Male Dalmation Molly Died Mysteriously Today
So... I found my male Dalmation Molly, Fabio, deceased on the gravel near the rear-right corner of my tank this morning.
I'm at a loss as to what happened!! He appeared healthy and then BAM, he was gone!
To make a long story short, (eh, hopefully)...
My female Gold Dust Molly, Mimi, began acting lethargic a week or so ago. Then, yesterday, I got a good look at her and she had some scales missing and looked bloated. The first thing that popped in my head was that it could be dropsy. However, her scales, (the ones that are remaining), didn't look like they were sticking out.
Anyway, I knew I needed to act fast, so I placed her in my breeder box yesterday afternoon and fed her shelled peas, (which she gobbled up w/o hesitation). Some of the peas did fall out of the box and a few of my fish enjoyed the snack, but that wouldn't hurt anything.
I decided to also start a Melafix/Pimafix treatment to help w/ her scale issue. During her stay in the breeder box, Fabio kept swimming close to the box. Before lights-out, I decided to let her out and she began swimming around and acting somewhat 'normal' again.
Then, this morning, I found Fabio deceased.
He was just fine last night and showed no signs of illness, so I'm at a loss as to what would cause his sudden death!
I increased the aeration in the tank when I added the Melafix/Pimafix and none of the fish were gasping. I also tested the water after finding Fabio... Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrates-40, pH-7.6
The only other thing that I did differently was I added a few plants and snails from my 10g yesterday morning. My Clown Loaches enjoyed their snail-snacks, so there were a few shells around the tank. Is it possible that he ate a shell and it got lodged? I looked him over after I got him out of the tank and he didn't look bloated or injured in any way.
I don't think that he died due to age, (he was young when I got him not too long ago). I did, however, notice that his white spots started fading away, (which I thought was really odd), and he didn't seem to be growing much, (if at all). If he was sick w/ anything, I would think that I would have had some warning, but I didn't.
Btw, I considered posting this in the "Unhealthy Fish" section, but I like to keep that area open for urgent posts. That, and I didn't figure I would get much input due to this being a mysterious passing.
So, yeah, I guess w/ no males in the tank now, I'm giving up on trying to breed Mollies.
Mimi, (the sick one), is one of my originals and has only given birth once, (as far as I know). The only fry that made it from that batch was Mini Mimi. Both appeared to look pregnant over the past few months, but no fry were ever seen in the tank.
RIP Fabio
! lol
