Help!

[corylover5]

Thank you so much for your time. I have a 29 gallon with 9 corydoras, 5 mollies, 2 platies, 2 upside down catfish, 2 Endler's Live bearers, 3 guppies, and a handful of snails.

 

[corylover5]

If my female molly passes away I will have 2 male and 2 female mollies. I know that's not good because the males will stress the females. What should I do if she passes away?

 

[corylover5]

I have to get going soon since it's 1:30 am here. Thank you so much for your help

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

If my female molly passes away I will have 2 male and 2 female mollies. I know that's not good because the males will stress the females. What should I do if she passes away?

Don't worry about that yet, we'll cross that bridge if it comes to it, but it's not a guarantee that the males will stress the females. On the whole, yes, it's better to have more females than males with every livebearer, but the main reason for the rule is that one female surrounded by 2-3 males would be in a for a bad time. a 1:1 ratio isn't the worst, and there's a lot of personality differences to take into account too. Not all males are relentless sex pests, and some female mollies can more than hold their own and chase the male right back! If your female mollies are anything like mine, they won't be bothered at all and will soon put a stop to any nonsense from the males. Plus my mature males seem quite mellow and gentlemanly, it's the younger ones who tend to be a tad too driven.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Meant to say, go and get some sleep, it's really late there. You've done all you can for her for tonight, you staying up even later worrying isn't going to solve anything, and will only make you more upset. I'll link whatever I find here later, and you can read it after you've had a good sleep. Night @corylover5 , try to sleep and we'll talk more later.

 

[corylover5]

Meant to say, go and get some sleep, it's really late there. You've done all you can for her for tonight, you staying up even later worrying isn't going to solve anything, and will only make you more upset. I'll link whatever I find here later, and you can read it after you've had a good sleep. Night @corylover5 , try to sleep and we'll talk more later.

Thank you. I changed my mind. I'm just going to look online a little longer and try to find out more about the disease.

 

[corylover5]

All I found about the disease was:

• There is no known cure for fish infected with the whirling disease parasite. ...
• As many as 10,000Tubifex tubifex worms can be found in one square yard of a muddy river bottom. ...
• Myxospores can remain alive for more than 20 years in the sediment.

That was from this website: https://stopaquatichitchhikers.org/hitchhikers/others-whirling-disease/

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Well, it doesn't appear to be whirling disease anyway, that apparently is a specialised bacteria than only affects salmonid fish. Farmed trout and salmon, and now some in the wild, but doesn't seem as though it can transfer to other types of fish. Will keep looking for possible answers though. https://www.researchgate.net/figure...re-in-oligocheate-host-Tubifex_fig3_272366479

 

[corylover5]

Oh thank gosh. I really hope that's true. thank you

 

[corylover5]

I found this video on youtube and this is what my molly is doing. My guppy did something similar but not as severe.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Is it possibly the shimmies? What is your GH and pH like?

 

[corylover5]

I don't remember my exact GH and PH but I had it tested at my LFS a few months ago. I had posted it here somewhere but I can't find it now. I know the test results came back that I had hard water.

 

[corylover5]

Looking back through previous threads I found that my PH is 7.3

 

[corylover5]

I will see if I can go to petco tomorrow to have my PH, GH, and KH tested.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Is there any chance the tank could have been contaminated with something? Something like air freshener or deodorant sprayed in the room, some perfume or hand cream or something else on your hands before putting them in the tank? Have seen someone lose fish like this, and it turned out to be their mother using windex to clean the tank glass, and the person was accidentally touching the glass then the water, without knowing about the chemical.

Addressing the Shimmies in Live Bearers - RateMyFishTank.com

The “shimmies” are one of the most frustrating and confusing problems aquarium hobbyists encounter with livebearer fish. One day your guppy or molly looks perfectly healthy, and the next it’s rocking side to side, struggling to swim, or hovering in place as if stuck in an invisible current. For...

www.ratemyfishtank.com

Go to bed and get some sleep. Then tomorrow, we'll find out your GH and pH, whether from your post here or from your water company. It won't hurt to double check the actual numbers, but there's nothing more you can do tonight, so get some rest! If you're tired out tomorrow, you'll have a harder time taking care of your fish and reading up on different diseases.

@Byron , @Naughts , @emeraldking @mbsqw1d any help here appreciated! The corkscrew swimming corylover describes, brings up results for Whirling Disease. This person and posts on another forum, say that whirling disease can affect other types of aquarium fish, but the more scientific articles I've found refer specifically to the salmonid family, and claim it doesn't spread to fish of different species. https://www.alberta.ca/whirling-disease.aspx

Whirling Disease - Invasion Biology Introduced Species Summary Project - Columbia University

So my main suspects are the shimmies, some kind of contaminant, or possibly another kind of bacterial infection. Any thoughts?