My Mollie

[kizzy]

Hey all,

I have a orange molly who is acting pretty strange. The tail fin is not fanned anymore its like a point (well together) and its hiding near the heater or up the top of the tank... You could say it has become shy... Can anyone help me with what could be wrong Also how can you tell between a female and male???

Kizzy

 

[jackyb07s4]

Generally males are much slimmer than the females. Males also have an extra find called a gonopodium, or you could say it's..ahem..private area. Also any chance of a picture? You may have a pregnant molly on your hands!

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Kizzy.
Take a look at your pH if you have a way to do that. Mollies in general need fairly hard water and the chance is that if the pH is low the water is soft. That relationship is not always true but it may point us in the right direction. If you have a hardness test kit that would give us even better information but not many people actually have one. Another thing that can cause the reaction you are seeing is poor water conditions such as high ammonia or nitrite readings. I would expect that to affect more than just mollies though.