Odd behavior...

[Siluar]

Hiya folks,

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

Frequent readers may have seen my posts from time to time, as I stumble my way through my first year in aquaria. SO, here's the NEW odd thing!

2 of my 3 mollies have gotten just plain lazy. They lay on the bottom of the tank ALL day, only swimming up at breakfast and dinnertime. I have noticed they're a little more active at night, but it's either the gravel or a leaf as a bed if there's any light in the tank at all.

Both are smaller than the third molly, and the larger is a LITTLE agressive, but not so much that I think that's the problem. I haven't noticed any outward signs of illness. Since there's no signs of illness, I have not added anything chemical-wise to the tank other than the normal Insta-Chlor during water changes.

Any ideas?

 

[Cichlid Woman]

I don't have mollies, so I'm not sure, but don't they need salt?

-- pat

 

[Rocketman]

As I recall, Mollies don't need salt, but they can live happily in brackish conditions. Wether they are happier in Brackish water then in Fresh, I don't know. If they are 'sick' like that though, it wouldn't hurt to add NON-ionized salt until you know what the disease is, but I would get someone else's opinion first - I have never used salt.

 

[fishfood]

I don't have mollies but I had a similiar problem with some fish a couple years back and it was because I was only feeding them one type of food. They would do the same thing, just lie around and only really come out at feeding time. As soon as I starting adding some variety to their diet, the behavior stopped. Maybe thy're malnurished and/or bored with their food.