Trailing Waste...

[nataliemc]

Hi guys!

I just wanted to check something out... I have two black mollies who seem to be trailing waste - is this normal? I've had the tank for nearly 2 years now and have had them since then and this problem has been over the last 6 months.

I don't believe I'm feeding them excessively - I feed them just a pinch, twice a day.

Also from time to time I see them swimming upright, but only briefly - 5 seconds if that.

Should I be concerned? For information, it's only a small tank... 50 litres and I do water changes every 2 weeks.

On a seperate matter I am looking to buy a much bigger tank in the next few months so that I can buy more fish - but I am concerned about cylcing it and transferring my current fish to it... any words of wisdom?

Thanks very much for your help!

Nat

 

[smmetz]

Lots of people seem to have success with using filter materials from your existing tank to kick start your new tank. If you do that, you should be able to add some fish to your new tank right away. Just dont leave the filter material in your new tank for long without any fish - because the good bacteria will die off from lack of food (amonia - fish waste), and it will be like starting from scratch.

 

[Phoenixfish]

id say constapation but thats too long as far as i know, as the comon advise is feed em deshelled boiled peas

 

[nataliemc]

Thanks for the comments... really appreciated.

Nat

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Thanks for the comments... really appreciated.

Nat

How many gallons are you planning on upgrading? I think an upgrade would be very good, mollys are much more suited to a 20 or 30gallon+ than a 50litre since they are quite active fish(do you know their genders?), is their poop white/grey or stringy looking at all? What do you feed them and how much on average?

 

[nataliemc]

Sorry, only just checked back on this!

Well, I have just bought a 155/165 litre tank and I pick it up on Saturday... I would really appreciate some further advice. It's an Aqua One AR850.

So if i set it up on Saturday, as soon as I collect it, and use the filter media from my old tank - can i put the fish straight in? Or do I have to let the tank settle for a week, then replace some of the media and then put my fish in?

What about if i only replace half of the the new filter media with the media from my old tank - would that still be alright?

I would also like some advise on lighting... my old tank (being so small) only had one light which I put on 8-12 hours a day - however on my new tank i have got 3 tubes!! 2 normal and one that looks like an ultra-violet one. It may sound like a stupid question to you but do i put all 3 lighting tubes on for the 8-12 hours a day??

And my final question is about an air pump/oxygen. I currently don't have one at all and not really quite sure how they work. With having a new tank, and getting a few more fish is it beneficial to get one or are they only optional for decoration?

Many thanks for all you help on this.

Nat