black mollys

[jmoore]

On recommendation from my LFS I got 2 black mollys, one male, and one female. The female succumbed to unknown difficulties, diseases, or what have you. I was told they dont need to be in a group, but with the other bright fish, and bright colors of the decorations I thought 2 all black fish would make for a very nice contrast, and I was right.

Well since the female died, the male went into hiding and seemed to bloat, for a lack of a better word. I went into the store last night to return the dead female and get a replacement and asked the guy working if this was normal for a male black molly, and he said yes, they tend to sequester themselves and have a bloated look to them. :?
As soon as I brought home another female molly the male came out of hiding and started swimming around like nothing was wrong. He still does the bloated look to him though.

So in my long winded post (sorry) my question is this, is that normal for male mollys..to be largely rounded in body and hide under a rock all the time?

 

[docrak]

No, my mollies are very active; in fact almost never sit still. The only time I've ever seen a mollie hide is if it is getting picked on, sick or giving birth. The bloat sounds like dropsy an internal infection. A true sign of dropsy is when the scales stick out like a pine comb. None of my male mollies have ever had a bloated look, just the females and only when pregnant.

 

[jmoore]

argh I hate ignorant pet store employees.
okay, I might have a case of dropsy then, all the other fish in the aquarium have no hint of it though. Is it contagious?

 

[docrak]

I’ve never had a fish with it, but have seen it in some pet shops. I’m not sure how contagious it is, but it is easy to treat. The only problem is that you need to treat with an antibiotic, which might mean a min-cycle when you’re done treating. Maybe some else has had more experience with this disease and may be able to offer more insight.