Poor Mollie being eaten

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Ksven

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i have a Dalmatian mollie who this morning I doscovered is being eaten by the other fish :( Iā€™ve had this tank 4.5 months and never had any issues.
Tank mates 6 tiger barbs
1 baby parrot
4 black fin tetra
1 normal pleco
1 other Dalmatian Mollie

Ammonia 0
P.H 7.4
Trites 0
Trates 160 (I will be doing a water change today)

I feed on odd numbered days which I started doing about two weeks ago from recommendations. I removed both mollies and put them in my neon tetra tank. She is t going to make it but Iā€™m putting her somewhere peaceful. I noticed the black mollies fins have been nipped too. HELP :ā€™(
 
Mollies need different water to the other fishes you have so this might be a blessing in disguise.
Livebearers like mollies need water with a general hardness (GH) above 250ppm and a pH above 7.0. The other fishes you have come from soft water with a GH less than 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

If you have 2 tanks perhaps set one up with hard water for mollies and the other can have soft water for the tetras and barbs.

If you feed them more often they will be less likely to eat each other. In an aquarium with an established biological filter, you can feed the fish 2-3 times per day. You need to monitor water quality for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate but there shouldn't be any issues with ammonia or nitrite. And nitrates can be reduced by doing 75% water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate. Try to keep nitrates under 20ppm.

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If you want to add something to help you can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

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If the fish gets white fluffy bits on the damaged areas or looks sick and stops feeding, post a picture of it asap and we can look into other things. But if the fish is in clean water then its fins should heal up without any need for medication.
 
Thank you. I feel so guilty :( Heā€™s definitely found his new home in the other tank. Iā€™m going to do a water change today on both since theyā€™re do and Iā€™ll make sure
To increase their feeding!!
 
The Tiger Barbs (and possibly the Black Tetras as I am not certain what species this common name refers to) are most likely the culprits. They are in too small a group of the species to hopefully curtail their natural tendency to nip other fish or themselves. Just so you know. The other molly is likely going to be targeted now. And other fish could be too, the parrot seems likely.
 
I moved the other molly to a 10 gal tank with neon tetras and 1 Betta. The parrot, tigers, and tetras were all nipping at the dead mollie. So far the parrot seems to be holding its own but Iā€™m going to keep an eye out. Heā€™s planned to move to my bfs bigger tank anyways once he outgrows mine but may be sooner than later. Thanks!
 
I moved the other molly to a 10 gal tank with neon tetras and 1 Betta. The parrot, tigers, and tetras were all nipping at the dead mollie. So far the parrot seems to be holding its own but Iā€™m going to keep an eye out. Heā€™s planned to move to my bfs bigger tank anyways once he outgrows mine but may be sooner than later. Thanks!

Many fish will eat a dead fish. The thing to watch for is aggressive tendencies (from just "looks" to actual physical interaction) from the TB and others to any other fish in the tank.

Betta (assuming a male) and Neon Tetra is a bad combo, I have seen Betta easily eat, or attempt to eat, neons.
 
If the time comes Iā€™ll remove the Betta but theyā€™ve been living fine for about 5 months now.
 
If the time comes Iā€™ll remove the Betta but theyā€™ve been living fine for about 5 months now.

This can change,literally overnight, as several other members can tell you. What is programmed into the species' DNA is not going to get changed by our intentions, and individual fish can behave outside the normal expected behaviour. But fine, I noticed a problem and mentioned it, end of that.
 
No problem. Also Iā€™ve heard/read many sources that neon tetras are a fine tank mate due to Theyā€™re quick enough to keep safe and stay lower than the betta. If anything Iā€™ve been cautioned the contrary that tetras can actually nip the betta. Also like I said theyā€™ve been fine thus far they keep away from each other and minds their own
 
Also I check my fish daily so like I said if the time comes Iā€™ll take care of it like I did with removing the mollies today
 
Also Iā€™ve heard/read many sources that neon tetras are a fine tank mate due to Theyā€™re quick enough to keep safe and stay lower than the betta.

This is false information, whomever may be giving it. Even if no physical interaction is seen, the fish can still be threatening one another. Fish use chemical signals called pheromones and allomones, and these can cause serious stress to other fish that increases over time until something snaps. Normal fish behaviour is well documented, and I simply accept it. All sorts of factors can affect how fish react to this and that, but the inherent trait in the DNA is not going to change.
 
Iā€™m confused as how so many educated resources could be incorrect but like I said theyā€™re fine now so thatā€™s that
 
Iā€™m confused as how so many educated resources could be incorrect but like I said theyā€™re fine now so thatā€™s that

"Educated sources" requires defining. I can assure you there are no knowledgeable ichthyologists or biologists who would recommend Betta in community tanks. Anyone can start a website and claim to be "expert," but I always check their credentials. :fish:

The blue citation in my signature is good advice.
 
Male Bettas are solitary fish and best kept that way they do not need or want tank mates.

"Educated sources"
Just because its on the internet don't mean its true, I can point you to a member on this site writing a book about Mollies and so far almost all the info the member provided as an outline to the book is wrong.
 

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