Crazy Molly

[laadelitadealba]

Ok, I just bought five mollies today from the local petsmart. 2 black, 2 silver and one dalmation. All but one seem to have ajusted well to their new home. One of the male silver mollies keeps hiding behind a live plant i bought. Wedging himself between the plant's pot and the wall of the tank. Not necessarily wedging himself so he can't get out but tight enough so he justs sits there. When he isn't hiding in the corner he is swimming 90 miles an hour in circles, and doing this psychotic jumping thing on the top of the tank. I think he may be stressing out but I don't know how to help him. I'm scared that if I move him to another tank he'll stress out even more, but he seems to be getting picked on by the other silver molly (also a male I think). How can I help the poor guy?

 

[Thirdfloor]

First of all, welcome to the forums, and you have come to the right place.

Sorry to hear you are having issues with your fish. To best help you we need some basic information.

What are the parameters of your water, meaning, what are the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph levels of your water? Im assuming that your tank is cycled and you have a test kit. Any other fish in the tank?

Im sure we will get you straightened out right quick.

 

[laadelitadealba]

Oh god lol. To be honest my boyfriend bought 5 fish (all mollies), two live plants, a castle, TOPFIN tap water dechlorinator, TOPFIN tropical flakes, WARDLEY tropical crumbles, aquarium salt, and a 2.5 gallon tank. He was told by a woman at petsmart that it was all he needed. I read through some of the forum pages and realize I need a larger tank. What else do you recommend besides a kit for testing the water. Also after a little research I found that he bought 3 males and two pregnant females. Should I seperate them or keep them all together.

The water is about 75 degrees is this too cold?

 

[Thirdfloor]

Honestly the best thing to do is to take the fish back to where you bought them right away, or they may all very well die. Then you need to decide if you want several fish or just a couple. a 2.5 gallon tank severely limits your options. if you liked the 5 mollies I would suggest at the absolute minimum, a 10 gallon tank. You should also read some of the pinned topics here for information, especially the ones about Fishless Cycling.

Sorry if that seems abrupt! I did the exact same thing when I started, then the folks on here helped me learn a lot about the hobby. My fish store was kind enough to take the fish I bought back until my tank was properly cycled.

 

[laadelitadealba]

I have a tank in my basement. I believe it's a 25 gallon but I'm not positive. Can I move them into that or do I need to let the water sit for 24 hrs. He thought he was buying something like fancy little goldfish, and the people at petsmart were extremely misleading in that aspect.

 

[Thirdfloor]

The issue is that you need to establish a bacteria colony in your aquarium filter in order to give the fish a safe non-toxic home, this process can take a few weeks. If you want to use the 25 gallon tank, thats great! make sure you have a filter system that is designed for that size of tank. You bought tap water dechlorinator which will do just fine for your tap water, no need to let it sit out for 24 hours, that is just an alternative to rid tap water of chlorine.

Your best course of action is to get the fish back to a safe tank (either the store or a friend with a mature tank that can babysit). then get whichever tank you want to use set up with an appropriate filter, you can keep your plants in. get it filled with dechlorinated water and start it running with no fish. in the meantime read up on the methods for doing a fishless cycle to get the bacteria going in your filter. you will also need a decent master test kit that tests ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH. Dont waste money on paper test strips, they dont work, get a drip test kit. Dont wate money on any products that supposedly kick start your bacteria, they dont work.

Hope this is helpful, keep going with any questions you may have!

 

[laadelitadealba]

Thank you sooo much. I'll plan on bringing the fish to the store tomorrow, in the mean time any ideas about this silver molly that is flipping out? Or do you think he'll be ok where he is for the next 12 hrs?

 

[Thirdfloor]

It's really hard to say, there are many many reasons that he could be in distress. Most likely its unfavorable water conditions. I hope he makes it to the morning

 

[laadelitadealba]

If it's water conditions wouldn't the others be acting similarly? I hope he makes it till morning too.

 

[Thirdfloor]

That particualr fish may be more sensitive, again, its just too hard to say without knowing more.

 

[laadelitadealba]

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Thirdfloor]

My pleasure! Stick around and keep us posted on your progress, you will see folks even post pictures. I'm sure you will have many questions as you go, and the folks on here are friendly and good at giving reliable advice.