Is My Tank Overstocked?

[otakufishy]

I have noticed now, though, that the mother of the molly babies and a few of her fry are swimming with their heads a little bit higher than the rest of their bodies. Their top fin is clamped down to their bodies. What could it be?

 

[Assaye]

Get your water tested ASAP for ammonia and nitrites. Could be that, because they are naturally occuring products that are very toxic.

Go some more water changes - about 40% I'd do to be safe. Too much and you'll shock the babies, too little and it won't help.

 

[OldMan47]

A molly swimming with clamped fins is suffering from what is called shimmy. It is not really a disease, it is a reaction to water conditions. Common mollies really need fairly high mineral content in their water. I happen to have water with a pH of 7.8 a GH of over 10 and a KH over 10. It also has a TDS measured at over 225 ppm. For me tap water is great for these fish. For people who live in a soft water location, common pet shop mollies can be a real challenge. They will need to add minerals to their water to experience any success with pet shop mollies. The easiest and most common ways to do that is to add some sea salt, the kind saltwater people use to create their water from tap water, or to add some crushed shell or crushed coral to the filter flow path. Either of these techniques will add to the GH, KH and pH of your water. Either will also lead to the need to continue to control both GH and pH with regular water changes that use the right additives for the tank's chemistry.
Once you start down the road of changing water parameters away from the tap water, you need to stay aware of the need to continue down that path with every water change. I have exactly one tank that has water different from my tap water, out of 25 total. That tank is probably more work, in terms of the care I take looking after it, than all of my other tanks combined.

 

[otakufishy]

Sadly, the mother molly and another one of her babies died this morning. She had been doing badly since we got her, though (twirling around, almost upside down), so I want to believe that whatever she had got passed down to her babies. Could that be possible? All of the other mollies and platies are fine. Could it be that only she was affected by the water, or was it some disease? Thanks, guys. I'll do a water change in a bit.

 

[nessar]

have you tested your water for ammonia and nitrites?

also does the plastic breeder box allow water flow through it or is the water inside it separate to the rest of the tank? Ammonia could build up ridiculously quickly with 9 mollies and 2 platies in there, even though they are babies.

 

[otakufishy]

The plastic breeder box does allow water to move, at least I think it does. It has slits on the sides. (http/s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/PetsUnited/T710220_55793) The babies that are left look healthy and happy, which is makes me happy. It seems that only the babies that looked thin (hollow-like, similar to their mother) died. The rest that are alive are happy potbelly babies. I have checked my Ph and that's normal, but I haven't been able to make it to the store to buy a test kit for ammonia or nitrites. It's pretty far away and I haven't had much time lately. I'll try asap. Thanks, everyone.

 

[otakufishy]

Still alive! I think I'll keep posting updates... even though it's only been a few hours. They are definetely bigger than they were a few days ago, and are swimming faster and eating more. I'll keep you guys posted!

 

[otakufishy]

They're all still here. I did a water change and the rest look super healthy and are getting much bigger. I'm excited to see what they look like when they're older because of the coloring. Even the black ones are unique, with some having silver bellies and one of them being very light in color. Hmmm. I can't wait!

p.s. this is my first batch of babies so i'm excited!

 

[OldMan47]

Many fish show an improvement in their expected health if you do a water change. We do not enter into many of the minor propositions that are taken seriously by many here and elsewhere. That means we do not pay much attention to any of the unique costs associated with a particular location. We here are not political position people with a particular scheme that favors other methods. That means that you members can expect s to more or less give you confirmation of information that you might obtain in other places.

 

[otakufishy]

This is about a separate fish that I have that is pregnant I believe. I have another molly (gold dust molly), that is medium/large (not nearly as big as some pictures I've seen, but big nonetheless), and has a white dot near her anus. When should I expect the babies, since I hear that the white dot is the birthing tube? She's behaving normally. Thanks.