should i or shouldnt i?

[arrynyo]

well not so good news from where im at here folks. i have this yellow sailfin molly, ill call him "stud" henceforth, and "stud" has fathered a couple of batches of children with the ladies of my aquarium. but i also have this much older, and much bigger black molly, lets call him "debo", and "debo" has also sired plenty of lookalikes himself. well suddenly, after months of pretty much not bothering each other save for the occasional fish greeting (if there is such a thing) "debo" decided to pretty much bully and attack "stud" to within an inch of his life. "stud" now has pale coloring, and is swimming vertically sometimes. he still can swim pretty good, and is trying to eat. but the problem is that whenever "stud" comes out, "debo" goes all UFC on him and attacks. ive never seen male mollies attack one another like this before, and "debo" has pretty much nipped all of "studs" rear fin away. i feel sorry for stud, but i dont know what to do. he hides now and also i think something might be wrong with him. ill try to get a pic of him up, but i dont know if i should let him live, or just cull him. hes a fighter and used to be the ruler of my 20 gal even with debo there, but now its like game over for him. so what should i do? should i get rid of him to end his suffering, or should i separate him and hope for the best? any info would be GREATLY appreciated....

 

[logansmomma1228]

I think you should QT him and observe him/ treat him for a few days to see if his condition improves. If it looks like he is getting worse is when I would recommend euthanasia. But maybe try some treatments and see if you can't get him healthy again!

 

[arrynyo]

yeah i think ill qt him for a while and see what happens. id hate to lose his as he had the brightest yellow ive ever seen on a molly. so should i just put him by himself and let him be stress free? and is there anything i should medicate him with for his fin? thanks a lot

 

[logansmomma1228]

IMO you should let him be by himself, i know there are meds for fin rot but not sure exactly what . here is a list of different medications- Aquarium Fish Medication and Treatments at ThatFishPlace.com


and here is a list of diseases for FW fish. Fish Disease and TreatmentHe might just have an infection from being attacked, but antibiotics should still be able to help. hopefully someone else can hop in and help you out a little more. Good luck!

 

[arrynyo]

thanks a lot i appreciate it greatly hopefully he lasts long enough for me to make it to the pet store and get something for him tomorrow.

 

[arrynyo]

well it was too late i suppose....he died last night after i wrote that last message....im going to miss him a lot he was the most characteristic of all the mollies i had in my tank. hopefully the 6 or so babies he made 2 weeks ago look just like him. thanks again though for that info!

 

[logansmomma1228]

I am sorry to hear that. It really sucks when that happens. I keep having otos die on me but if my puffer died I would cry and have a burial for him LOL he is my little buddy. Hopefully if something like that happens again you will be able to catch it soon enough

 

[arrynyo]

yeah i just wish i knew what it was but i think that larger molly bullied him to death because ive had both of them for almost a year with absolutely no problems between them whatsoever and the black molly just flipped on him. maybe i should get a bigger tank? i know these guys are territorial....