Dalmation Mollys

[Mollydolly]

hello i am a brand new fish keeper. a female fish lover from nottinghamshire. after my partner set his up i fell in love with his set up and decided to invest in one for myself... i have my tank set up with help from an enthusiast and i have my medium and filter all sorted and because its a new set up i have only added two fish. 2 female dalmatian molly's named them molly and dolly. so after placing them in the new set up ive noticed one is chasing the other alot. is this because i have only 2 fish so far. i was told mollys arent aggressive fish but am worried tonight one will kill the other. i am also wondering when would be safe to add more fish. On testing my levels they are all quite low which is great. and can anyone help with what is best to feed them please as i am confused as the store has hundreds of things on offer flake granules etc. i have no clue what these fish need lol.

 

[ncguppy830]

there needs to be a 2 to 1 female to male ratio sex you molllies,if there both males they could just be playing or adjusting pecking order

 

[Mollydolly]

they are both females i was told by the store lol but maybe they have got it wrong these two do seem to not be enjoying each others company and not together like the group of them were in the store we got them from. they swim seperate and when they get close one chases the other away is that normal behaviour? sorry i am not good with fish yet behaviourwise maybe they are playing bless wouldnt want to lose one so soon after i start up. losing even cheap fish does upset me 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If the fish have:
 

 
a gonopodium, as pictured above, then they are male.
 
 
If they have a 'fan fin' there, then they are female.  They are sounding more 'male' to me, and with only two the dominant one is showing his dominance.  Adding a few more will spread that aggression and no harm will come of it. 

 

[Mollydolly]

Thankyou for that picture. i will have a close look in the morning when the light is back on and also get my friend who knows what hes looking for to look. i think one does have one of those lol as it looks different around that part to the other one. so maybe they gave me one of each :s i will let you know in the morning what the verdict is and thankyou for the advice and btw your set up is lovely i cant seem to upload mine it says they are to big off my ipad

 

[Blondielovesfish]

How big is the tank?
What are the test results? What test kit are you using?
 
If you want to upload some pics, you can upload them to a photo hosting website such as photobucket and then post the link here

 

[Mollydolly]

Ive checked today and they are both female for sure they dont have that gon thing lol you showed me just a fin there
My tank is 100 litres dual rio 125 and has just 2 fish in it at present
My levels are ammonia less than 0.50 today yesterday it was 0 but thats because had no fish in it lol. Nitrates is now 0.3. They seem to have settled down this morning and are more lively. Do i need to do a water change? Im still unsure about levels etc which would need water changes done. Im not buying more fish until i get more settled and more experience.
Thankyou for the tip on photographing ill ask my other half to help me set that up when he arrives
Also adding i used a medium from a well established tank and the levels in that tank were stable when i got this medium with no problems at all the reason i have just put two fish in is because the man at the store who does give good honest advice and actually says no to buying other types if he knows your doing a new set up. I do trust him on sales etc. he said if i dont put fish in that the tank will not mature properly and the bacteria i have in already wont get up and running as it would with fish in hence why only 2 fish for now but i wouldny want to lose them as i do get upset when my other halfs fish die only part i dont like on the whole fish keeping part
Oh and im using hagen for nitrate and nitrite and api for ammonia

 

[Mollydolly]

http/i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo205/DCorvinus/image-1.jpg had to use my friends photo bucket these ladies are fast finding it hard to photograph them lol
http/i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo205/DCorvinus/image-5.jpg best pics i can get atm lol just to fast for me
http/i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo205/DCorvinus/MollyDolly/image.jpg my set up kinda proud of it so far

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Your set up looks very nice!
I can't see the pics of your fish
 
Once your results show 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite for 10 consistent days, you can add more fish. Beware that your tank will go through a mini-cycle as the bacteria catches up to the extra bio-load.
 
What is your pH?

 

[Mollydolly]

Ill sort that out shortly i moved them as id put them on friends photobucket in the wrong place opps, and thankyou i do like my new plants and ornaments i would live there if i was a fish lots of hiding holes and places to chill in.

Anyway i have worked out what i did wrong and why i had this mini cycle thing. When i cycled my tank to start with the first day i put one item of media i had into my water before id added the dechlorinating material opps a big no no. Which is why now im having the mini cycle i think. I did add a sponge afterwards when i had added the chlorinating stuff.

So ive just read this would have killed all my happy bacteria. Luckily i had the sponge left and didnt have to start from scratch. So today a friend is bringing me some more media for my tank to help it grow again and hopefully the mini cycle wont last too long.

I will test for next 10 days and see and not add no more fish.

So for all newbies like myself who do have media given, dont add your water and then the media before you have added your dechlorinating fluid as clearly it does kill the bacteria and also now i can see why you dont rinse your filter in tap water as well. It was literally seconds mine was in but clearly had a huge impact.

Im enjoying learning from people and reading bit here also this place is great for learning for the newbie

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I can't remember if I asked before but was the tank cycled before you added any fish?
How long has the tank been set up for?