Molly Hiding. Any ideas?

[AquariumAstro]

First post, I hope this is the proper discussion thread.

I have a female molly who has been hiding behind the heater for the past week and a half. She darts out quickly when I drop in food (after the other fish have eaten) and then she frantically scrambles back to her hiding spot.

This is my first tank. It is a small (10 gallon) heavily planted community tank and she is the largest fish in there (3 guppies, 1 Endler, a couple of neon tetras, and two Zebra snails).

My water has been testing fine with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and just tiny amounts of nitrates (can't quite remember the numbers offhand). I keep the temperature at 25 degrees (76-77 Fahrenheit).

I've had the tank for five months and she has been in it for four of those months.

I don't know if I have left anything out but hopefully somebody can enlighten me. I've established this tank through lurking on these forums so I know the info is out there. Thanks for your help!

 

[Delapool]

Is it winter over there?

Last winter the mollies all hung around the heater most days.

 

[AquariumAstro]

It's mid-spring. Getting warmer. Go figure. She is getting a little vertical too if that is an indication of anything. I fed her some peas last night and within an hour or so she swam out for a bit but in short order returned to her hiding spot.

 

[Legit Fish]

only thing i could think of is probably she is pregnant and will give birth soon. livebearers (fish that give birth to actual baby fish instead of laying eggs) tend to do that a lot when they are about to give birth. but who knows maybe it could be another thing

 

[jennamckay]

Agreed ^ she is probably very far into pregnancy

 

[AquariumAstro]

Well this might be interesting. There was a male swordtail in there but he died a little while ago so I didn't even have him figure into the equation. I will just observe and see what happens. Tanks for the hints.

 

[Coyne]

I had a Molly exhibiting the same symptoms as yours. Incredibly shy. Only came out rarely to feed and then darted back into hiding as if in a panic. She also slowly had problems staying upright that just got worse and worse. I never did find out what exactly was wrong, but she didn't make it.

Hope you have better luck.

 

[Delapool]

Did it start after a water change at all? Or any tank change?

 

[AquariumAstro]

Nothing specific that I recall except for a couple of new live plants. I do a 25% water change every Friday. I used to do a lot more but found I was stressing/killing fish (lousy learning curve for a new tank owner).

 

[Delapool]

Nothing specific that I recall except for a couple of new live plants. I do a 25% water change every Friday. I used to do a lot more but found I was stressing/killing fish (lousy learning curve for a new tank owner).

I've got that problem as well. Gradually lost platies after pwc's even though the temperature was fairly close and I slowly mixed the water in by bucket. The last one is in a 5 gal which gets 50 to 70% pwc's weekly and isn't bothered at all. Can't figure it.

Rest of the fish are pretty much fine with water changes and the rosy barbs love them. Now I just drag the hose in.

 

[BBradbury]

Water Changes

Nothing specific that I recall except for a couple of new live plants. I do a 25% water change every Friday. I used to do a lot more but found I was stressing/killing fish (lousy learning curve for a new tank owner).

Hello Aq...

Mollies are one of the most sensitive aquarium fish you can keep. They're sensitive about their water conditions and food. A 25 percent water change weekly isn't enough for this fish. But, if you must do small water changes, then perform the change every three days.

These livebearing fish require a variety of frozen, freeze dried and flakes. I add a little minced garlic in my livebearer tanks. This herb is high vitamin and a natural antibiotic. Look into products from San Fran Bay, Hikari, Tetra, Cobalt and Spice World.

B

 

[AquariumAstro]

Thank you!