View Full Version : Molly swimming strangly
This is my first sick fish yet. My juvenile Molly is swimming tight circles on the gravel floor on its right side. There are no visisble abnormalities and all the other fish seem OK. What could it be and should I quarantine right away?
tricksterpup
08-21-2003, 5:18 PM
Have you done water changes? what are you water parameters?
how big is your tank? how many fish do you have? what is the tank temp? Give a few answers, hopefully can help. Does he stop this movement after awhile? Does he shake when he swims? Ok, I know one thing will be said in this message is to add salt? Did you add salt to your tank? if you didn't then dont add any. Mollies do not need salt to survive. Todays mollies are bred in Salt free environment.
Check out this site for more info.
http://tcoletti.tripod.com/thelivebearer.html
http://tcoletti.tripod.com/molly_salt_debate.html
jim
I am about four days late for my weekly 40% water change.
Most of my tank parameters are listed in enter my tank! below in my signature line. The current values are:
pH - 7.7
KH - 12 degrees
GH - < 2 degrees
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - 0
Could someone please post anything that might help? The Molly, one of my Neons and an Otto have gone missing. I wouldn't want to lose my entire tank. :(
tricksterpup
08-22-2003, 5:06 PM
Ok, how about this? Do you use city, well or R/O bottled water? When you did your last water change there could have been a change in your local water supply. Not everything is removed by chemicals and evaporation. With the neon and otto gone missing, it does sounds like possible water quality issues.
Are your other fish acting odd? How are they acting? Did the molly fry die? Do you take your water in to be tested at the local fish store?
Town water which I have heard from the pool store can contain copper and nitrites (nitrates?). All the other fish are behaving normally but the missing fish have dissapeared. Water change tomorrow. I will look for evidence of the missing fish then. I will also get the LFS to do a water test tommorrow. Thanx.
Well, the Juv. Molly was so far gone I euthanised it. It was just kind of shaking on the gravel, curled up. I shure could use some help in determining what the cause was so that other fish in the tank don't get affected.
Anybody?
OrionGirl
08-25-2003, 8:12 AM
Any other changes you can think of? Different foods? New fish in other systems?
Sorry I'm too late to offer much other than in sleuthing the cause. Some things to look at: temperature spikes (though it's late in the year), age of the other fish involved, and anything new done in the household--aerosols especially. I would also double check the filters--make sure nothing has been added, or fallen in to the system.
Being late on the water change shouldn't cause a problem unless the system is severally overstocked, or the changes are scheduled really far apart.
Thank you, OG :)
The only change that comes to mind is the blackout we got about two weeks ago. It lasted 25 hours, so my light and air punp timers are late by one hour. Probably no clues there.
As stated above, all the tank parameters are safe and normal. My filter is a RFUGF which should be fine as there is no ammonia, no nitrite and no nasty smell in the water.
The Molly fry died in a curled position and was really just shaking at the end. What could this indicate?
Tempest
08-25-2003, 8:21 PM
Really a shame Matak. Are the other fish doing okay after your water change? Had the water been changed since the blackout? I am wondering if your water system was adding something if so.
All seems well so far. The missing fish have re-appeared and I even saw the frog and two shrimp. I am hoping that this is an isolated occurence. Still though, the symptoms were rather odd.
GoLdFiSh_GrL
08-25-2003, 9:23 PM
wut kind of fish is molly?
Originally posted by GoLdFiSh_GrL
wut kind of fish is molly? Like this:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/pictures/molly.jpg
GoLdFiSh_GrL
08-25-2003, 9:55 PM
um... wut race? i cant tell by the pic
ChilDawg
08-25-2003, 10:16 PM
It is a poecilid livebearer, much like the platies.
GoLdFiSh_GrL
08-25-2003, 10:35 PM
oOo!
OrionGirl
08-26-2003, 8:17 AM
Matak--it may be a late reaction to the blackout. It is possible that the water under the filter plate collected some toxins while it was just sitting there. Young fish are typically more sensitive to these toxins than adult fish, and got a stronger 'dose' when the filters kicked back on. Same thing that happens in a box filter that is unplugged--without the water movement, the bacteria slowly suffocate.
Anyway, I would consider the loss of just one fish a blessing, when you consider the number of people that lost their entire tanks to the black out. I know it sucks, but it could have been much, much worse.
You got that right! I am glad it was confined to one.
GoLdFiSh_GrL
08-26-2003, 7:13 PM
Post deleted at the request of several other members. OG
ChilDawg
08-27-2003, 7:27 AM
Um, in a thread about mollies and how Matak lost one of his beloved ones, calling them ugly probably isn't a good idea. I actually enjoy the looks of Mollies and I'm sure that the members at large here would agree.
momopoms
08-27-2003, 1:54 PM
Mollies are pretty, at least to me.
Hope all stays stable with your tank hon:D
Thanx, guys. As I said earlier, I am glad the losses only added to one. :)