Possible problem with new fish

[BLUE FIN]

I have just bought five Mollies amongst them is a silver one.All seem fine except the silver one which has a very bloated belly.Its rear end looks pink and open.Is it possibly pregnant or is it a problem with the fish?

 

[Alien Anna]

Looks pregnant to me, but be warned that pregnant fish often abort when they are moved. Make sure you have some plants or caves for any fry to hide in.

 

[Lithril]

Talking about pregnant, I've got 6 white water minnows, a couple look identical to above, been like it for a couple of days, how long before they drop??

 

[BLUE FIN]

Thanks for the very fast reply I have many rocks in the tank and a few plants too is there anything else i can do to help her and the fry? I do have a second smaller tank but it is unused so even if i add gravel and water from my tank won't the Nitrite go sky high and cause more problems?

 

[Lithril]

You may get away with one fish but unless you've got a cycled filter there could be problems. Adding water and gravel from old tank will help though.

I'm going to keep a small filter in my new tank as well as the main one just to keep it cycling in case of future need.

 

[Alien Anna]

Thanks for the very fast reply I have many rocks in the tank and a few plants too is there anything else i can do to help her and the fry? I do have a second smaller tank but it is unused so even if i add gravel and water from my tank won't the Nitrite go sky high and cause more problems?

Get a breeding net and keep a close eye on your fish. If you see any fry you can try to catch them (in a jar or yoghurt pot, not a net) and put them in the breeding net. A good tip I heard for "fake" Java moss is one of those plastic pan scourers, or you can buy a breeding mat online (which is a load of plastic plants on a weighted tile). The babies are only a couple of mm's when they come out so they need something to hide in that can stop them being eaten.

However, if it doesn't work out don't worry because mollys have babies all the time. I'm still trying myself - but having tried a breeding tank I've now decided that a net is better and I'm just going to keep an eye on her and catch any babies I can.

 

[BLUE FIN]

You may get away with one fish but unless you've got a cycled filter there could be problems. Adding water and gravel from old tank will help though.

I'm going to keep a small filter in my new tank as well as the main one just to keep it cycling in case of future need.

I have a seperate bio sponge filter in my main tank so i could pop that in the small tank aswell as the gravel and cycled water. Any more tips would be great as this is quite exciting

 

[BLUE FIN]

Thanks for the very fast reply I have many rocks in the tank and a few plants too is there anything else i can do to help her and the fry? I do have a second smaller tank but it is unused so even if i add gravel and water from my tank won't the Nitrite go sky high and cause more problems?

Get a breeding net and keep a close eye on your fish. If you see any fry you can try to catch them (in a jar or yoghurt pot, not a net) and put them in the breeding net. A good tip I heard for "fake" Java moss is one of those plastic pan scourers, or you can buy a breeding mat online (which is a load of plastic plants on a weighted tile). The babies are only a couple of mm's when they come out so they need something to hide in that can stop them being eaten.

However, if it doesn't work out don't worry because mollys have babies all the time. I'm still trying myself - but having tried a breeding tank I've now decided that a net is better and I'm just going to keep an eye on her and catch any babies I can.

Ok thanks Anna i will go with the net that you have suggested, as this seems far better than putting them into an uncycled tank.

A big thank you to all replys, you peeps are a credit to this super forum

 

[BLUE FIN]

This looks like a very sad end for this poor little fish, for the last hour or so she has been picked on by other fish in the tank and has now go to the bottom of the tank and appears to be very much dead

I'm not sure what to do as i only bought the fish this morning surely this fish has been unwell for sometime as she was very slow in the tank shold i take the fish back and see what the LFS says or do i just accept this as a natural loss?

 

[Alien Anna]

It's a shame about your fish but it was remiss of the shop to sell you a sick or heavily pregnant fish - either way the stress could have killed her. I'd take her back and demand a refund.

 

[BLUE FIN]

It's a shame about your fish but it was remiss of the shop to sell you a sick or heavily pregnant fish - either way the stress could have killed her. I'd take her back and demand a refund.

Anna i took the fish back and it was replaced with another silver molly, which is much more active However the two mollies that were picking on the other silver molly have started to chase this one and seem to be trying to bite it Any ideas?

 

[Alien Anna]

What sex are your fish? With mollies you only really want one male in the tank or they'll harrass it to death. Mollies can be very territorial and very aggressive with each other - apparently the more you have, the easier it is.

I wouldn't worry too much about this new fish, as she's not pregnant or sick - they're probably just sorting out the pecking order. However, some more plants and hiding places would probably help and if you have several female mollies it does make it a little easier.

I actually had the same problem with a new guppy I bought - he was harrassed by the others for a while. Just make sure your harrassed fish gets enough to eat. Also, turn the tank lights out for 24 hours to keep everyone calm.

Can anyone think of anything else?

 

[BLUE FIN]

I have no idea what sex the fish are i simply went to my LFS and asked for some suitable fish to add to my recently cycled tank(which already contained 10 neon tetras) The shop owner said that mollies are ideal but made no reference to them being aggresive or the ratio of male/female fish that would be required to keep fighting to a minimum

With regards to plants, i bought a number of them today along with another large rock (with cavities) hopefully this will keep the fish occupied and maybe a little happier I have also turned off the tank lighting as you suggested

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi,
you're kind of skirting round the limits of my knowledge here so it would be a really good idea to post this question to the livebearer section, where all the molly fanatics hang out.

However, I'll have a bash at your questions.

I have no idea what sex the fish are i simply went to my LFS and asked for some suitable fish to add to my recently cycled tank(which already contained 10 neon tetras) The shop owner said that mollies are ideal but made no reference to them being aggresive or the ratio of male/female fish that would be required to keep fighting to a minimum

It's not critical like with cichlids, but mollys are quite fiesty fish and we've just had a big discussion about overly dominant mollys bullying the tank. Mollys are best if you have one male and a harem of females, so that the females don't get too much attention each. Two males are not a definite no-no, but you do get male mollies who simply won't share.

You can tell the difference because the males have three fins just in front of the tail on their lower body - the white sticking out "fin" between their two lower fins is a sort of willy. The males are also bigger with bigger fins and the females, being almost permenantly pregnant, have rounder tummies. You may find you have two males and only one female - an answer would be to buy another female (but do make sure its a female this time! ).

With regards to plants, i bought a number of them today along with another large rock (with cavities) hopefully this will keep the fish occupied and maybe a little happier I have also turned off the tank lighting as you suggested

That's all going to help. I don't know if you'll find your new female hiding in the caves but its good to know they're there, just in case.

Incidently, in future when you buy fish, make sure they pick up just the fish you want. This isn't such an issue with neons (and probably not possible), but with larger fish like mollys, it should be perfectly possible.

 

[BLUE FIN]

Thanks for the info Anna sorry for the endless questions )

I will have a good look around the forum before i get anymore fish Just haven't had the time to do this lately Anyway thanks again and fingers crossed all will be well now