Swollen Balloon Molly

[snapcrackleandpop]

I have 2 balloon mollies, one has recently swollen/puffed up.
Has anyone any ideas why?

Cheers
Marc

 

[adgieman]

could be pregnant.. do the scales point out anywhere like a pine cone?

 

[snapcrackleandpop]

it does look a little spiky, is there any way to tell a male over a female molly? the swollen one is a deeper orange than the other.

 

[adgieman]

you can tell by looking at their fins. The male has a thinner pointer one more resembling "man bits" and the female with have what looks to be a normal fin..

as for the pine cone effect thats not good and can be a sign of bacterial infection or something. ~Is your water quality good? How long have they been in the tank? Was your tank cycled or is it new?

 

[snapcrackleandpop]

had them for about a year or so now

 

[adgieman]

pictures of male and female molly
http/www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http/z.about.com/w/experts/Freshwater-Aquarium-3216/2009/01/Male-Versus-Female.jpg&imgrefurl=http/www.wingsofjustice.com/samsung-d-840.html&usg=__OjEzh-z2MC6wPd8FjUFSH1uGfqY=&h=465&w=640&sz=45&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&tbnid=QAgDWoO1izhK3M:&tbnh=100&tbnw=137&ei=o67STfhMi6jxA-j1ud0K&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfemale%2Bballoon%2Bmolly%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D668%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1