Notorious dying male mollies

[Lakota]

Hi everyone. Got some men problems. Every time I buy a male mollie(no matter what kind it is) they always always die on me. They start up with that shimmying thing and end up dead sooner or later. Everyone else that was bought with him including female mollies do fine but my boys always die. Tanks temp. @ 85, aquarium salt in the tank, and tanks being properly cycled no matter what, they always die. Anyone out there who can help me?

Lakota:sad

[Hans]

they say mollies and platys are the easiest, but i dunno about that.. they always have closed fin and fungus! i think tetras such as the red eye, or lemon are the best for hardyness!

[dolphin7]

Measure your tank parameters... pH, ammonia, nitrite etc. Come back with results & we'll see what you can do.

Also, remember to quarantine new purchases.

[NatakuTseng]

I'd also suggest lowering the tank temp a bit, 85 is rather high for mollies, right around 80 is optimum for them. Also are you acclimating them to your water before putting them in the tank? Not just to tempature, but also to your water, meaning do you slowly put some of your water into the bag and let them adjust to it?

[Raithan Ellis]

I agree with lowering the tempature. For mollies I find 80-82F to be optimal. Also, slowly introducing salt in small quantities is also beneficial in single-species aquaria containing them.

Also, are you obtaining your mollies from a single source? I've come across many species/strains of fish that are overly weakened by inbreeding/linebreeding. An outcrossing is a necessity every few generations for a hardy and healthy fish.

Cheers,
Raithan O. Ellis

[Lakota]

My levels are: ph 7.5-7.7 ammonia 0 & I haven't checked nitrate, I thought that was just for marine aquariums. I hsve tanks before and never had to do that. I'm sorry I was unaware of fresh water nitrate levels. What is the nitrate for?

I've had others tell me to lower the temp so i'm in the process of doing that. thanks.

And last but not least, I've obtained mollies from 4 or 5 reputable stores and its always the same thing, my males die and my females are just fine.:shake:

Thanx again
Lakota

[Lakota]

Me again, he's no longer shimmying, he swims around like his tail won't move. He moves around(or trys to) with just his pectoral fins. Anyone know what this is all about???

thanks
lakota:confused: