Male Molly Died! Why?

[shimanocono]

I took my female betta out of my tank and put it in a 5 gallon because she should give birth soon. So my male molly was in the 37gallon without any other mollies and I just found him dead. Why is this?

[ChilDawg]

How old was he?

Also, is there a chance that "frustrated" fish could die from "frustration"?

[shimanocono]

Not old enough to die I know that

[Haggisman]

Nah they dont die of frustration, I have had 2 male platies in my planted tank for almost a year now and apart form occasioanlly trying to molest each other they are fine.

shim, can you provide some more info about your tank.Water params, stocking levels etc.I know most livebearers dont do well in acidic water, this could be a problem.

I had never really kept mollies successfully(even though they are said to be good begginer fish)but when I added some to my brackish tank they did amazingly well.Apparently they do better with some salt in the water but I think as long as your PH is on the hard alkaline side then they will do well.

[Tightdog1]

yes mollies and platys need a little salt in their tank dont ask my why i have never researched it , but they do need some salt i dunno how much tho, sry.

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Originally posted by Tightdog1
yes mollies and platys need a little salt in their tank dont ask my why i have never researched it , but they do need some salt i dunno how much tho, sry.

There are varying opinions on the salt issue. I remember someone posting that what mollies really need is water that is hard (as in high in dissolved solids). True, salt is considered a dissolved solid and mollies seem to tolerate it, but it might not be the healthiest option for other species in a community tank.

[Tightdog1]

people go by many different things when it comes to molies and im not saying any1 is wrong im just saying i use salt in my tanks, and they seem to be fine.

[net_shark512]

I have read (don't remember where) that mollies natural habitat is so close to the ocean they can almost stand pure salt water.

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by net_shark512
I have read (don't remember where) that mollies natural habitat is so close to the ocean they can almost stand pure salt water.

They live in full SW in the wild sometimes.

[wetmanNY]

Originally posted by shimanocono
I took my female betta out of my tank and put it in a 5 gallon because she should give birth soon. So my male molly was in the 37gallon without any other mollies and I just found him dead. Why is this?

Like most fishes, the betta is an egglayer. Your female betta won't just "give birth all on her own. The spawning of bettas is very interesting. You might want to look into it.

Without details, no one will ever know why your molly died. These things happen. A new molly will be happy with warmth, constant greens like spinach to eat, a crushed coral substrate (like "marine aquarium substrate") and up to a tablespoon of salt per gallon.

Your betta won't enjoy those conditions. She'd like warmth, no salt, and some floating plants to lurk under.

[ChilDawg]

Um, upon re-reading the initial post...thanks for reminding us of the Betta part of the post, Wetman...why would she have fry without a male around?

[Rometiklan]

Originally posted by shimanocono
I took my female betta out of my tank and put it in a 5 gallon because she should give birth soon. So my male molly was in the 37gallon without any other mollies and I just found him dead. Why is this?

It would really help if you could post the water parameters of your 37 gallon tank...pH, temperature, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hardness. How long was this tank established? What kind of filtration do you have? Were there any other tankmates? Did the molly display any symptoms of disease prior to death? Your maintenance routine (eg How much water do you change and how often, the fish's diet, etc).

I would also not rule out the possibility that some kind of contaminant entered your tank. Toxins from some household products could have entered your water column in some fashion. If your molly was behaving normally, and then died suddenly, that usually indicates some kind of toxic poisoning.