Black Molly dying :(

[dkey64]

My spunky and rather aggressive black Molly is dying. Not sure what happened! He fathered about 17 babies a few weeks ago and was as exuberant as ever. I separated the fry until they were large enough to not be eaten by their parents. The babies appeared to be biting at him quite a bit. He started losing scales and we noticed yesterday he was looking thin and rather lethargic. I have him in a separate tank now, but the switch seems to have just accelerated his demise! How long do they usually live? I have had him about a year and am not sure how old he was when I got him from Petco. The other Mollies appear to be thriving! Any ideas what I might have done wrong?
Thanks,
Diane

 

[Menagerie]

[center:fac4703b94] Welcome to AA, dkey64!! [/center:fac4703b94]
Did you add a dechlorinator to the QT tank? Is there a heater and filter?

There are a few things to check to ensure that the main tank is healthy:
~test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in the tank(s)
~check to see that your heater is working correctly
~check to make sure the filter is filtering correctly (is it clogged up? not enough bacteria growing?)

 

[dkey64]

my black molly

Thanks for the info. I think the water tests fine in the QT tank. The only thing that showed different was the softness of the water. But actually, I took a gamble and put the Molly back in the big tank, only separated him into the little floating Fry chamber. So he has his normal water back. He laid there half dead just like before...and then this morning we got up and he was swimming again and he even ate! So, whatever changes i made by separating him is what almost killed him! I feel so guilty! But I still need to find out why he is wasting away and losing his scales. Hopefully he will last long enough for me to figure this out. Thanks for your help!

 

[Menagerie]

The difference in nitrates may have been a factor between the QT and main tank.
Since you are new and I don't know anything about your tank, take a few minutes and give lots of background on the tank:
Answer these Qs:
~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp)? Exact readings are best.
~ How large is the tank?
~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are there current sizes?
~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
~How long have you had the fish?
~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlor, new substrate, etc.?

Try looking through these sites to diagnose your fish:
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm
http://www.aqualink.com/disease/sdisease.html#ich
http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health.htm

 

[mushroomfarie]

Glad to hear he is doing a bit better. I just wanted to say that I have noticed that Mollies are very sensitive to being separated. I think they grow attachments to other Mollies. For instance, I had a orange sailfin and white lyrtail. The ambiguously gay duo. (they never had any interest in the females only each other Anyway The orange Molly got some parasites. I got the parasites off and put him in the fry tank to heal. The stress of loosing his freedom killed him. As soon as he died the white molly started to act funny. I lost him that same night. I personally think it was caused because he gained an attachment to the orange molly, Expecially since the other fish were all fine.