Overfeeding   3/4/11
Hello:
I have a 30 gallon tank with only three regular black mollies that are male. They are the size of male Platies.
<Some of the fancy varieties never get very big, it seems.>
I do a 1/3 water change once a week, but this morning I had to do about an 80% water change. I found about 30 of those string like white worms that are about an inch long, the harmless nematodes.
<On the bottom of the tank?>
I make sure the gravel is thinly spread so I can get most crappy stuff with the gravel vac. A lot builds up over the week.
<Yes.>
I feed the mollies about five or six crisps twice a day, but it still seems like a lot. Would it be ok to just feed them the same once a day instead of twice a day to reduce the junk on the bottom?
<Yes, feed once per day, and instead offer more fresh green foods: cucumber, blanched lettuce, cooked spinach, Sushi Nori, and of course actual real, live green algae if you place a rock under intense lighting in
the tank (2 watts/gallon is about right for good growth of green algae, as opposed to the inedible diatoms, brush and hair algae). Fresh greens contain little protein and so there's much less waste for scavenging worms to eat. Do also get in the habit of cleaning your tank more often, in particular, make sure you have adequate filtration so solid waste gets into the filter, not the gravel.>
Also is it ok to keep Danios with Platies??
<Yes, they both like quite cool water, cooler than fancy Mollies for example. So if you have the tank at 22-25 C/72-77 F, you should find both Danios and Platies live long and happy lives. Corydoras and Neons also appreciate cool conditions like these, too. Of course, Platies do need hard water, so if you have soft water, while Danios will thrive in that, the Platies will always be sickly.>
Thank you!!
<Cheers, Neale.>

Black Molly Not Eating.
Alright, my fish experience started with a two gallon tank and one Mickey Mouse Platy,
<Insanely small tank. Platies need at least 15 gallons.>
and about a month later I added a female Black Molly.
<Doomed.>
When the Platy stopped eating, I bought a 5 gallon tank and moved the two over.
<Good money after bad. Please read a book on fishkeeping. Also read here at WWM on what size tank particular fish need.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/stocking.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestk.htm
As one aquarist said, a 2-gallon tank isn't an aquarium, its a vase, so get some cut flowers. Five gallons is only suitable for a single male Betta, assuming the tank was heated and filtered. For Platies you need 15 gallons, and Mollies not less than 20 gallons. The two species have different requirements in terms of water temperature and salinity, so they can't be kept in the same aquarium.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/poeciliids.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/platies.htm
Mollies need very warm water, usually with a bit of marine salt mix added;
Platies need cooler conditions and don't really like salt, though they'll tolerate a little.>
Within the next day the Platy was better, and for several weeks they seemed happier.
<A temporary improvement, at best.>
But for the past 2 to 3 days my Molly has hidden herself in the darkest corner of the tank and would not come up for food.
<Dying.>
Also she's a usually skittish fish, whenever I would approach the tank she'd move, but recently she would just stay at the bottom.
<Stressed.>
Today, I moved her to the two gallon tank just in case she has some disease, (I don't want the Platy to get infected) and she seems to feel better, but she is still not eating.
<I bet.>
The gH, kH, pH, NO3, and NO2 are all at decent levels--in both tanks, and both have the ideal amount of salt...so was this just a false alarm?
-JJ
<No, not a false alarm at all. You're creating death traps for fish by sticking with these ridiculously small tanks totally unsuited to fishkeeping. If you can't keep fish properly, don't keep them. I know you want me to give you a list of things that will help, but that's a total waste of my time if you won't upgrade the aquarium. In tanks as small as these, both these fish are doomed, and they're doomed because you're
killing them. Maybe not quickly, but you certainly are creating conditions that will lead to their imminent demise. Your move. Cheers, Neale.>

Missing Molly and long string like stuff   1/23/10
Hi,
I got an Aquarium for Christmas and finally got my mollies in last Sunday I had 5, they all doing well until the other day I work up to find a baby fry, I managed to save him and another they are now in my 'baby box' breeder box.
<Do be careful with these breeder boxes. They aren't terribly useful. By all means confine fry to them for a couple of weeks, but you WILL need to set the fry loose after then. Add lots of floating plants to the aquarium, and you'll find your fry doing well with minimal intervention on your part. Indian fern is ideal.>
However mummy fish was no where to be seen, I took out all my caves, etc., checked through my filter leaving juts the gravel my fish and fry box in the tank, still she is no where to be seen, Where has she gone?
<Jumped out, probably. Mollies are active fish that need a big aquarium, at least 20 gallons, and realistically 30+ gallons. Males are pretty nasty to the females, and an exasperated female who feels trapped in a small tank may well jump out, hoping to land somewhere better.>
I have now checked my other mollies sex and it appears I have three female and one male, two of the females are big and rounded but one also has this long pale line hanging out of her bottom constantly? what could this be?
<Faeces. Mollies are herbivores, and their diet should be predominantly based on algae and things liked cooked peas, sliced cucumber, blanched lettuce, and Sushi Nori. If you feed them regular foods too often, constipation is probable.>
I am taking the advice I have already read on your site about the floating plants and leaving the mums to be out of the breeding box I'm just puzzled by my two questions.
thanks
<Do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Most Molly problems come down to the wrong water chemistry, lack of space, lack of brackish water conditions, and the wrong diet. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Missing Molly and long string like stuff
Hi, Thanks for your information, I just have one query my tank has a lid so where has she gone? is it possible she died after birth and they ate her?
<Yes, but unless she was very small, some bones and perhaps the skull should visible. Look carefully for white pulpy masses: these can be fish corpses.>
I have no other conclusion for it, except perhaps she went to Narnia lol.
<So check the wardrobe in the spare bedroom... Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Missing Molly and long string like stuff   1/23/10
Hi,
Thanks for your help I will have a look around and in the wardrobe! :)
<Good oh!>
what peas can I feed them frozen or can? cooked or raw? sorry I'm new this to all this.
<Squished cooked peas, whether cooked or freshly boiled are fine. If you eat peas once a week, save a couple from the saucepan, squish the "meat" out of the "skin", and let the Mollies nibble on these. Since they're non-polluting, you can leave them in the tank for as long as you want. Don't add any flake on that day though, so that they eat their greens!
Sliced cucumber is usually popular too, and a lettuce leaf blitzed in the microwave until it goes limp (5 seconds, maybe) is another good source of greens. Feel free to experiment, really. Anything green without a peppery or mustardy flavour should be safe. It'll either be eaten or ignored.
Melon, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, courgette... all these have been used to feed herbivorous fish, and more besides. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Missing Molly and long string like stuff 1/23/10
Hi, I have boiled some broccoli just waiting for it to cool down and I will mash it up into little bits and see, is that okay?
<Sure. Just add a tiny bit, maybe 1 cm cubed. Too much will simply make a mess.>
I am feeding my fry Liquifry but if I mash the broccoli up really really small could they have a bit?.
<Yes. They might not eat it, but it's safe to try.>
I have also checked everywhere for bones etc and have found none although there have been a few little white specks floating around like white dust I guess she will have to remain a mystery. Thanks for all your help on trying
to find her though.
Emma
<Happy to help; good luck! Neale>

Molly not eating   9/2/06 Hi Gang, <<Hi, May. Tom>> First of all, I want to thank all of you for the great advice you offer all of us. <<Thanks, May. Very kind of you to say.>> I've been reading your faq's for molly diseases, but I can't seem to find anything that relates to my situation. I have a balloon molly in a 5 gallon tank. <<Five gallons is too small for this fish, May. A more appropriate size would be 20-30 gallons. This is more an issue of the stability of the environment than the animal's adult size though this is certainly a secondary consideration.>> I've had it for over 6 months, and it has been pretty healthy, always responsive when it sees me and devouring its food. About 2 1/2 weeks ago, it stopped being responsive and I don't see it eating any of its food. It sits at the bottom of the tank, and doesn't move. The only thing I see moving are its gills. I've looked for signs of disease, but I can't find any other than it's not active and not eating. The only thing I can think of is dropsy, but its scales aren't pine-cone-like. Does this have to be obvious? Or just look bloated? <<Since all problems generally have their "infant" stages, Dropsy can't be dismissed out of hand but the question is the source of the problem since Dropsy is not, in itself, a disease but, rather, the manifestation of internal problems.>> I hadn't worried about the molly too much because it seemed otherwise healthy, and I believed that perhaps it was picking at its plant when I wasn't around. But, I just added 2 bumblebee gobies to the tank. I know that they are brackish and have been slowly acclimating my freshwater tank to 1.005 specific gravity. I'm still not done acclimating. I'm worried this will only stress my molly out some more even though mollies thrive in brackish water. <<I hate to "ping" on the tank size, May, but a small tank is very difficult to keep stable. Your Bumblebee Gobies, odd as this sounds, also need a larger tank as these are tough fish to keep alive due to their need for very clean and very specific conditions. A very hard thing to do with a five-gallon tank. As for the "acclimation" of these, remember that you're not "transitioning" your fish. Your Gobies definitely need brackish conditions and your Molly will benefit from the change, as well. By way of explanation, we typically (blindly?) accept that different fish prefer/need different amounts of salt in their water and that's that. End of story? Well, not really. In exceedingly simple, and non-scientific, terms salt contributes to raise the specific gravity of water. That is, saltwater is more dense than pure water. When the hobbyist measures "salinity" with a hydrometer, they're actually measuring specific gravity. For our purposes, this works just fine. What does this have to do with our fish? The body fluids of our fish are in a non-equilibrium state with the water they live in where specific gravity is concerned. Nature doesn't like this and tries to rectify the "discrepancy" by osmotic action through the fish's body. With saltwater/ marine fish the fish's fluids (relatively low specific gravity) are diffused outwardly into the water they live in (relatively high specific gravity). With FW fish, this action is in reverse with the fish "absorbing" water from their environment. (Explains why FW fish don't "drink" water while SW fish do.) Now, this isn't a "learned" body response on the part of our fish. They're physiologically disposed to being in a rather specific environment. Put one in an environment that is "at odds" with the fish's natural body function and you've got a very dismal, if not deceased, fish on your hands. Specific to your Molly, we might hypothesize that the "bloating" you observe is a build-up of fluids in the fish's body that want to get out and can't. (Sorry for the "editorial" but I find it to be a pretty interesting phenomenon.)>> I don't know what to do because I can't figure out the problem. Should I be adding anything to the tank? Does this sound like any disease? I have Maracyn II that I've used to treat betas in the past, but I don't know if this can be added to brackish water or if it'll negatively affect the gobies. In addition, I don't want to add medication without knowing more or less the problem. I'm at my wit's end and I don't know what to do. <<I appreciate your thinking on not medicating without more specifics, May. Based on the information you've provided, I don't think it would be responsible at this time. I would look into getting the salinity in the tank up to par and also look into larger quarters for your pets. In my opinion, stability is going to be the key to success or failure here.>> I appreciate your help. Thanx! -May <<Again, I apologize for the lengthy response, May, and hope everything goes well for your Molly and Gobies, alike. Best regards. Tom>>

Lyretail mollies, fdg.   8/1/06 Hi, <Hello> I have had my first tank for around 3 months (so am fairly new to fish keeping) but am having a problem with one of my mollies. At the moment, I have two of them but one of them seems to have a blown up belly and am unsure whether it is pregnant or ill. <Likely the former... could even be "just fat"> If it is constipation it could be suffering from, what could I feed it to help it. At the moment, I just feed it flake food. <More greens... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollyfdgfaqs.htm> I have a fairly large tank with the following fish 2 x silver angels 3 x Bala sharks 1 x red tail shark 6 x yellow barbs 1 x Pleco 2 x dwarf Gouramis 1 x blue Gourami <The Minnow Sharks may cause behavioral troubles in time... read re Compatibility on WWM> Your help would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Raj <Bob Fenner>

Mollies, fdg.   4/18/06 Hey i am doing a science fair project and i was wondering what are the normal feeding behaviors of mollies?  I have 2 breeding pairs in a 10 gallon tank separated from each the other pair and i am comparing the pairs and just wanted some info on what i should look for in their behaviors. Thanks, Liz <Pretty much hunt for and peck at live foods, principally greenery (algae and plants) all the daylight hours. Bob Fenner>
Re: Mollies feeding time science project - 04/19/06 Thanks so much for your help!!! <Happy to do so, Liz. Tom with you this time.> I have one more question... <C'mon! No one, including me, has only "one more question"... :)> When feeding, do the males or females act dominant and, who gets to eat first? <Good questions with a, seemingly, silly answer to both. The one who's the fastest, and/or hungriest, will eat first. Seriously, the males are very "assertive" when it comes to pursuing the females and this might be viewed as "dominance". Generally, though, males will only establish dominance with other males. Given that female Mollies are perpetually pregnant, it's likely that the male will "appear" to be dominating the "dinner table" when, in fact, the female is just a little slower making her way to the food. Pretty hard to qualify that there's a specific hierarchy here given the biological factors involved. (Toss in some dill pickles and ice cream - or, in my wife's case, peanut butter (which I never understood) - and it might be a different story! :))> Liz <Tom>

Baby Guppies, Hungry Mollies - 04/05/2006 Hi!  First of all, I would like to say what a great site this is for about everything I need!   <Thank you very much for these kind words.> I'm a starting aquarist with a non-planted, 20-gallon tank.  I bought 4 Dalmatian Mollies and 2 Female Guppies to start with, since I thought they appeared to be pretty sturdy, yet aesthetically pleasing fish.  I later found out that both of my guppies were pregnant, and both gave birth not long after.   <Not surprising!> My parents, being aquarium veterans, went out immediately to purchase a net breeder for my 25 guppy fry.  They've grown to about double their original length, and I know that they should probably do well in the tank with the now 7 Dalmatian Mollies, but I have conducted a couple experiments to test my theory, using some of my more agile fry.  Each time the mollies see my fry they try to eat them!! <They're tasty.  If they're small enough to eat, they'll be gone after greedily unless the tank has ample cover for the fry.  Might want to start thinking about plants.> The whole group is getting a little too large for the tiny breeder, and I'm beginning to worry that I may end up with 25 full-grown guppies in a breeder.  Their mothers are now dead (ammonia spike X( ), though I did buy 2 male guppies recently.  The males and the mollies get along splendidly, but I need to know if I can safely release my little babies!    <I would add a hearty amount of java moss to cover a good portion of the tank, maybe some floating, fine-leaved plants like Riccia - if there is ample cover for them, many of them will survive without ever having to use a breeder net.  Some might get picked off, but more than likely you'll have a good number survive, again IF there is ample cover for them.> (P.S.  I'm in the process of acquiring a couple more fish.  Any suggestions?) <I'd hold off on any additions unless/until you figure out what you wish to do with your overage of growing fry.  Aside from that, Corydoras catfish or smaller/less aggressive Botia (like B. striata) would be great additions for activity, personality, and janitorial duties.> Thanks! <Good luck with your fry, I'm sure there will be many more in your future!  -Sabrina>
Baby Guppies, Hungry Mollies - II - 04/06/2006 Sabrina, <Thass me!> My babies are doing very well!   <Ah, good.> I followed your suggestion, and purchased a veritable forest of kelp-like artificial plants (I have an under-gravel filter, so I wasn't keen on buying real plants).   <Ahh, I see.  Java moss and Riccia both will still fare quite well.  Riccia will float, and java moss will grow pretty much anywhere.  Neither of these are rooted plants.  I still highly recommend them.> The new setup works very well for my male guppies, but I don't believe that my babies are grasping the concept of "hiding".   <They'll probably hide a bit better if they have something floating at the surface.  Or it might be that they're big/confidant enough not to feel they need to hide.> Along with the aforementioned plants, I already had 3 glow-in-the-dark plants, one squat, wide-leafed plant, and a rock cave.  My mollies seem to have deemed the rocks as their own, and my male guppies have claimed the kelp forest, giving my aquarium the eerie look of an impending battlefield.   <Heh!  Neat!> My fry wander about the aquarium, and are a bit safer now that only two female mollies and one male remain (the others have been relocated to a smaller, more comfortable home).  One peculiar thing that I have noticed is that today, most of my fry have grown substantially darker.  I haven't changed their diet at all, and it seems to have happened over night.  Is this anything that I should worry about? <Probably not.  This is probably a response to their (more adequate) environment, and perhaps testament to their reduced stress.  I am not a fan of those hanging boxes; a dedicated tank or a heavily planted tank are my preference.  Seems the fry tend to prosper much better in these circumstances.> Thanks! <Glad to be of service!> Bonecutter <Yikes!> (P.S. That IS my real surname!) <Wow.  Reminds me of a doctor of medicine I knew whose surname was "Bonebreak".  All the best to you,  -Sabrina>

Gotta leave unexpectedly, have brand new fry  - 2/21/2006 My silver lyre tail molly released 52 babies yesterday. (WOW!) My husband called to tell me we have to leave town for a week. At least 5 days. Is there anything I can do to keep the fry fed? <Mmm, could use a "feeding block" (commercial product), automatic (battery operated) feeder), risk just leaving a chunk of par-boiled/microwaved vegetable in place...> I live in a rural town without a pet store for 80 miles. A while back I bought a 10 day vacation feeder, just in case. Will the fry nibble on this?? <Yes> I have flake food and frozen blood worms on hand. My 55 gallon tank consists of 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Swordtail, 6 Rasbora, 1 dragon fish, <This may suffer, or eat other fishes> 1 pleco, 2 silver lyre tails, and 1 Dalmatian molly. A week ago I took out the live plants and replaced them with plastic. (They were just so messy, will try potted plants next time...) <Live plants would really help here> It has been running for 3 months. The PH is at an 8 (I believe this is too high for these fish...) but everything else is where it should be. Also, the new mom has a reddish patch on the side of her abdomen. Is that normal? <Not atypical> She is swimming around and eating fine. Well, now that I look at her she is at the top of the tank sucking air... Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you, Ryann <Bob Fenner>

Thinning mollies  02-05-06 Dear WWM, <Deb> I have been noticing a strange occurrence in my 20 gallon tank. I have mainly sailfin mollies, a platy, a few tetras and a couple of horse head loaches. <The mollies are mis-mixed here. They are brackish water animals...> When I buy mollies, they appear to be healthy. After some time, they begin to completely thin out in the belly until they eventually die. This process tends to take about 4 to 6 months. What on earth am I doing wrong? <Putting them in with animals of a dissimilar water quality/nature> I feed them flakes and I add one tbsp of salt per 5 gallons of water. <Oh!> I don't know what is causing them to fade away into nothing. They never appear to have any visible problems or diseases. Please help. Thanks, Deborah Ward <Could be just the initial health of the livestock... but I suspect that the water is not "salty enough" (see WWM, fishbase.org re)... and your other listed livestock don't "like" this much salt... Bob Fenner>

Feeding Molly Fry - 11/03/2005 Can I feed baby mollies finely crushed sun dried blood worms or baby brine shrimp? <Sure. Crushed flakes are generally accepted, as well. -Sabrina>

Black molly having trouble eating  8/26/05 Reading other people's experiences, we seem to have been lucky so far with our molly.  We have had him since January and he has always been a good eater.  He used to swim around and suck up the food like a vacuum.  Lately, though, it seems as though he can't get the food in his mouth without a struggle, and when he does he often spits it out several times before finally swallowing it.  He often chases pieces around the tank and then just gives up.  Sometimes he will even jerk away quickly and swim to the bottom, like something has startled him.  I have tried making the pieces small but it doesn't seem to help.  I bought a feeding ring hoping that would keep the food in once place and help him get it, but it just seemed to confuse him.   Anything we can do?  Is there a type of food that he can eat off the bottom of the tank? Thanks in advance. <Mmm, is this fish in hard, alkaline water? Perhaps with some salt in it? How old is the fish... estimated... they only live a few years... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollyfdgfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Re: Black molly having trouble eating Hi, Sorry for the delay.... PetSmart tested some of my tank water and the woman said that the water is not in good condition as far as nitrates, etc.  She also said the alkaline level is too low.  She suggested that I clean the gravel because there is probably too much food waste, which would make sense because Fitch isn't eating (I bought some frozen brine shrimp to try to entice him).  She said that with only two fish (other fish is a Cory catfish), I should use one cube a day and feed no other type of food. Does that sound right? <No... sounds like way too much... a few defrosted shrimp each will do... along with some algae/plant based food as well> How would you recommend raising the alkaline level? <Depending on the cause... simple sodium bicarbonate... baking soda... this is covered on WWM> I will look on the website for more info as well.  As for his age, I would guess maybe 1 1/2 years? Hard to tell of course; we got him back in January. Thanks, Stephanie <Keep studying. Bob Fenner>

Molly food i am sorry it took so long to answer but i was on vacation.  i have mollies. i was wondering what could i give my fish as a snack. I seen other fish stores have pieces of fruit in the tank. Could i give them this? >> Mollies eat a lot of algae in nature, so you could try a crushed frozen pea (if they do not eat it remove leftovers from the tank!). They will surely enjoy commercially available frozen foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and glass worm. You can also hatch your own baby brine shrimp and feed the mollies with the live nauplii of the brine shrimp, this is very easy and will be much appreciated by your fish. You can get eggs and instructions at most better pet stores. Bon Apetit! Oliver   M Hi Crew! I have a 12-gallon tank with four mollies and a Betta. Up till recently, I have had to clean the algae off of the decorations in the tank periodically to keep it looking clean.  The mollies nibbled at the algae but weren't very effective.  Then, recently (as in within the past 3 weeks) I stopped having to clean the algae off at all because they have been chowing down on it! <Well, it's nice your maid service has finally started working!> Is it ok for my mollies to eat so much algae? <They know what's good for them.> They still eat the same amount of flakes and bloodworms that I have been feeding them, only now they are also eating tons of algae so their little bellies look round. <Your fish sound nice & healthy!> Does this mean their food was lacking in something, or that I wasn't feeding them enough, or just that they like algae? (They just needed some veggies.> Thanks for helping me! <You're welcome--Pufferpunk>