I have a dalmatian molly in a 20 gallon tank with a variety of other fish. Over the past two weeks I've noticed it becoming either fatter or bloated, I'm not sure, and then in the past few days I've noticed that its scales are sort of "pineconing" (as I just read about it in a fish book). I'm not sure what's causing this. All the other fish seem to be doing gine, and the nitrate/nitrite levels are within the safe range. Any thoughts?
Dalmatian Molly
- Thread starter Neptunius
- Start date
How long has your tank been set up? What are your ammonia levels? How often do you do water changes and when was the last one? What are your exact nitrite and nitrate levels? What is the other stock in your tank?
When a fish starts to pinecone it is not a good thing. Any chance it's just a pregnant molly about to drop fry? It is often an internal infection and a sign of poor water quality.
We need a bit more information to be able to help.
When a fish starts to pinecone it is not a good thing. Any chance it's just a pregnant molly about to drop fry? It is often an internal infection and a sign of poor water quality.
We need a bit more information to be able to help.
I've had it set up for about three months now.
The ph is currently 6.6
The Ammonia is 0ppm
Nitrite is 0ppm
Nitrate is between 10 and 20ppm I really couldn't be sure because the color variation seems very subtle.
I do 20% water changes weekly and teh last one was two days ago.
As far as the other stock I have 5 black skirt tetras, 3 red eye tetras, 2 orange swordtails
The ph is currently 6.6
The Ammonia is 0ppm
Nitrite is 0ppm
Nitrate is between 10 and 20ppm I really couldn't be sure because the color variation seems very subtle.
I do 20% water changes weekly and teh last one was two days ago.
As far as the other stock I have 5 black skirt tetras, 3 red eye tetras, 2 orange swordtails
betteraquariums
Registered Member
I am sorry to hear this but it sounds like dropsy to me.
Dropsy is extremely difficult to treat and most fish die from it. The Molly is suffering from.an internal problem (most likely bacterial) and can be caused by numerous things.
What type of feed do you use?
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I've always heard that mollies don't do well in water that's too soft. Since your pH is on the low side, it's possible that the water isn't hard enough to keep them long term.
Good point Jannika. The Molly had lived and seemed to thrive for a few months. Sadly today it settled to the bottom of the tank and never came back up.