Lethargic Mollie

[smokie]

Hi Guys

Wonder if anyone can help? Just put two mollies in the tank and one of them is hiding behind the heater doing very little, hes been in there for just about two hours now and seems very lathargic. The other one is fine. Do i have a problem with the fish or will it just take time to adjust to the tank.

 

[nmonks]

Assuming water quality is good, two things might be at work here. One is insufficient heat. Mollies thrive on warmth and will do poorly when chilled. If the other fish in the tank will tolerate this, nudge the heat up a degree or two. So rather than the standard 25 C optimal for most aquarium fish, try 26-27 C instead.

Secondly, consider adding salt. About one teaspoon per gallon of a Instant Ocean or some other brand of marine salt mix (not tonic salt/cooking salt) makes a world of difference by raising the salinity and the carbonate hardness. Both of these things bring the best out of mollies. Is salt essential? Perhaps not; but there's no question that it never does any harm and it often does a lot of good.

Do of course remember not all aquarium fish tolerate salt. Livebearers will though, so adding salt doesn't prevent you adding guppies, platies, swordtails, or halfbeaks to this system.

Cheers, Neale

Wonder if anyone can help? Just put two mollies in the tank and one of them is hiding behind the heater doing very little, hes been in there for just about two hours now and seems very lathargic. The other one is fine. Do i have a problem with the fish or will it just take time to adjust to the tank.

 

[fourthtimelucky]

They're probably stressed from the move, especially if you didn't spend long acclimatising them, so before you start raising the salinity & temp maybe you should just try turning off the lights and leaving them on their own for a couple more hours. He may be hiding behind there because it's the only good dark place he can feel safe in.
If you see no improvement in a few hours then you should follow nmonks advice.

 

[mesapod]

Is the mollie that is hiding a female or a male?

If it is a female those are some signs of labour so maybe its pregnant?