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>