# balloon molly is obsessed with filter?!



## pennycantu (Apr 17, 2008)

i have a 10 gallon tank with 2 balloon mollies 1 male 1 female (the male is the one with the issue), 3 platies, 2 black tetras and some algae eater that i don't know what it is. the temp is currently at 74 degrees F. i think i have a 5-12 filter? not sure, the tank has been set up for about a month maybe a little over. I do have some live plant bulbs that have not grown yet but have an artificial plant in the meantime.

anyway, for the past 2 days, my male molly has been parked in front of the intake but further up to be out of the way of the suction. even when i feed, he doesn't seem interested. what is the deal? the other fish seem to stay away from him too. i noticed last week he was nudging the female molly a bit but not too rough. i had another molly that died and acted weird before he died. he had a weird growth on the side of his head by his eye and would corral the fish on one side of the tank, kinda like picking on them. the girl at the pet store said that she'd never heard of that and it was weird. now this one has a nuerotic personality too! what's the deal?


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Hi, and welcome to fishforum! Could you please read the link below and provide us with that information so we can begin to help you?

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=882

In the meantime, I have a few thoughts which may or may not be related to your molly's behavior. Sorry if this may sound harsh, but I do absolutely mean the best and only want to help you. Many fish stores are very profit driven and misinform customers to make an easy buck, so it's very possible they ill prepared you for keeping your fish alive and healthy.

1) 74 degrees is a bit too chilly for a tropical aquarium. It will slow your fish down and compromise their immune system. Your tank (with the fish you mentioned) should be at a steady temperature of 78-80 degrees, so if you don't have a heater, you should pick one up.

2) 95% of the time the fish sold by fish stores as "algae eaters" become problematic in a community tank. I'm guessing you have either a Chinese Algae Eater (in the standard or gold variety) or a common Pleco. Chinese algae eaters are aggressive fish who will soon stop eating algae and start eating your other fish. Plecos, while less territorial, get to be over 2 feet, and grow quickly, so he will soon be far too large for your community tank. Do you know which kind you have?


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## pennycantu (Apr 17, 2008)

i'm pretty sure i have the chinese algae eater. i looked at images of the pleco and it looks nothing like that but very much like the chinese algae eater. it has not eaten any of the fish or proven to be agressive but i guess time will tell. the balloon molly planted it's head in the gravel and died yesterday morning. i knew something was odd when he kept swimming in the same place and stayed by the intake. i have since changed the water and cleaned the tank and rocks incase there were any bacteria in it. i treated the water and let the filter run for a while before putting the fish back in. my other molly seems down though i'm not sure how fish display emotion or maybe she is coming down with what the male molly and the one before had. i would love to continue with the molly's but if they keep dying, i'm going to replace them with something else. I will see about picking up a heater today if i can find one. the pet store told me all i needed was the lights on the tank to heat the water. guess she really didn't know what she was talking about.


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