I set up my 55 gallon tank about two weeks ago, I had not added fish as I wanted to establish the tank first. I transferred my fish Friday night. I have 1 Black Molly, 1 White Molly, 1 Black Skirt Tetra, two salmon colored Danio (I think) and one algae eater. Everyone did well until Saturday night. By Saturday night the black molly was at the bottom in the rear corner. The white molly and the Tetra were down there as well. I noticed the black molly's tail seems to be frayed and possible his fins as well. As a safety precaution, I moved the Black molly back to my 10 gallon tank. Once I moved him from the 55 gallon tank. The tetra and white molly seemed perfectly normal. I wonder because they are schooling fish, were they just hanging close because he was ill? Second, what do I do with my black molly? I can't see any other signs as to what's wrong? Should I start a treatment or could this just be a bullying issue. I haven't seen any other fish going after him. I'm at a loss!!:help:
Black Molly is not well!!!!
- Thread starter rickdupin
- Start date
First, welcome to AC!
When you say "establish" the tank, did you mean cycle it? Here's a link to the page on cycling:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598
Cycling usually takes longer than 2 weeks. It often takes a month to 6 weeks. If your tank isn't cycled, the fish could be suffering from ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
And, just fyi, schooling fish--usually--won't school with members of other species. Plus they can get nervous and/or aggressive when kept in groups that are too small. So it could be that either the tetra or one of the danios nipped your molly.
But when fish hang out in corners like you're describing, it's often a water quality issue (ammonia or nitrite).
Anyway, you've come to the right place! People here can help. There's a barrage of usual questions that get asked--here's a few:
Do you have a liquid test kit so that you can test, at least, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
What are your readings from the tests?
How often do you do water changes?
Is your tank sufficiently filtered? Heated?
Are you adding a dechlorinator to the water?
Plus, here's a few things to think about with your stock, for the future. The priority now is keeping your current fish healthy and alive, but down the road, consider:
mollies--some people say they may need brackish water to be healthy. I'm not the expert, so maybe someone else can chime in.
the black tetra--needs to be in a group of 6 or more of its own kind.
the 2 danios--some danios get large, others stay small, but all need to be in a group of 6 or more of their own kind.
the algae eater--this could be a plecostomus (pleco), otocinclus (oto), or any number of things. If it is a common pleco, it will get huge (I mean like up to 2 feet long), and unfortunately they're very commonly sold to new fishkeepers as algae eaters that are somehow "necessary" for any tank. But they're not necessary. Post a pic and someone here can identify him.
If the tank's not cycled, you could take all the fish back to the pet store who sold them to you (and maybe gave you bad info), and then cycle your tank without fish (as described in the article), and then research a new set of fish to buy after the tank is ready.
Or, if you can't take them back, you can cycle the tank with the fish, but it will be a lot of work. Anyway, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself
. If possible, let us know about the readings from the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests first.
When you say "establish" the tank, did you mean cycle it? Here's a link to the page on cycling:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598
Cycling usually takes longer than 2 weeks. It often takes a month to 6 weeks. If your tank isn't cycled, the fish could be suffering from ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
And, just fyi, schooling fish--usually--won't school with members of other species. Plus they can get nervous and/or aggressive when kept in groups that are too small. So it could be that either the tetra or one of the danios nipped your molly.
But when fish hang out in corners like you're describing, it's often a water quality issue (ammonia or nitrite).
Anyway, you've come to the right place! People here can help. There's a barrage of usual questions that get asked--here's a few:
Do you have a liquid test kit so that you can test, at least, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
What are your readings from the tests?
How often do you do water changes?
Is your tank sufficiently filtered? Heated?
Are you adding a dechlorinator to the water?
Plus, here's a few things to think about with your stock, for the future. The priority now is keeping your current fish healthy and alive, but down the road, consider:
mollies--some people say they may need brackish water to be healthy. I'm not the expert, so maybe someone else can chime in.
the black tetra--needs to be in a group of 6 or more of its own kind.
the 2 danios--some danios get large, others stay small, but all need to be in a group of 6 or more of their own kind.
the algae eater--this could be a plecostomus (pleco), otocinclus (oto), or any number of things. If it is a common pleco, it will get huge (I mean like up to 2 feet long), and unfortunately they're very commonly sold to new fishkeepers as algae eaters that are somehow "necessary" for any tank. But they're not necessary. Post a pic and someone here can identify him.
If the tank's not cycled, you could take all the fish back to the pet store who sold them to you (and maybe gave you bad info), and then cycle your tank without fish (as described in the article), and then research a new set of fish to buy after the tank is ready.
Or, if you can't take them back, you can cycle the tank with the fish, but it will be a lot of work. Anyway, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself
. If possible, let us know about the readings from the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests first.
I'll get you the info on the water test. As far as the algae eater it is not a plecostomus, my dad had one when I was a kid and I was told to never get one. I think it is referred to as a chinese algae eater. I can transfer all my fish back to my 10 gallon if necessary. Water changes I do about 25% every week. It is heated, about 76 F. For filtration I have a canister filter (aquatech 200 I think). I also have a 10" airstone for aesthetics.
Is it common for just one fish to be affected?
What I did to "establish" my tank, as I didn't know "cycling" was a proper term, I ran my filter for my new tank on and off in my old tank to let it gain bacteria. I take it I have blown it completely!!
Is it common for just one fish to be affected?
What I did to "establish" my tank, as I didn't know "cycling" was a proper term, I ran my filter for my new tank on and off in my old tank to let it gain bacteria. I take it I have blown it completely!!
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I think the water test info will answer all the questions. If there's any ammonia or nitrite present, then most likely all the problems are due to that, and a big water change will be your best medicine.
If the tests come back normal (that would be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some amount of measurable nitrate, up to 20) then maybe there is something wrong with this one molly. Sometimes, you just get a sick one.
I know nothing about Chinese algae eaters, but I just searched for them on the internet, and some articles say that they get aggressive as they get older. So if it was a matter of aggression, the algae eater could be the problem.
Keep us posted on those water tests! How's the molly doing now in the 10g? Is the 10 cycled?
Good luck!
If the tests come back normal (that would be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some amount of measurable nitrate, up to 20) then maybe there is something wrong with this one molly. Sometimes, you just get a sick one.
I know nothing about Chinese algae eaters, but I just searched for them on the internet, and some articles say that they get aggressive as they get older. So if it was a matter of aggression, the algae eater could be the problem.
Keep us posted on those water tests! How's the molly doing now in the 10g? Is the 10 cycled?
Good luck!
No, not completely! I did the exact same thing when I started out. Most people here did.
The problem with just running your filter, is that no bacteria will come to live in it unless there is an ammonia source. The ammonia can come from regular household ammonia that you add, some fish food or a shrimp that you add and let rot, or live fish.
So until you added your fish, you had no ammonia, and so you had no bacteria either. Now that you have fish in there, the cycling process has just begun. If possible, if you could get a filter sponge or some gravel from an established tank, that would jump-start your cycle, by introducing lots of bacteria all at once.
No ammonia, no nitrite, nitrate looks around 20. I may not have been clear about the filter. I ran the filter on and off in my 10 gallon and my 55 to gain bacteria from the 10 gallon, I also transferred about half of the gravel from my 10 gallon to my 55 to aid in establishing bacteria. My 10 gallon has been set up and running for about 8-9 months. Never had any problems. Black molly still at the bottom in the 10 gallon. THanks for all your help!!
I'll get you a picture when one of my teenagers finds my camera!!!! (This is why llions eat their young)!!! As far as the frayed sections, it looks like the spines are there but the soft tissue in between is missing. No red areas i can see. Breathing seems normal.