Hello. I have decided to join this forum a few moments ago, as I'm seeking assistance with one of my mollies. I have a ten gallon aquarium with one gold mickey mouse platy (male, I believe), two albino cory catfish (one rather small, the other about two inches long), and two dalmatian mollies (both female, one lyretail). I do a ten percent water change weekly, using stress coat (or something. It's by API) which also conditions my water. Just before I purchased the small catfish and my anorexic molly, I had my water tested. Unfortunately, I'm out of test strips, so I can not list the exact parameters. However, my ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite were all at the minimum. Chlorine and pH were fine. My water was in between soft and hard, I think.
I don't believe my issue has anything to do with the quality of the water, though, seeing as one molly, the platy, and both of the catfish (as well as my fifteen or so ghost shrimp) are active and eating well. It is the new molly who is lethargic and very skinny. I purchased her and the small catfish two days ago. When I got her, I noticed she looked a little thin, but I thought perhaps this was just from being in a stressed tank. I floated her and the catfish for about thirty minutes, poured the water from the bag into my critter keeper, added some tank water, and then introduced the new fish into the tank after letting them adjust to my water.
Now it has been forty-eight hours, and I'm rather concerned about her. The new catfish is playful and enjoying his new home. He has gotten used to his tank mates and eats well enough. The original molly does not acknowledge the new molly, and continues to chase the platy. The new molly rests at a low level in the tank, about one-third from my substrate, and is very still. Yesterday I saw a few of my shrimp eating off her tail, which would have been the culprit for her lethargy if it were not for the fact that she was acting like this as soon as I introduced her. Sometimes she goes to the very top of the water and floats there for a while. She's very slow in her movements and keeps her fins close to her body, but not quite clamped. She's as long as my established molly at close to three inches, but her body looks emaciated.
Is there anything I can do to get her to eat? Should I just give up on her and return her to the store alive? Or, and I hesitate to do this, should I kill her, as I'm worried she won't last the week without any assistance on my part?
I don't believe my issue has anything to do with the quality of the water, though, seeing as one molly, the platy, and both of the catfish (as well as my fifteen or so ghost shrimp) are active and eating well. It is the new molly who is lethargic and very skinny. I purchased her and the small catfish two days ago. When I got her, I noticed she looked a little thin, but I thought perhaps this was just from being in a stressed tank. I floated her and the catfish for about thirty minutes, poured the water from the bag into my critter keeper, added some tank water, and then introduced the new fish into the tank after letting them adjust to my water.
Now it has been forty-eight hours, and I'm rather concerned about her. The new catfish is playful and enjoying his new home. He has gotten used to his tank mates and eats well enough. The original molly does not acknowledge the new molly, and continues to chase the platy. The new molly rests at a low level in the tank, about one-third from my substrate, and is very still. Yesterday I saw a few of my shrimp eating off her tail, which would have been the culprit for her lethargy if it were not for the fact that she was acting like this as soon as I introduced her. Sometimes she goes to the very top of the water and floats there for a while. She's very slow in her movements and keeps her fins close to her body, but not quite clamped. She's as long as my established molly at close to three inches, but her body looks emaciated.
Is there anything I can do to get her to eat? Should I just give up on her and return her to the store alive? Or, and I hesitate to do this, should I kill her, as I'm worried she won't last the week without any assistance on my part?
