# Help please, female Molly may be in danger



## whtroze

Hi everyone, I hope someone can help me as I am quite worried about one of my poor fish. Hears the story: I have a 10 gallon tank that has been set up for a month and a half. It started with a variety of guppies, 3 neon tetras, an algae eater (small guy), a Black Molly and a Silver Molly. At first I was having major problems with ammonia and unfortunately did lose a few guppies and 2 of the neons. Now the tank is finally stable, with ammonia, pH, and temp regularly around 70-76, and eat premium flakes. There are several plants (fake) and rocks/cliff for hiding spots. This last 2 weeks everyone seemed happy and healthy. About 4 days ago, my Black Molly (a juvenile male) suddenly got the urge to torment my female Silver Molly (he very much wants to breed with her...she doesn't seem to like it). He would not leave her alone for even a second and I was told to get another female for him so the Silver is not always his target. Yesterday I got a female dalmation Molly and he took to her right away and she doesn't seem to mind him too much. However, my Silver Molly seems to be getting ill or something. She is laying on the gravel floor of the tank and isn't moving much. (She was always really active and somewhat "highstrung" prior to this) She did come up to eat yesterday tho. Today she still is laying on the bottom of the tank and not moving much, but now she did not come up to eat or even try to eat when flakes fell near her. The tank parameters are still in normal range and the male has not really bothered her since I added the dalmation Molly. The Silver appears healthy bodywise and does not seem like she is laboring to breathe or move....she just seems extremely depressed. I am worried about her. Everyone else in the tank seems happy and healthy. Any help or suggestions would be so very much appreciated.

Thanks again....Whtroze


----------



## onefish2fish

well. off the top of my head id guess your molly may be pregnant
or still acclimating to the tank, or purchased already sick

it does sound to me that there are quite alot of fish in that 10 gal. 
not to mention neon tetras need 6+ because they are schooling fish and you have only 1 in there but now that the tank is heavily stocked with everything else i dont think you can manage 5 more.
and the "algae eater" if im thinking what i think it is will get to be about a foot long if not larger ( if it is infact a smaller type of algae grazer, a otto or cory they to need a school of about 6+ )

to me it just sounds to many fish in to quick of time.

and a picture is worth a thousand words.


----------



## whtroze

Thank you for the response, I will watch her closely. Hopefully pregnancy is the problem...that I can manage, and it definately could be possible.
Thanks for the info on the neon. I feel bad for the one since I know they are schooling fish (which is why I got 3 originally). For now it seems to be doing well, and as you said, there are alot of fish in there and I don't want to add more at this time, Since that could cause more problems. I do plan to get a larger tank soon, especially if more babies are coming.
Thanks again.


----------



## onefish2fish

yea no problem. but remember it could be a lot of different things. im guessing ( and hoping ) it is just pregno and thats why it is be lethargic


----------



## Little-Fizz

You may want to upgrade to a 20 gallon for your mollies, as they get fairly large. And then keep your ten gallon for tetras and guppies or whatever. 

A ten gallon is to small for mollies.


----------



## whtroze

*update to Female Silver Molly in Danger*

Thank you all for your replies, they are very much appreciated.
I am sad to say that my Silver Molly did not make it. This morning, she was the same as before, no change for better or worse. This early evening, she suddenly swam quickly across the tank (no other fish were around her to cause her to move) and she settled down on the gravel again on the other side of the tank (which was near my heater--water temp read 76 F at that time). I noticed her breathing (gill movement) was remarkably slow in comparison to what it normally was. Her chest also appeared swollen and I notice a slight yellow tinge where her pectoral fins joint to the body and also the same tinge on the edge of her gills (scales layed normal and the yellowing was not fuzzy or anything like a fungus). Resting on the gravel, she a few times slipped/fell sideways, but quickly righted herself again. Within an hour, it was over, she passed away. I removed her from the tank, and noticed her chest underside felt "squishy"--I'm not sure if that is normal, considering she seemed suddenly swollen there, I think probably not. I redid water test with a 5 test strip kit, all parameter showed normal ranges. I have a friend that is an exotic veterinarian and I am going to have her look at the body and I'm also giving her a sample of the water for a lab to test to make sure things really are the way they should be.

A concern I have is that test to the lab may take a while. All my other fish appear fine and happy, but I am concerns since the Silver was with them all. I am particularly worried about my other two Mollys (the male Black and Female Dalmation) since they had quite a bit of contact with the Silver. Like I said, they appear fine, but if anyone thinks there might be a concern, any advise would be appreciated. If there is a concern for my other fish, I would like to fix it before they start getting sick too.
Thanks in advance!


----------



## onefish2fish

hm sorry about your fish loss, it happens to the best of us.

in peoples experience the test strips arnt very accurate, if possible you would prob. be better off with a liquid test kit, API master test kit seems to be a good one.

the fish showing no other signs of illness ( no viewable markings, or other strange behavior ) seems odd. it may have just been an old fish on its way out? im really unsure.
keep an eye on your other fish over the next few days/week if you can. when feeding it is a good time to take a minute to check out your tanks health. take note to see if everyones eating and swimming normally. i hope you do alright with the rest of your guys, best of luck wished to your end.


----------



## ayeayerencz

hey i just set up my first 10 gallon tank also. kinda as a tester and to learn more about fish. so far i have one male black molly and one female dalmation molly and also a female Blue Gourami. the Blue Gourami doesnt seem to happy and just hides all day. what does this mean? and the black molly often bullys the female while they are being fed mostly. will these fish eventually crossbreed?


----------



## Lord Voldemort

Did you acclimate her properly?
If not then this could be the problem
when you get a new fish and just dump them in your tank they become extremely stressed and can die from the shock.You need to be sure that you acclimate them slowly by floating the fish (while in the bag) for 15 minutes to let them acclimate to the temperature ( your temp should be 72-82) than you can pour them into a bucket 1/4 filled with water from your tank and 3/4 water from the bag.After after that let them sit for 15 minutes and net them into the tank. Mollies are technically a brackish water fish so they do appreciate a bit of aquarium salt.


----------



## Lord Voldemort

Your tank is too small,
to properly house these fish you need a 25 gallon. blue gouramis can grow to 5'' and are highly territorial when full grown. Mollies are annoying and bully each other randomly.Mollies can also grow to 3.5'' and eventually require aquarium salt.If i was that blue gourami i would just hide all day too. I would definitely return the gourami for its own sake. also try to read more about the species you are going to purchase


----------



## AndyRollinson

*White balloon molly dying?*

Basically, I bought a 10 galleon aquarium and set it up at the right temperature and with the filter going for about a week before buying my new fish. I bought 1 black, 1 orange and one white balloon molly. For the first two days everything was fine, they were swimming around eating etc. Then today i looked in my tank to find the white molly lying on her side at the bottom of the tank with 10-12 babies lying in the gravel. I looked online and advice told me to turn the light off.The black molly is floating down in the bottom corner under the heater, appearing to be 'chilling' and the orange molly is swimming around fine and eating. The next thing I know the white molly keeps making erratic dives up and down and is now lying motionless on her side at the bottom of the tank. The orange one has now joined the black one 'chilling at the bottom'. I really don't know what to do. Are they all pregnant? Is the white molly dead, or just recovering? PLEASE HELP!?


----------

