Swim Bladder and evil molly's?

[lyquidphyre]

I just set up my tank and I bought a calico goldfish that apparently has swim bladder. I thought he was really cute and I couldn't resist so I put him on hold- the pet stores comment was "we will put him on hold till Tuesday, if he is alive by then."

What exactly *is* swim bladder?

Also, I purchased three balloon mollys. Well, one would not leave my goldfish alone (nipping at his hind fins) so I made it so he was in the tank but away from my goldfish- then the other two started pestering my goldfish, doing the same thing, so I put all three mollys in the tank away from the other fish (planning to return them) Well, the next morning the first mean one was the only one left alive. (Which I found really odd because he was "put up" for the longest time as opposed to the other two). They all were fed, and had water circulation so I don't know what happened. Any ideas?

Also, I mentioned I had a calico goldfish when picking out the Mollys and the lady never said anything about not putting them in there. Was this just a bad mistake? Or did I just pick out some mean fish?

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya lyquidphyre and welcome to Aquariumadvice

There isn't anything called swim bladder persay, what it is, is actually a problem WITH the swim bladder. My suggestion is not to purchase the fish; never buy sick fish. There is no guarantee it will survive, and without QT can infect the entire tank. Especially one with swim bladder problems; it can be indicative of digestive disorders, poor water parameters or infection. Probs with the swim bladder as usually a sign there is something else going on; its not a disease in and of itself.

Secondly, is the tank cycled? By this I mean has the nitrogen cycle completed? If you are unfamiliar with the cycle, do check out this website: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html . Its quite possible the tank is not cycled, and ammonia and nitrite levels are what did the fish in. It may also be they were unhealthy as well when you purchased them; I do think its possible as the goldfish you have on hold is ill, and whats in one tank in most lfs is in all of them. Do keep a close eye on your current goldfish as he may have been infected.

Lastly, you really don't want to mix coldwater and tropical water fish in the same tank; mollys and goldfish have different needs, and its near impossible to accomodate those needs in one tank. You may notice most lfs don't mix them in their tanks; there's a good reason for it.

 

[lyquidphyre]

I went to that goldfish sight you sent me to and they said that swim bladder is not contagious. And they gave a "home remedy" to help fix it. Feed the fish peas with the skins peeled off.

Also, I read up on swim bladder, and my fish has some of the characteristics but not the major ones. For instance, he doesn't have problems swimming to the top or bottom of the tank, he doesn't really struggle at all. The only weird thing he does is he sometimes he spazes out and swims really quickly, almost like he is scooting or something.

Also- my tank hasn't gone through it's cycle yet (i set it up a few weeks ago). But the odd thing about the molly situation is there were no problems with any of the other fish OR the "evil" molly. And today I noticed that the "evil" molly bit the hind fins off of what are supposed to be his tank mates. I dunno

But I thought id just let you know what I found at the site you sent me to- thanx!