Arghhhh! I Just Found Molly Fry In My Son's Tank!

Man of fish · Dec 29, 2011

If they've got a male and a female I'll get them otherwise I'll just get a male. I'm not sure which to get. I guess I'll see which one looks the best and nicest.

eaglesaquarium · Dec 29, 2011

Ruskull · Dec 29, 2011

Man of fish said:
If they've got a male and a female I'll get them otherwise I'll just get a male. I'm not sure which to get. I guess I'll see which one looks the best and nicest.

Make sure none of the fish in the tank look lethargic. Then pick the dominant one if you can. My Flame male was perfect when I bought him though so that's not a guarantee either. The symptoms for him appeared as a bacterial infection that made him clamp one of his fins to his side. Eventually the fin looked better but it had red lines in it, which is usually a sign of a bacterial infection. Then that side of his body seemed to turn color and die, while the other side looked perfect. He died a couple of days later.

The females also looked like parts of their body died, but it was less noticeable. One showed sign of "whirling disease" where they can't seem to stay upright and they shoot across the tank trying to correct this. That symptom is usually related to a swim bladder problem but it's also a sign of DGD according to various sources on the internet. Keep in mind that no other fish in the tank showed these symptoms and still haven't to this day.

Man of fish said:
My walmart doesn't sell fish.

Good. They don't take very good care of them anyway. You're better off ordering them online or from your local fish store.

Get the male first and then maybe introduce a couple of special order females for him. It's probably best to introduce the females at the same time so any aggressive attention the male shows is spread out between the (2) females.

XeroTolerance · Dec 29, 2011

I agree with Ruskull, buy them online or from your LFS. I don't buy my fish online only because its way to expensive for just a few fish I could buy from my LFS for only $5. The shipping methods for online stores are no problem. They use all of these insulation things to keep the water warm and clean.

Man of fish · Dec 29, 2011

Xero I'd advise you delete your first sentence because the mods could lock the topic for "naming and shaming a big chain"

eaglesaquarium · Dec 29, 2011

Unfortunately, it is a true statement, but you are correct about how it does affect the board.

Ruskull · Dec 29, 2011

Man of fish said:
Xero I'd advise you delete your first sentence because the mods could lock the topic for "naming and shaming a big chain"

Let me also add that I bought (3) fancy guppies from Walmart that are beautiful and they're thriving!!! All three are the most active & healthy looking fish in my son's tank. They are probably very rare colors too since I haven't seen anything quite like them at any other fish store including the PetCos & PetSmarts.