSpira. Oh, do you think adding a canister filter
would be too much, with the eclipse filter/BioWheel combo?
<Not too much. A good idea>
The only reason I'm thinking of it is because I received some visa gift cards
that so far only work at Petco. So, that was one thing I was thinking of
getting.
If I get one, would it be better to get the 40 gallon size, or the next size up?
<Mmm, the bigger the better... and one never knows when a larger system is in
their future...>
There is already quite a bit of movement from the eclipse filter.
Thanks again!
Michele
<Bob Fenner>
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