Sick Molly???

[Super_Blueberry]

Background: I have a 55g tank that has been setup for about 6 weeks now, and I'm still cycling. Using the api master kit, i've been constantly checking my levels. My ammo is about 1.0, both trites and trates are at 0. To maintain the ammo levels down, i have been doing nightly 40% pwc's. This past weekend I noticed my new (less than a week in from my lfs) sunset platie looked like he had a fungus issue. The next day, one of my blue gouramis looked like he got cloudy eye. Great, i bought more than i planned on. I started treating with melafix and 3 days later they both are looking pretty good. Whew.

Then tonight i was watching them all after the pwc and i noticed one of my silver mollies was putting more side-to-side motion in his swim than normal. I kept an eye on him and i saw an internal dark area in his abdominal area that i never saw before and isn't on the other sm. I can see clearly it on both sides. Hes as active as he was before, so other than the 'heavy' swimming effort, he seems normal & healthy. Is he?

I have a 10g that i planned on using as a qt, but currently there are black molly fry that i think are still too small to go into the main with the gouramis, so i don't want to put any sick fish in there and jeopardize the fry unless i absolutely have too.

 

[Alyxx]

To me it just looks like its a she not a he and she's gravid. As for the increased swimming effort, I can't be sure but a good rule of thumb is more water changes and perhaps add more aeration. What all is in the tank and how was your cycle going before you added your stock?

 

[blackmolly]

yup. you have a preggo female platy also, you need to do a few 50% water changes so you can get that ammonia down.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

So thats the black spot by the anal fin everyone talks about here when their gravid. Yea, i still can't determine gender in fish. I know to look for the different fin shape, but with only a general idea of what to look for, and not seeing a difference between my fish, i don't know what i'm looking at.

This is a classic example where I found this site after I made all the decisions i should have made beforehand. Now its just a matter of hoping i can keep up with all the start up issues with a stocked tank. I have the residents listed in my profile, and i'm not planning on adding anymore, as i'm sure i'm to capacity after learning what i've read here.

For aeration, i've had an air stone since the beginning on one side of the tank, and i have been keeping the water level low to a point where runoff of the hob filter is 'splashing' the surface on the other side. Should i still add more aeration?

I had the tank running for 3-4 days before i started adding stock. At the time, i had no idea about cycling, and was more concerned about the temp leveling off and the dechlorinater having time to do its thing. The guy at the lfs said to just add fish slowly, 5-6 at a time, once per week, and i can hold up to 27-28 fish in the 55g. Thats all i had to go on, so thats what i did. Once the water started to cloud up and i lost some neons, i started doing some research, and thats when i found this awesome site and learned about cycling and other maintenence. I now know everything i did 'wrong' and i'm trying to stay ahead of the game with the nightly testing and pwc's.

 

[blackmolly]

you may want to throw in another one in the morning... 1 ppm is pretty toxic, and it's probably putting your fish under some serious stress.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

On the weekends that won't be a problem, but the weekdays there just isn't time between getting ourselves ready and our kids.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

My poor fish. I can only imagine what they were under at first. I knew nothing about cycling or pwcs. Then I read about the importance of them. Probably let out an audible 'oh s***', started the pwcs and ordered a test kit, and been monitoring closely ever since.

 

[blackmolly]

well good for you! just keep up with the water changes and it'll get better. also, you really should start developing a plan for what you want to do with the fry.

 

[Hholly]

Maybe throw in some extra Prime to help detoxify the ammonia. If you don't have a water changer yet, you should get one. It makes changes quicker and easier.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

I got a python with the tank and I LOVE IT. There's only 5 fry, and I was thinking of keeping one or two at first, but I'm leaning against that now and probably going to give them to my kids daycare for the tanks there

 

[Alyxx]

I got a python with the tank and I LOVE IT

I want one soooo bad! How long are the hoses on those things? One of the big reasons I haven't picked one up yet (aside from being a dirt poor college student) is that all but one tank are in my bedroom and fairly far from a sink.

 

[blackmolly]

measure the distance between the sink and the tank with a string. then there are two sizes. a 25 foot, and a 50 feet. they make a world of a distance lol.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

I didn't even think to measure before hand. My 25' is just long enough for my place.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

To me it just looks like its a she not a he and she's gravid.

So back to the original point of the post. Going to try to learn something tonight.... My next noob question: Does being gravid mean she IS pregnant, or is she just ready to get some.... action? If she is pregnant, roughly how long will it be before I have to watch for some fry?

 

[blackmolly]

she IS pregnant when we say she's gravid. for timing i would say two to 3 weeks? less or more, more or less.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

This is the other sm in the tank. The mollies are the only fish that I think I could see any distinct differences in the fins. One of the black mollies already gave birth, so I know one is female, and their fins look identical, so I'm guessing their both females, and she must have been pregnant when I got her. The silver mollies do look like they have different fins, but am I seeing the correct differences to tell gender? I realize this isn't the best pic, but hopefully someone who knows what to look for can tell is this in fact a male....