Mollys Are Hanging Out By The Heater?

[saffholly]

I have 4 mollys in my tank, 2 very pregnant dalmation mollys, one black male and one baby (2 months old), the dalmations have been glued to the heater all day and now the others have joined them. Should i be worried?

I had problems with my tank just over a week ago but all had settled down (all testing fine) but now my mollys are acting oddly.

 

[basboi85]

What is your actual tank tempreture away from your heater ??

 

[LucyB]

How often do you do water changes? I would do one now if I were you.

 

[saffholly]

I have just done a 50% change, the male and baby have moved away, just the 2 pregnant females still by the heater. Temp is around 78.

 

[saffholly]

At the moment i have been doing water changes (using the gravel vacume) twice a week (sometimes more), the tanks not fully stocked but the gravel was quite dirty, maybe i am over feeding?


The tank is 140ltr, has 4 mollys, one bristle nose plec (3 inches long) and 5 guppies.

 

[LucyB]

At the moment i have been doing water changes (using the gravel vacume) twice a week (sometimes more), the tanks not fully stocked but the gravel was quite dirty, maybe i am over feeding?


The tank is 140ltr, has 4 mollys, one bristle nose plec (3 inches long) and 5 guppies.

You're using dechlorinator, right?

 

[snazy]

Watch out for sickness outbreak. That's how fish behave before visible symptoms appear. Issues with water quality don't normally kill the fish straight away but stresses their immune system to the point they get sick. Ich is the most common one to hit first.

 

[saffholly]

At the moment i have been doing water changes (using the gravel vacume) twice a week (sometimes more), the tanks not fully stocked but the gravel was quite dirty, maybe i am over feeding?


The tank is 140ltr, has 4 mollys, one bristle nose plec (3 inches long) and 5 guppies.

You're using dechlorinator, right?

Yes.

So it could be a late reaction to the problems i had with the water 2 weeks ago? no sign of ich.

Now the 2 mollys are chasing each other (still close to the heater), could it be that they are close to giving birth? they are quite square but not sure how far gone they are (i find it hard to tell with mollys), i could move them to my other tank but that would probably just stress them out? (plus i dont want to spread any illness to my other tank).

 

[slimeneo]

Yes, it's possible that they are about to give birth. I noticed my pregnant platy hide in the back when she's about to give birth and the others join her because they want the free meal. Her favorite spot is the space right under the heater, that's where she sleeps too

or it's possible it be some illness, I'm not sure. But in my experience they do hide when they are pregnant. Don't move them, that'll stress them out.

 

[saffholly]

Just tested the water and Nitrates are 25, nitrite 0, GH 16, kh 10, PH 8, Cl2 0

 

[snazy]

Do you have an ammonia test as well?
I just noticed that you treated the fish for ich already two weeks ago. Hopefully it's nothing to worry about this time but if all the fish(not just the pregnant ones) in the tank are hanging on one spot and not exploring as usual, then there's a problem to come if not yet visible. How long did you treat the ich for? Did you treat an extra week after all spots disappeared as if not properly treated it just comes back with a vengeance.
For now, if no symptoms yet, then all you can do is a nice water change. Watch if they stay around the heater or water surface when the lights are off. If they are healthy, they'll hide to sleep and not hang on top of the tank.

 

[saffholly]

I treated the ich for 8 days (only one fish had it and it vanished after day 3 of treatment). The mollys have moved away now so hopefully the water change has helped, they are now swimming up and down the tank and the other 2 are off doing their own thing. Fingers crossed its just because they are close to giving birth. All the guppies seem fine and the plec (but the plec seems to survive anything). Maybe we will have fry very soon.

 

[snazy]

Fingers crossed they are ok. Nothing you can do really now except a water change and double check all parameters are ok.

only one fish had it and it vanished after day 3 of treatment

When the white spot disappears from the fish, it actually means that the parasite has fallen in the water and ready to attach itself to other fish. Then it can take anything from a few days to 3 weeks for white spots to appear on the newly infected fish. Fish can be infected with no white spots for quite a while before we see the symptoms, so long enough treatment as a precaution is better. That's why I asked if you kept up with the treatment after the ich spots disappeared as it seems you had infection less than 2 weeks ago.

 

[saffholly]

I will keep a close eye on them for ich (although its harder to see on dalmation mollys), my black molly only had a couple spots, not even sure if it was ich or a bacteria (it was more cotton wool like).