Is My Molly Sick?

[death]

hi ive just noticed my female black molly has what it looks like small balls of mercury floating on her faeces what is this?

 

[black angel]

At a guess could it be aborted young?? dont know really.

 

[WILDER]

I agree with black angel sounds like aborted fry, sorry.

 

[death]

thanks for the replies guys oh well i guess maybe next time ...........was this unpreventable?

 

[WILDER]

Well they can abort if they are stressed.

 

[death]

ok i thanks ill see what i can do

 

[Annastasia]

What size tank is she in? And what is the male to female ratio? Latest water stats?

As mentioned, they usually abort when stressed. This means you shouldn't put them in breeding traps or nets (Mollies are really too big for those), and you should always keep the male to female ratio right. I tend to go a little above with Mollies, as the males can be a little aggressive. Feeding her good foods, and making sure she has hiding places from the males helps too.

Sorry to hear about the fry.

 

[death]

What size tank is she in? And what is the male to female ratio? Latest water stats?

As mentioned, they usually abort when stressed. This means you shouldn't put them in breeding traps or nets (Mollies are really too big for those), and you should always keep the male to female ratio right. I tend to go a little above with Mollies, as the males can be a little aggressive. Feeding her good foods, and making sure she has hiding places from the males helps too.

Sorry to hear about the fry.

hi there i have only 1 white male molly to the single female black molly so i think the ratio is ok i also dont use traps or nets and these two are usually together as i hve not seen either hide in the tank the last water check results wer slighty high so i have bn doing water changes so maybe next time ill be more luky

 

[Annastasia]

That's your problem. The ideal ratio is 2-3 females per male, otherwise all the male's attention is on the one female which can greatly stress her out. Sometimes they will just follow the female, nipping around her stomach to make her abort. It seems he succeeded this time. If you want to have better luck next time, I would definitely advise you to get another couple females. However, this will depend on what size tank you have. How many gallons does it hold?

 

[death]

ahhh i see your point thanks for that i have a 22 gallon tank so it looks like ill need to get 2 more females then thanks for that information

 

[Annastasia]

Ah, okay, so you have room for more. I'd definitely get a few more, then each female will have some time when she's not being harassed by the male. This should lead to none of them being very stressed, but plants and decorations also help with this. I wouldn't count on too many fry surviving, if you don't seperate the pregnant female...but they won't be aborted.

 

[death]

ok thanks for your help and advice

 

[Annastasia]

You're very welcome!

You'll have to keep us updated (in the Livebearer section) on how she does with her next batch! Hopefully you'll get some little babies!

Edit: Just had a thought...(Kinda slow today, I have a cold)...you don't have Sailfins, do you? Because in that case...you wouldn't really have room to get more females. Also, what other fish do you have in the tank you plan to put more females in?

 

[death]

at the moment i stupidly got too many fish me being a newbie and bad advice from the lfs so it seems so tomorow i wil be getting another 3 ft tank and split the fish i have between thm i have no salfins but here are my fish at the moment in time (though due to advice from ppl in the catfish forums i think i will be getting rid of my plecs)


1 golden nugget plec
1 red spotted plec
5 neons
2 mollys
1 male siamese fighter
4 females simease fighters
1 platty

i know i have over stocked but tht was not my fault hence me getting another damn tank lol

 

[Annastasia]

Oh, okay...you can't get more Mollies, you need to sort all that out first. When you get your new tank, for now just seperate the male and female. Then once you get everything sorted out, depending on tank size and room, you might be able to put them back together with more females. Definitely get those Bettas seperated too...and soon!