Dalmation Molly swimming in place at top of tank

[crickett]

We have a ten gallon tank with three Neon Tetra's, two african frogs, on 3/4 in pleco and two dalmation molly's that we just added to the tank yesterday. One of the molly's keeps swimming up to the top of the tank and swimming in place for long minutes at a time then is fine and swims around the tank for awhile.
Is this normal molly behavior?

 

[jmpgop]

You just added them yesterday? Probably normal. My Salifin molly stays in place a lot.

It is a big change for them to go from one tank to another. Just monitor for a couple of days and see how it goes. I would do a partial water change by mid-week and I would think the fish will be more adjusted.

And what kind of Pleco? I have a sailfin pleco in a 36 gallon - 6 inches long now and it is too small already. I took him off a friend who had it in a 20 gallon. I'm moving him to a 72 gallon soon OR finding him a new home. Most plecos need a min of about 125 gallons. - Sad but true...

Good luck!

 

[crickett]

The petstore had him listed as a common pleco, small. Like i said he's only about 3/4 of an inch right now and the girl said that he wouldn't get too big. We are going to be switching to a 75 gallon aquarium within the next few weeks though and then use the smaller tank to grow plants.

 

[librarygirl]

Hi, your tank is way too small for all of those fish I'm afraid. Plus did you properly cycle it before you added fish, or did you just set it up and add fish? Do you have a test kit?

It's good that you are goign to upgrade; if that's the case then you can keep the fish you have now but only if the larger tank is going to come soon (the ADFs should stay in the 10 gal though). I'd do a 50% water change with dechlorinator and get a test kit if you don't have one (liquid ones are best, strips aren't accurate). There's a link below in my signature: guide to starting a FW aquarium. The first thing it covers is cycling; you'll definitely want to read the links for fish-in cycling to keep your fish healthy through the process. Good luck.

 

[barterking85]

The petstore had him listed as a common pleco, small. Like i said he's only about 3/4 of an inch right now and the girl said that he wouldn't get too big. We are going to be switching to a 75 gallon aquarium within the next few weeks though and then use the smaller tank to grow plants.

The common pleco was sold to you as small now but he will get MASSIVE just google them you will see

Your in the same boat as many being misinformed by a lfs but we will try to help you get things straitened out

 

[LyndaB]

The petstore had him listed as a common pleco, small. Like i said he's only about 3/4 of an inch right now and the girl said that he wouldn't get too big. We are going to be switching to a 75 gallon aquarium within the next few weeks though and then use the smaller tank to grow plants.

That girl lied like a bad toupee.......

Good thing you're upgrading. He's going to need all the room you can give him.

 

[crickett]

Thanks to everyone who responded. You have all given me alot to think about. As far as the cycling, we got the 3 Neon Tetra's first and have had then in a smaller tank for about 6 months (i think it was a 2.5 gallon tank) and they were doing well in that tank, it was just that i sort of hated the tank and felt bad for them because it was so small. So then we got the 10 gallon and my husband transferred the 3 fish into that tank. We went to the fish store so he could "finish the school" and they didn't have any so we got these others knowing that our larger tank and stand is coming within the next few weeks. I am curious as to why the frogs shouldn't be transferred into the new tank though?

 

[LyndaB]

Probably because ADFs should not be kept with plecos. Here's a list of what you cannot keep them with:

1. Large Fish
2. Aggressive Fish
3. Goldfish
4. Plecos
5. Crayfish
6. Turtles
7. Other amphibians (newts, salamanders, African Clawed Frogs, etc)

It's also very hard to be sure the frogs get enough food, as they are slow eaters and most fish will race around consuming all the food before they can get any.

 

[KaylNeko]

That, and they're not the best of swimmers and have to be able to reach the top to breath. And a lot of them need handfed/have the food dropped right near their face so they even know it's there and it's hard to do that in a 75 gallon if they're hiding.