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Sylver's Fish Updates

82K views 575 replies 13 participants last post by  Sylverclaws 
#1 · (Edited)
I currently have a beautiful female Creamsicle Lyretail Molly, who, until the other day, had never been interested in the boys. lol She is almost full grown, I think they get to be four inches long, she is just over three and a half inches long. To my knowledge, this will be her first brood! She took a liking to my male Black Sailfin Molly, and have been...dancing for the last few days. Now, she is about three quarters of an inch larger than the male fish, and she runs my tank. Haha, so if she gets tired of him, he'll know it. I have ten females and two males in the tank, and I haven't noticed any bullying from the boys, they seem to be rather gentle for males who usually practically attack the females while breeding...Bah. The two males are also interested in three other females at the moment, so she isn't getting too bothered, and to my knowledge only lets my black sailfin near her.

Well, in anycase, I was wondering what the estimate on the brood size is for Creamsicle Lyretail Mollies. I can't find anything on it when I googled. lol They usually add in all the molly species, and I know they can all interbreed and are basically the same species, just different sizes and colors. I also know that bigger fish can have more babies, but it is her first time, again, to my knowledge. She was pretty small when I got her. I've had her for several months now, and she's grown from about two inches to her near four inch size. She really is rather pretty, as is her male "buddy."

Also, for those curious, I have a breeding net which I will NOT be putting her in to have her babies. It has nine fry from a gold dust and silver molly in it right now. I was also afraid it'd be too small and stressful for her in that thing. I have improvised a roomey area for her. I made a large net that I have tied to a very large, two gallon picher(pitcher? I hate that word lol), that I will be putting into the tank, it's used only for my fish water changes and holding for big tank stuff the fish shouldn't be present for or if I have an issue that requires them moved, so it has nothing yucky in it they can't be near, like soap. I need a separate tank for this, really. LOL But I haven't gotten one yet, I intend to get one later this year.

Anywho, yes, makeshift net tied in there, and weighed down. The whole thing can go into the tank, only temporarily, no more than a few hours I am hoping, or the other fish might get upset with me. But this way I don't have to worry about her being in there out of the tank and risk a problem, like oxygen or tempurature, or a spill. I intend to have some plants in the bottom and some gravel for the babies. When they're born, they should fit through the net and be able to get to the plants and hide until mom is done giving birth. I've also made sure it's roomey and that the net wont move or collapse, and it wont catch on her and/or cause damage. This way I can try to minimize loss of babies to being eaten, and lessen stress to the mother and other fish, it wont really be a move, she will just get sorta scooped into it and stay in the tank. I did let a different, very expectant mother go in it last night, I thought she was in labor and I had been up almost two days, I had to sleep or be sick! She did not give birth and I removed her after I had a five hour nap, she seemed not to care. If anything, she wanted back in and tried to do so. ^^; Afterwards, I will remove the fry to the breeding net and let mom have an hour or so to rest before going back to the tank, I don't want the other fish picking at her while she is tired and smells of afterbirth. Would YOU want someone poking at your rump when you just shot out a bunch of babies? lol


SO, anyone have an estimate for me on the possible brood size, or should I ask later once she gets her size on? :3 Also, what do you guys think they will look like? Creamsicle Lyretail Molly with a Black Sailfin Molly. He's pure black except the top edge of his sail. It's bright yellow across the whole top edge! Mom is a very nice orange color with a lighter colored belly and dark eyes. The male has very odd eyes, the top half of his eyes are kinda dark brown/black, but the bottom half seems to be a bright shiny gold color, maybe copper would be a better wasy to explain it. Odd eyes. lol One of my gold dust females has a black eye and a silver eye though, I guess I am used to funny-colored eyes.
 
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#2 ·
Heehee, I just LOVE Mollies! Congratulations on your expectant mother! It's really just impossible to predict how big of a brood she'll have. It can depend on so many factors, one of which is how many previous broods she's had! As far as what they'll look like - this is kind of impossible to know, too! It sounds like she's been in your tank for quite some time, but remember that female Mollies can 'store' sperm from previous matings until they feel the time is right for their pregnancy to progress, so she could be developing fry from the sperm of various fathers that were never even in your tank (that is, unless she was born there!) As much as I'd love to give you a more definitive answer, I think that this is just going to have to be a wait and see situation. A SURPRISE!!! It sounds like you have everything ready to go when the time comes, though! Congratulations again, and keep us posted!
 
#3 · (Edited)
I would be happy to keep you informed. I LOVE writing about my fish. =) I am hoping to have a 30 gallon tank set up by the second or third of next month, though it will need to cycle before I add anyone to it! I intend to move some water from my current tank here and there to let it grow what it needs and cycle faster, but it'll still be a while. lol I will be using my ten gallon as the breeding area, and it might even be ready for her and the other girls by the time they're ready to give birth, we'll have to wait and see.

As of right now, I had a female gold dust molly getting ready to have babies when I put this up, and already had nine fry in my net. The adults had caused an issue when I let them out previously when they were an inch and a half long...but I was left with little choice when the mother started giving birth. That net I had set up is fine for the Creamsicle molly, but turns out it wasn't ideal for the smaller gold dust female because the holes are ALMOST big enough for her to get her head in, and I didn't want to chance it, so I had to put her in the breeding net. She was fine with it though! I actually put a few little floating plants in there, because who wants to be pestered and stared at while giving birth? lol The problem was, my older fry tried to eat the new babies! So I put them back in the big tank, and thankfully, nobody got bullied this time. They're all happily living along side the adults. =) They even go up to eat with them instead of hiding.

I was wondering, how rare is it to have almost an entire brood come out one gender(I am sure some of the babies that didn't survive may have been male, but I never got the chance to find out before the adults ate them)? All nine of my fry are females, seven of which are from one mother.

Well, in anycase, my gold dust female had -probably- around 20+ babies this time. I am not sure how many I have for sure, they're small and lighter colored than the last batch, so they're hard to see through the net and plants. lol When feeding them I have managed to count 12 of them for sure, but I can also tell several are hiding, I just can't see them well enough to count them. They're only four days old now! I know a couple died during birth because mom had one stuck in the birth canal for over 24 hours! She had two-four prior to this. I had NO idea what to do about it and was worried she may get sick and die. >< All I could do was make sure she wasn't bothered and I had the lights off for the most part. Unfortunatly she did get fairly ill, and the baby that was stuck, as well as the one behind it didn't survive. But thankfully, the rest of the babies, that I know of, did survive. =) I let mom stay away from the adults for a day, she surprisingly didn't bother her fry. She wobbled a bit and seemed very weak, she did eat a little though. Then by the next day, she seemed a lot better so I moved her out of the net and near the plants in the big tank. She hid in there for about another day, but she did come to eat. Since then, she's been just fine and back to her normal energetic self!
I hope she's done holding on to her last partners sperm, I would rather her not give birth again for a while. The males haven't shown any interest in her yet, and I've noticed that they sometimes don't show interest in a female for a few weeks after she gives birth, so hopefully I'll have my big tank set up in time, I'll be letting her stay in the ten gallon with the younger fry for atleast two or three months, I want her absolutely fully recovered before anymore babies happen.


In anycase! My creamsicle molly, the one I am so excited about, is deffinatly miss grumpy right now. She doesn't run anyone down and bully them, but so help them, if they get anywhere near her she will try to bite them. My aunt said some females get really grumpy when they're pregnant. lol She was already miss grumpy before this(Except with my black sailfin, she'd try to plow the silver male into dust if he tried to court her, but she flirted with the black one), she's just worse now. Haha. Sometimes if she doesn't feel like biting back, she just bolts for the plants before going back around the tank slowly, giving everyone the evil eye.
I am really enjoying watching the different stages in my pregnant females. I'll update on her as soon as she has her babies! I always do updates on them on Facebook, a few of my friends and family members find it very interesting to hear about the stages and the babies.

Aside from her, I think there are thee or four other expecting mothers, maybe even five. My silver molly, who had horrible trouble with her first brood(Only one baby survived, she was being bullied at the pet shop and very pregnant, but the stress of that and the move caused her to give birth in the bag on the way home), looks like she might be due sometime in the next week or two. I hope it goes better this time, as even though she can't be more than two or three weeks pregnant right now, she is rather huge! Or are they able to breed while already pregnant? =o I did see her breeding with both my black sailfin, and the silver male that came with her a couple weeks ago. I think he may also be a sail fin, he's got a good sail, but it's not as magnificent as my black sailfin molly. She seems very happy in my tank, so I'll be doing my best to keep stress down for her and I'll report on that one as well! =)

Aside from a lot of plants and hiding places, is there anything you guys can suggest to me about keeping stress down for my pregnant fish? I know that mollies like to have a little salt in their water, so I do that, though less than it says. I would rather have less than needed than risk putting too much. Although I hear mollies can actually live in near 100% salt water! I'd rather not test that. LOL My water would be considered brackish I believe.

I was also wondering if I could give them any special treats for happier mothers and healthier babies. Right now I feed them all an algae wafer every other day, I hear they are better for them than tropical flakes because they need more plant matter than anything, I also feed them tropical fish flakes, a pinch daily, and I give them blood worms twice a week or so. I was giving them bloodworms more often before(every two days or so), but then I read that they shouldn't have that kind of thing more than once or twice a week at most. Also, as a pretty rare treat, I skin some fresh green beans for them, they love those! I don't know of many other fresh veggies that are safe to give them, so I was wondering if I could have a little aid on that as well. I know they need a lot of plant matter, and variety will probably be better than one thing here and there. :3
 
#4 ·
WHEEEEE! Sounds like Molly mayhem over there! Thanks for the update, I'm glad to hear that things are going well!

The Mollies will love the 30 gallon, for sure. They have a high bioload for their size, so it will be MUCH easier for you to keep the water clean in a bigger tank. I have found that one of the easiest ways to cycle a new tank quickly is to use the filter that will be going on the new tank in the already-established tank for a week or two, then switch it over with a few fish. From being used in the 'main' tank, there will be bacterial colonies now established on the new filter, so the tank will pretty much instantly cycle. You'll want to be sure not to dump all the fish in at once, or that could cause a toxin spike, but if you move over a couple of fish every 3 days to a week (I don't know how many you HAVE - are they ALL in the 10g??!) things should go pretty well. Another option (and if you have too many in the 10g tank right now, this is possibly the better way) is to move all of the decorations/plants/substrate AND the 10g filter onto the 30g tank along with ALL the fish and the new 30g filter. After a week or so, you can set up the 10g tank again, and put the 10g filter back on it - it will be ready to go and fully cycled so that housing a momma and her fry won't be a problem :)

Regarding gender. . . actually ALL Mollies come into this world as females! :-D It isn't until they are several months old that their anal fins will start to change and you will be able to pick out the males by their gonopodium. Remember that as soon as you CAN tell there are males, your babies will begin breeding! I hope you have new homes, or a shop lined up that can take all of your excess fry - you can't keep TOO many adult Mollies in a 30 gallon tank - and you'll be overstocked by the time these little ones become juvies, lol. The wonders of live-bearers!!!

Mollies like hard, alkaline water, and they can thrive in anything from 100% fresh water to 100% saltwater. If your water is hard, you don't *have* to add salt. . . and you'll also want to do some research (if you haven't already) into what type of salt your using. The type of salt used in saltwater tanks is very different from the type you would use to treat a sick fish - so make sure you have the right thing! :) If you continue using salt in the tank(s) take care not to shock their systems by taking them from fresh to salty (or salty to fresh!) without acclimating them. You'll want to be sure to keep the level of salination in your 'birthing tank' equal with the water in your main tank. If you send any of your juvie fry off to a new home, you'll want to take care to acclimate them to fresh water (if that's what they'll be kept in the shop or their new tank) before sending them away - same goes in reverse for any new additions purchased from a freshwater tank in the shop! Also, regarding plants - some common plants do very well in saltwater, but others don't. So be sure to double-check which ones you have (or are planning to purchase) to be sure they'll thrive in your tank!

Your poor Goldust Molly sounds like she had quite a difficult time delivering her brood! You're doing the right thing by trying to give momma a break - it's stressful to deliver babies! Sounds like your Creamsicle is getting close, too - with how you say she's been acting, I bet it could be any time now! And the poor little who gave birth in a bag on the way home?!! That's so sad - talk about a buy one get one free sale! ;-)

. . . Livebearers are amazing animals, for sure. You'll find that they have so much control over how and when they get pregnant and deliver. . . it is entirely possible that she had a couple of the fry, then decided to hold the others for a time when she felt things were more stable, or she could have aborted the pregnancy entirely, and will slowly return to her normal size as the fry are reabsorbed into her system. From my understanding it is possible for them to be 'growing' more than one batch of fry at the same time, and since they can store sperm from various partners for a long time, any brood could have more than one father - and probably does if they've been living in the same tank!

I always enjoyed seeing the stages of pregnancy - and frydom - in my livebearers. . . very neat stuff!

Lots of plants and hiding places is good, but the biggest thing you can do to keep the stress-levels low is to maintain PRISTINE water quality. Pregnancy and delivery is always stressful - no matter what the creature is - but with fish it is very important to keep up on those water changes and test the water often - especially when you have so many changes going on all at once.

With the diet, you've got it - variety is the spice of life! My fish get peas, cucumbers, spinach, melons. . . on a regular basis, and they love it! As long as the pieces are small enough/soft enough for them to eat easily, and the flavor isn't too strong (you don't want to give them peppers, for example) they will do well with many veggies and fruits in their diet. You'd also probably be better off skipping the bloodworm entirely, and giving them brine shrimp or mysis instead - it's healthier for them, and they'll love it.

You might be interested in trying to find a book called Livebearing Fishes by Peter Scott. It's an easy-to-read short book that has the answers to many of the questions you're asking here, along with much more - including a nice look at how their internal systems work. It isn't very expensive, but check your local library - they may be able to get it in for you to take a look at!

Good luck over there!
 
#5 · (Edited)
I see, you have wonderful info. I'll answer a few of your new questions as well.

One: I do not intend to have more than 12-14 fish in the 30 gallon tank. Most likely I will have no more than 12 though, the 12 adults I have now. Aside from my ten gallon being a birthing tank, I intend to keep my males in there when I do not have small fry or birthing mothers. I found out I have three males, not two! One of them tricked me. Ten gallons should be more than enough space for three fish, it will also keep the system in the tank healthy, and keep tired mothers from being picked on and bred with. The fry are temporaries until I know for sure they are big enough, and healthy enough to be found new homes. However, this is going to depend on the size of my mollies. If any of them get too big, I will no doubt have them either re-housed, or find them new homes on my own.

Two: I do have a petshop picked out and intend to ask them about their water when I go buy some ferret bedding and some of that brine shrimp food you talked about today. I did not know bloodworms were the wrong choice of "protein" for them! On a lot of the info I have been reading up on, bloodworms were included in the available proteins, or live/freeze-dried prey they should be allowed to have.

Three: Yes, unfortunatly I have too many in my ten gallon. I started out with six mollies and a chinese algae eater. Unfortunatly my dalmation and creamsicle males died of ich, and so did my algae eater. I was very sad about this. I ended up replacing them, but with different kinds of mollies because I didn't want anymore that were too big since a few grew bigger than I thought they would. When I first set up this ten gallon tank, they told me I could have ten fish in it, and me having low knowledge, believed it'd be ok! Pet shop workers should be smacked for giving this information, really. A lot of people believe them because they think so long as the fish have room to swim, even crowded, they are fine in tight spaces! It's bull, and dangerous for the fish, they really shouldn't tell people this. So far it has been problemless, and I am not going to try and test it. I did not get my new fish for a few months in hopes of making sure the ich was compeltely gone. I've had no issues, but I have been doing research on mollies daily only to find a lot of my "Knowledge" was a bunch of dangerous and irresponsible misinformation, and I will fix it! I insist upon having happy, healthy fish for many years to come.

I initially intended to have my 30 gallon tank months ago! Unfortunatly the money I was saving for it went to vet bills, medications and treatment when one of my ferrets got sick. Well, she didn't get sick so much as she ate something she couldn't get rid of (she found my little cousins rubber ball and ate half of the darn thing!), she was also very poorly treated by her previous "Home" and is stunted for life, and will remain looking sorta like a youngin forever. So she had to get an expensive visit. A lot of my money goes there at the moment, though it has slowed. She deserves the best. =) My grandmother is pitching in for my new tank and accessories because I was so upset over both matters and was worried I had not enough room for my fish, I felt like a terrible person who had her plans mushed! My only other option woulda been to re-home them, which I was intending to do, but my grandmum saw I put a great deal of work into it and made me an offer. =)

This was all very irresponsible of me, so I've been working my hide off to get enough money to buy a large, comfortable tank.

Well, I only have 12 adult fish, and I intend to keep two of the new babies. Is 12 too many for a 30 gal? The creamsicle will probably not get more than 4 inches, and my sailfin males will probably get 3-4 inches themselves, but again will only be temporaries in the big tank. The other types of mollies I have are not supposed to get more than 2 1/2-3 inches long. It'll be 12-13 in there for the times I have new mothers and small fry, and nine for when I don't, but probably for no more than two or three weeks. I have discovered a few of my females are selective with their boyfriends, so I can work that out when they want to breed as well. This way the female that wants one male in particular wont have to be badgered by the other one! And aside from the females currently holding sperm, I wont have to worry about a female getting over-bred. I think I got this right, doing math on no sleep and babysitting is difficult! lol
The rest will find happy new homes once they get to be about two inches long. I am also considering returning one of the black mollies I thought was a female, and it turned out to be a male. It's a lovely molly, but I only have enough females to keep two males happy, even if they aren't going to always be with the girls. lol He hasn't caused an issue, but I am afraid if the other two males get aggressive, they may cause HIM one, so it'd be better for him to go to a different home. He's a very peaceful male, and pretty to boot. If you think that is too many, I may also take back one of my marble mollies.

As for the book, I am going to look for it. =)

And I have to say, sad as it was, that "Buy one get one free" comment made me laugh.

Oh yes, one more question! What kind of cleaner-fish/critter would you suggest for me to get for the bigger tank? I have two emerald cories, but they like to be in groups so I will most likely keep them both in my ten gallon with the boys and fry, they wont mess with my fry and are peaceful fish. I don't want to get anything that will be aggressive or that may get unhappy! I would love to get one of those eel-like loaches, but some of them get big and I fear they would be unhappy. I WILL have one someday though! They are just so cool. But my current tanks may not be ideal. lol When I have my own home, I will be getting several tanks, like two per room I demand it. xD
A pleco would need a 50 gallon minimum tank(Assuming here, I know they get huge and fast), but finding the right knowledge on the kind of cleaner fish to get is difficult, I have had so many people tell me to get bristlenose plecos(I've had them befor eand they did well), loaches, cories, snails(I got stuck with the little jerks, they try to over-run your tank atleast once a month if you don't remove the youngins), and even shrimp. I did not do well with ghost shrimp, but I did alright with Bamboo shrimp until that ich outbreak! What would be good for my 30 gal? Should I go with cories since I do well with them and love them, or is there something with a smaller bioload/tank needs that would be happy there? If you tell me I can get one of those eel-like loaches and they would be happy in the 30 gallon, I am so on it. But after a great deal of learning. :3 Until then, I will probably move a snail over there. I do not like the snails, to be honest. They came on my plants and one of them is the size of a quarter! I get rid of the small ones I see. Well, I let them go in the creek where snails that look like them flourish as is. ^^; Better than flushing them.

I absolutely will NOT be buying anymore fish until I know what I need to about them, and petshop workers are not exactly good advice givers. Though there is one fella at the petco I go to that gives good info and very little of that "You can fit fifteen big fish in there and be fine" bologna.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Hmmmm. . .

To be perfectly honest. . . I wouldn't be comfortable with keeping 12 adult Mollies in a 30 gallon tank. Mollies have a high bioload for their size, and this is really only giving them around 2.5 gallons per fish - which isn't really enough, in my opinion. Personally, I'd limit it to around 6 adults at the max - less if you intend to keep some of the larger breeds, like Sailfins. You can probably get away with more, but you'll want to have very powerful filtration on the tank, and be prepared to do lots of water changes to keep the wastes down. I'm not trying to slam you here, just giving you my thoughts on the matter. They need room to swim around freely, and . . . I just don't think they'd be as happy with so many in the tank! I have a 29 gallon AND Mollies, so I can kind of visualize where you're going with this. . .if it were my tank (it isn't!) I would keep no more than 1-2 males with 4-6 females. . . Personally, I'd go with the lower of those numbers and keep a handful of fry/juvies in there, too. I REALLY enjoy having a variety of ages mixed in together - those little ones really make a tank come alive! In my opinion you should seriously consider lowering your overall stocking of adult fish, they'll be healthier, happier, and it'll be easier for you to keep the conditions clean and stress-free. Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from - that's MY stock list for the 55 gallon mollies-only tank that I'm planning - so *I* feel that putting these in a tank that's nearly half the size is pushing it. . . think of it this way 6 mollies in a 30 gallon tank is giving them each around 5 gallons of water. When you look at it that way - it isn't SO much, is it?

As far as the 10 gallon tank is concerned, I can see using it for the fry while they're tiny, or as a pregnancy tank for a delivering momma, but ten gallons (I'm sorry!) isn't really suitable for an adult molly to live in on a permanent basis - much less three or four of them. Another thing that you'll want to consider is that it's very stressful for a fish (any fish) to be moved from tank to tank. If you're using the 10g as a grow-out tank, that's fine - and if you have to move your pregnant mommas when their time comes close - that's okay, too. The stress of the move will be balanced by the relief of being alone in a calm tank to deliver. However. . . I wouldn't recommend moving the males back and forth every time you need to use the tank. If there are no fry in residence, just put the 10g filter in the 30g tank - that'll keep it healthy for you to use whenever you need it. I'm thinking that there won't ever be a time when you don't have babies in that tank, anyway - so worrying about maintaining a cycle on an empty tank probably won't be a problem for you - at least not if they keep popping out babies like they have been!

Bloodworm are good as an occasional treat, but they aren't the best choice, considering all of the options most shops carry. If you have a shop like PetSmart around you, take the time to look at the nutritional information on the foods they have in their freezer (around here they allow the public access to the freezers) You'll find that there are other things that are lower in fat and still provide a good source of protein - and also that don't carry the risk of bacteria/illness that bloodworm can. There isn't anything WRONG with feeding them - all the fishies love it, but it isn't the healthiest thing out there :) Remember to avoid the freeze dried food, and stick to wet-frozen (and defrost before feeding)

Definitely ask the shop if they'd be willing to take the juvies from you. Many fish shops won't, simply because they end up with so many mollies and guppies - they run out of room! Often, the shops that do will ask that they be 1" or so before you bring them in, and be warned - it can take months for a Molly to get that big - most especially if they're in a small or crowded tank. Another option may be to advertise on Craigslist or something. . . you'll figure it out, it looks like you're heading in the right direction already!

YES! WE SHOULD SMACK ALL FISH-SHOP OWNERS WHO GIVE BAD INFORMATION!!! Buuuuuuut. . . we also should do our own research BEFORE we buy our fish in the first place! The blame can only come down to the customer - and I mean that with no offense intended! I started out with a way overstocked and cycling 10g tank based on bad advice and lack of research, too! :oops: been there done that - never again! The IMPORTANT part is that you're trying to fix things so that your beauties can live a long and healthy life - for that, you rock!

As far as 'cleaner' fish are concerned - they're a myth, and unnecessary - especially since you'll be overstocked as it is . Remember that anything that is supposed to 'clean' a tank, also adds to the bioload, and in actuality, the ONLY thing that is really going to clean your tank is you! :) As far as I know (I've never kept them) Cories need to be kept in a group of at least 3 and need a minimum of a 30 gallon tank, I believe. . . you also will have to make sure to have a sand substrate, as they have those delicate little barbels which standard aquarium gravel can cause serious damage to. . . but if you put corries in the 30 gallon tank, you'll need to be sure to keep even fewer Mollies. . . 6 mollies and 3 cories sounds like a good MAXIMUM number to me.

I agree - pond snails/bladder snails are awful! I don't like 'em, either, and I wouldn't recommend moving even ONE into that tank. These guys can (and will) reproduce without a mate, and as you've noticed - are happy to do so constantly! They ALSO add to the bioload of a tank, and with Mollies, you can be fairly sure that they'll ALWAYS be able to find enough food to keep multiplying. If you would like to keep a snail, a single Nerite snail is a good option. They can only breed in brackish water - but also need both a male and a female to reproduce, so you'll be 'safe' with only one.

AAAAAAAND. . . one last piece of advice for you? DO NOT for ONE MOMENT think, that just because a Molly prefers one fish to pair with over another that this in any way means that they won't mate with one of the others - they will, and most likely DO - even if you've never seen it happen. I can almost guarantee it! ;-)

So sad to hear about your little ferret! Really sweet creatures, I'm glad yours is finally getting the care he needs to be well!

Hope that helps?
 
#7 · (Edited)
No offence taken anywhere! I did ask and state I am not an expert and still learning. =)

I hope my petshop has some frozen brine shrimp or some other good foods you mentioned. I've never seen any of that there myself, usually just freeze-dried. I wonder if it's orderable online...if so, I'd only even consider doing that in the winter if ever. LOL It says on the label that it doesn't take out any of the nutrition, but lessens the chances for parasites and bad bacteria. So I didn't know that wasn't the best foods for them. Thankfully I saw this before going to the store! I didn't make it yesterday because we are helping my sister in-law and her baby out while she recovers from surgery. We didn't have anyone else helping as planned yesterday. I WAS going to get freeze-dried brine shrimp. lol I will see about the non-freeze dried stuffs. I am also making up a list of fruits and veggies that are good for them when I go shopping today for our own food. lol

Also, I was wondering about that gallon per fish too! I was thinking that two gallons per fish just did not sound right, I wouldn't like having so little space, it'd be like jail! I have been thinking about which fish I can find new homes or return to the shop, if they'll take them, for a while now. So I think I am going to give one of the males back, as well as one of my gold dust, marble and black molly females. That should make quite a bit more space, especially since I will have fry around often and they will need that extra space.
I also absolutely HATE having a net in my tank for fry! It makes even less space, although the good part of having it is it grows algae and all my fish love nibbling on it and hiding under it. I had to get it though, two of my fish will actually dig in the gravel and under the plants until they get the babies. I think my creamsicle is actually a bulldog. lol v.v; Several of my fish are fairly young, so space hasn't become, well, yes it has become a terrible issue, as it did start that way...but it's not as bad as it will get should I allow it to continue, which I am already getting a new tank to fix that!(Within a couple years, I'll probably have about ten tanks. lol) The Petco I have here will also accept adult fish, and they have good luck adopting them back out too! I -could- make money selling them, but I'd rather the quicker way of giving them to a shop for free, lessens the chances of space issues should I have trouble selling them, but that can always be a quick back-up plan, maybe I will check out craig's list afterall! I am going to see about going to Petsmart today though, I am not sure where one is...but they may have the food I need!


I do my best to keep the tank clean. I certainly can't make THEM suffer for my mistake of over-stocking. I was so excited my grandmum was going to buy me my first tank for all the work I've done, I kinda jumped right in! I had done some research prior to it, but apparently I checked all thwe wrong places. I try not to get the stuff stirred up when I clean it, I know that can make them sick. I change the water more frequently than most do, but I do so in smaller amounts than required so I don't shock the fish or poison them.


As for the thing I said about my females selective breeding, I have seen other males trying to mate with females that clearly don't want them. lol The only reason I thought about separating them is because if the female attacks her attempted suitor, the other male will fight with him as well, I wanted to lessen that chance. But so far I haven't seen any injuries. =)

As for moving them from tank to tank, I wasn't planning to do that more than once every four months because it stresses them out. But maybe I shouldn't keep the males separated. If I have a female that needs a break, I can always just keep her in the breeding tank after she has her brood instead of moving them back and forth(Aside from my creamsicle, she'll kill ALL the fry if I leave her there, the other females mostly leave them be). I try to move them as little as possible. When I do get this new tank, instead of moving my females that are already pregnant, I think I will let them stay in the ten gallon tank. Otherwise they will be moved twice in one month while they're delicate and I don't want to chance that. But there will only be two females in there with some plants. =) My silver molly female and my creamsicle female. My creamsicle is about three...three and a half inches long, I'd love to be able to measure her! LOL And my Silver female is fairly small, I'd say about two inches even. That should be ok for them!


Again, I need all the help and info I can get, so don't worry about offending me. -I- am the one who didn't do enough research and endagered my little beauties. They're more than just fish to me, in this family ALL pets are considered family, and have the best care we can give them, everyone pitches in if someone needs help or medical funding. Unfortunatly fish was probably my most lacking in knowledge of any other pet. I never dreamed I'd be allowed to have tanks here!(I did have a five gallon when I was six or so. Had guppies though!) I live with my grandparents, and they can be a bit picky about...well, everything. lol
 
#8 ·
I'm very happy to find you so willing to part with some of your adults to make life better for the rest - and it will make life better for you also, as you will be able to spend less time cleaning up after them and more time enjoying them! It's fantastic that your PetCo is able to rehome them for you. Many of the larger Petco shops have a special QT room with tanks set up just for this purpose, wonderful that you have one nearby!

You'll have a good time looking through the variety of wet-frozen foods, I think! There are many things available aside from the couple that I mentioned, including greens like Spirulina. Some companies even offer variety packs, or variety cubes that contain a little bit of a wide range of foods, either mixed together in one cube, or singly - with a 'row' of each different type in the package. Variety is always good, but don't give up on your staple flakey foods, either. They are formulated to contain a wide mix of essential vitamins that you'd have trouble feeding to your fish any other way. NewLifeSpectrum seem to have the best line of flake or pellet foods. . . The freeze-dried worms are generally avoided because they can expand in the fish's belly and cause bloat. If you choose to feed these, it is best to let them sit in some tank-water for a bit and then feed them when they've become saturated to avoid this problem. Glad that you mentioned the algae! Personally, I don't prefer to feed my fish algae wafers because, in my experience they cloud the water and make it more difficult to keep things clean - but you seem to have noticed that Mollies love algae, and are quite efficient at finding it for themselves, freshly grown in-tank! Remember this when it comes to feeding them. . . Mollies are grazers, and will eat everything all of the time. It's best to feed them very lightly, as they will find food for themselves throughout the day.

I don't like using breeder baskets, either - they really are difficult to work around. When my 29 gallon was very lightly stocked and heavily planted, my fry were able to be left in the tank and had no trouble from the adults. The difference in growth between the ones that were 'rescued' in either a breeder net, or in a 10 gallon tank, and those that were allowed to roam free in the larger tank with the adults was amazing - the ones in the bigger tank grew so much more quickly than their siblings. . . of course you don't want the babies to get eaten, but it's something to keep in mind! They might not be all of the time - or if there are less fish in the tank. . .

As far as your couples are concerned. . . I had a pair of Dalmatian mollies that formed a life-bond, there is no doubt about it in my mind. The female died not too long ago, of old age - there wasn't a mark on her. I'm sure the fact that she was being kept in soft water and was one of the ones who had to undergo my initial cycle shortened her lifespan, which is terribly upsetting, but neither here nor there. When she was removed from the tank, her 'husband' flipped out. He was panting, flashing, swimming erratically - it was terrifying! None of the other fish in the tank (and these include other mollies - even juvies - along with other far more sensitive fish) showed any symptoms of distress - only him. The moment he was put into a QT tank, he was perfectly fine, and remained so for over a month. On one other occasion, these two got into a spat - she was nearing delivery, and he wouldn't leave her alone, so she turned on him and within only a few hours had severely nipped his fins. I removed her to the QT tank to deliver in peace, and the poor male reacted in a similar fashion when she was taken out - not as extreme as when she died, but he was definitely stressed by it. So I DO strongly believe that Mollies are capable of forming true pairs that will mate for life fairly exclusively - but still. . . with so many in the tank, I would still bet that your broods will be mixed! ;-)

If you have a gravel substrate with Mollies, you should definitely be using a gravel-vac to get into the substrate with every water change. Perhaps do 1/4 of the tank at a time - you'll be amazed by how much yucky stuff gets stuck down there. Personally, I prefer a sandy substrate, as the waste sits on the top and is more easily removed without stirring things up. You really see how messy a little molly can be! Changing smaller amounts of water more frequently is very wise of you - especially with an overstocked tank of high waste-producing fish. Taking dirty water to clean too quickly can be just as dangerous as the opposite - but still better all around to adjust stocking in the larger tank so that the water will remain clean for a longer period of time :)

Good luck! It sounds like you're on the right track to a healthy tank . . .or two. . .or ten!
 
#9 · (Edited)
Well, we're going to get my new tank tomorrow! And a good thing too. Eesh. Had some unexpected babies. lol One of my smaller gold dust mollies gave birth this morning. Last time I only managed to save one of her babies, and it is one pretty baby(Full black body with a bright orange head). He's almost big enough to go to a new home. So far I've found five or six and moved them to the net, there's more in the big tank, but they aren't wanting to be caught, they are fine on their own for now! Good hiders.

Day before yesterday I took five of my fish and fry to Petsmart. Soon as I made some room, I lost it. lol I also purchased some frozen brine shrimp, oh they all love that stuff! I'm hoping to have them in the big tank within ten days or so. That depends on how my cycling goes, I'll be using the ideas you have given me, as well as the ideas a few others gave me. :3 All of my fry will be getting new homes just as soon as I am positive they are healthy and a safe size. I admit, I am tempted to keep some, they are SO pretty! But I don't have the room so all babies go when old enough. =(

All of my females except one marble molly are visibly pregnant. I really did bite off more than I can chew. lol But if I have trouble and don't have enough room, they all go to new homes. It's kinda hard, but it's what I planned on. I LOVE having babies in there, watching the mothers go through all the stages until they're HUGE and then little squigglies swimming around and growing. I initially got those females for my boys intending to have babies a lot, I just didn't think there would be so many at the same time! My aunt always had mollies when I was growing up, but she never had luck with babies. They would have babies every once in a while, but they usually didn't survive. She also didn't really make attempts to move them from the adults though. I remember they would give birth maybe twice a year, and only one or two females at that. She didn't have an over-stocked tank, infact she had a gorgeous 30 gallon tank with five mollies. Four females and one male. Planted, but I wouldn't say densly, that nmay have been why most babies died.

So, these are my first fish I've had good breeding luck with! I just have to make sure I keep them nice and clean, and have that bigger tank soon. I may actually be getting a third tank within the month as well. lol


In anycase, you wanted to hear babies! My previous molly that gave birth, all of her babies are already growing a little bit, and none aside from the two or three stillborn babies have died. I am still unsure how many are in there because I have the net planted to keep the babies from being stressed out. The adults like to poke at the net and it used to scare the babies until I added plants. Apparently they have decided my tank is perfect for babies, because suddenly all of my females are hitting it off with the males, most of which are already showing signs of being heavily full of babies. I just noticed one of my dark female marble mollies is getting big too, that makes me happy because I was hoping for some of those!

As for my newest gold dust babies...actually I am wondering about this. I heard most gold dust mollies lose that black on them, or most of it, by the time they're six months old. I have a female in there that is almost eight months, atleastt I've had her about that long, and she still has a solid black half with a bright orange head. The other female gold dust molly is completely orange with two VERY tiny black dots on her tail, and a black eye. Have I maybe gotten mistaken identity going here? I am wondering if the gold one might be an orange platy! Oops. >< Her shape is more molly than play though, maybe she's a mix. Either way, she gets along just fine with everyone, and I know they can interbreed, but still...oops. lol If anything though, my black and gold one is differently shaped from my other mollies, who have about the same shape to them. The females anyways.

Well, the newest babies from my black and gold molly, they look JUST like her, every single one. :3 They are some of the prettiest babies I've ever seen. Really tiny too, so was the first baby. She's not very big herself! She's smaller than all of my other mollies by atleast a quarter inch, so I guess it's no surprise. But the babies are alert and swimmig around.

That female got beaten up very badly by her previous mate. I gave him away because he had killed one of my mollies and chewed her up pretty badly, he also tried to kill my orange gold dust molly. He did so over-night, had I known, I woulda given him away sooner. He was the prettiest fish in my tank, but I can't have a killer, I told the shop I took him to he needed to be with fish bigger than him, and they said they would put him with the bigger ones. He used to be very calm, but after the female gave birth the first time he got extremely aggressive and just wouldn't stop. She is actually completely covered in scars. All over her back and gills. I am thankful she pulled through, they were my first two fish and I got very attached. I wouldn't exactly call her pretty anymore, but she seems to have no ill effects from it and she's mine for life regardless of her homeliness. I thought it'd be fair to keep her and give the pretty male away because he had a better chance of getting re-homed and I thought they might flush my scarred up girl.
I was wondering, do you think her scales might heal up and go back to their normal color again? I'd say they're more scar-like, but they may be missing scales, she just has colorless scales where he chewed her up. All clear and see-through like. Other than that, she hasn't had any issues, but it took about a month for her gill to fully recover. It was useable after a week, but it looked sore, now it's just scarred but seems to work properly.


I gave them all some peas this morning, they don't seem to like them nearly as much as green beans though, but they're chewing on them pretty good. Problem is, it mirked up my water REALLY bad, though it doesn't seem to bother them. I already did a water change last night, so I don't want to do one again, I am assuming that wont hurt them so long as I remove uneaten food, not that they left me much! lol I only put three small mushed peas in there. Those are good for their bladders, right? So they don't get the "Hey I can't swim right" issue. They really love that brine shrimp too. So do the older babies. Well, I now have variety in their diet! Healtheir fish, and soon to have one larger, possibly two larger, new tanks! And none to soon either. My silver lyretail molly looks like she's going into labor I just looked over and noticed She hasn't given birth in almost three months. x.x What, do they got something against having different birthdays?! Or maybe they're doing it just to spite me for my stocking mistake. So long as I have no more medical issues with my ferret or myself, all of my money is being saved to get more tanks. I don't intend to buy anymore fish though, but I can give the ones I haven't given away more space. Yes, I love tanks. LOL -face/fauls- Ah man. Honestly I don't mind spending all my money on the new tanks, I rather enjoy caring for them, even if I DO spend more time cleanign than watching. ^^; My house will probably be a new aquarium attraction at this rate!

I know, I'm kinda all over the place with my updates, sorry! I just get so over-excited, especially over these new babies today. I wasn't sure if she would even be able to breed again after nearly being ripped apart by her previous mate. x.x
 
#10 ·
Congratulations on your most recent round of babes, lol, by this point it shouldn't be unexpected at all - but even so, babies are ALWAYS exciting! ;-) Glad to hear you're getting the new tank - it sounds like you REALLY need it quick! I'm so proud of you for clearing up that extra room, as you said - you're going to need it (and MORE)! I'm very happy that you're so willing to part with the many for the health of the few, many people aren't, and it always ends badly. . .

Hmm... I always thought Mollies and Platy look very different, but as younguns I guess I can see how they could be mistaken! Is there any way you can get a picture of the fishy(s) in question? Maybe we can figure it out. . . as far as coloration is concerned, Mollies can and will change their spots as they mature. I've never had a Golddust Molly, so I'm not sure about that, but I got a 2" female Dalmation Molly from the pet shop, and though she started off mostly white with black speckles, by the end of her life she was mostly black with just a bit of white - so depending on how old they are when you get them (which you have no way of knowing, usually)

Your aunt's 30 gallon with 5 fish sounds ideal to me! There are a million reasons why her fish may not have bred so often, anything from the hardness/temperature/cleanliness of the water to the age of the fish can influence these things, so it's a really broad range there. It's also possible that they had babies more often than she realized - but perhaps they just didn't even make it long enough to have been spotted.

Depending on the severity of the damage, which in this case sounds pretty extreme, I'm sorry to say that your poor battered baby may never get back to the beauty she once was. :cry: Poor little thing! If the damage was slight, they can make a full recovery, but if the injuries were deep, and it sounds like they were, she'll probably always bear the scars of the attack. It's a testament to your care that she's recovered so well, and even breeding again!

LOL! Sounds like you are having as much fun as the Mollies are with the new food choices! Three peas sounds like a bit more than would be necessary to feed your crew - remember, you don't want to give them very much. Over-feeding is VERY easy to do! Next time, don't mush the peas, just cut them finely. It's probably the mush that was too small for them to eat that clouded the water - however, fry often can and will eat particles this small! Still... you don't want cloudy water for sure!
 
#11 · (Edited)
I do have photos. I hope these don't come out too big. x.x They're a bit smeary too, it's hard to get good photos of them. The first time I took a photo of my tank, I forgot to turn off the flash, they didn't like that. So whenever they see the camera, they try to stay away from its view. lol Actually, they're very smeary, but you can make out their shapes and colors. Sorry, it's the best I can do.

The first one is my gold female:



This second one has both my Gold dusts in it since I couldn't get the little one to stay by itself for a good shot, but you can see them both better. She's the orange and black one I thought might have platy in it, you can see she's pretty scarred up. Her right gill is scarred up the worst, but it's healed nicely and looks right, but you can tell it was nearly ripped off on one side, the gold one also has a small white scare on the top and left side of her head, and you can also see my black pregnant female and silver pregnant female wanted some attention as well. lo Most of her black has actually faded due to being chewed on, and possibly from growing older, her lower half used to be solid black, no markings. She was also still small when I got her and growing, so I am assuming she wasn't anymore than two-three months old when I purchased her:


And this one is the male black and gold one that beat her up and was given away. When I purchased them, they told me they were Gold Dust Mollies. It's a good shot of him, I had him for about four months before he caused problems:



In that second photo, you can also see one of my Marble mollies. She's kinda oddly colored, looks almost green/brown while the other female, which is pregnant and did not make an appearence, is mottled black and white, she has so many spots. lol I know it looks like they have ripped up tails, but it's actually because their spots stop before the end. I thought they were ripped up at first too! But they have perfect, un-nibbled fan tails. =) Thought I should say incase it was hard to tell on the photo. The other female has a few spots that go to the end making it look like her tail is shredded, but they aren't.

My two males, as I thought, are now fighting over my creamsicle female, unfortunatly for the silver one, both the sailfin and the female like to smack him at the same time. ^^; Heh, she doesn't want him, just the black sailfin male. I am keeping a VERY close eye on them to make sure no bites happen, it's mostly just tail flapping. If I see bites, the silver one may need to get re-homed. Last thing I want it ripped up males, even though fatal injury isn't too common, I don't want to risk it. Unless you have some ideas for me? :3
 
#12 ·
Well, I gave away some mroe fry, so I have a little more room again. lol

Also, I got my new tank set up on the 31st I believe, Might have been on the first, I'm still kinda blah in the memory area right now. I've been adding a little water from my other tank every day as well. About half a gallon or so since then. I ended up getting sick the day I went to get my new tank, but I somehow managed to get it all set up! And I have been able to keep up with my cleanings somehow. I ended up in the ER two days ago with a bad lung infection and a 103.1 fever. x.x I was worried my tank would suffer if I wasn't able to do anything, but thankfully I have kept my schedule and it wasn't as hard on me as I thought. lol Yes, I was worried about my fish and ferrets over myself. XD I just can't help it!


Anywho, it's nice and densly planted, though a lot of the plants are still young. I moved one of the smaller plants into my ten gallon and swapped it with my huge plant! It fits perfectly in the big tank and thensome, it DID fit in my ten gal when I got it, but not anymore. I have a smaller version of this plant that I mved to the ten gallon. I also moved some of my viney plant monster things over to the big tank. I was worried about some of the plants, but they have gradually started looking better since I put them in the tank. Those things do NOT like being in air-tight bags and gel containers. I added a little fertilizer for them as well and they look better every day. It's going to be one beautiful tank when everything is finished, it's already very pretty! Well, it's finished being set up, the plants are still getting used to it and it's obviously still cycling. But I am VERY proud of how it's looking.

I'll get a photo for you in about a week, as well as one of my new fry! I've got so many in that net, I can't wait to let them have the ten gallon to themselves. My silver molly is about to pop too. She looks like she's off and on in labor(She isn't very rounded, but she does look like she's ready to go, she probably wont have very many is all, which will be good for her since she had trouble last time), I'm worried she may be having a problem, though I don't see any babies stuck. But she's been acting like she's pushing for a couple days now. Other than that, she -seems- ok, I'm keeping an eye on her. She eats and swims normally most of the time, but sometimes she'll have an hour or so where she is swimming slowly in a corner or not at all, and looks like she is pushing. It LOOKS like she might have some little black babies, but I can't tell for sure. I can see a big mass of black in her, so I am assuming the babies are dark colored. :3 I am hopeful she will have some silver/black sailfin mix babies, my aunt thinks they may come out spotted. It would be nice to have some dark or black babies for a change. Either way, it doesn't matter. ^_^ All the babies are cute.

I wish I could change the title of this post to "Baby Mollies and updates" for other members to look at, you have given me some wonderful information, and I am sure I've had problems that many face as well. ^_^ Maybe I will ask an admin.
 
#13 · (Edited)
My Silver molly gave birth sometime yesterday afternoon/last night. As always, it was while I was sleeping. lol Unfortunatly my Silver molly seems to be extra, extra determined to kill off any chances of descendants, she never leaves many babies behind and usually is bursting at the gut. I need to get something for them to have babies in, something that lets the babies escape and leaves mom high and dry! She did leave me some though, I am not sure how many. I am assuming around 10-12. I have counted 9 for sure, she got ahold of four babies before I could catch her, and one looks like it got mushed between the rocks by her.
They usually hide pretty well after they're born, so I'm thinking more will be coming out of the wood-works soon. ^_^ They're cute little things. I actually got a video of my tanks for you guys! My newer tank is all set up and has fish in it, it's still a bit crowded though, I'm gonna have to do something about that. lol The fry now have the ten gallon alll to themselves.

Also, for those of you who watch this, pardon my shakiness and cruddy sounding voice, I haven't been well for the last few weeks.

 
#14 ·
I'm so confused! I replied to this, but. . . the reply is vanished!!!

Anyway, it looks like things are going great, the fish are really enjoying the extra space in there, and AWWW! BABIES!!! I'm really happy that you're taking the needs of your fish into consideration - you're doing so well! It's hard to part with a pet that you've had for some time, also difficult (for me) to give those darling little fry up for adoption. The tank is coming along beautifully, I can't wait to see those plants shoot off! Do you have any floating plants in there? If no, you should look into getting some - they will go a long way in keeping the water quality clean and add a lot of comfort for the fish - plus it's really easy to move them along with momma into the birth center, and the fry really appreciate the shelter :)

Keep up the good work - and I REALLY hope you feel better soon :( We're all sick over here, too. . . the moment school starts and the weather starts to shift, everyone gets sick *sigh*
 
#15 · (Edited)
Yes, I do have some of those viney-like plants that can free-float. I had initially kept most of them in the breeding net...that I recently got rid of since I could let the fry out into the ten gallon. No matter how I tried to clean it, it had a rather nasty stink to it, and it wasn't the best net for fry anyways. =( I'd clean it once every two weeks. I'd suck out all the gunk in the net itself with, of all things, a turkey baster since it didn't bother the babies. Did that every two days or so since you could slowly suck up all the gunk without disturbing anything else. lol But to clean the net itself, I had to remove all the fry and put them in a pitcher that's just for the fish....So it was stinky(It's been in the tank for about three months, babies got big enough to go into the big tank and more were born). =( Today I bought one of those plastic ones that have removable compartments, it's big enough for three small fish supposedly, or one large one (In my opinion it's only big enough for two small ones or one large one, and for no more than 6-8 max!), and it has a grate in it the fry can escape through. No more stressed out mother fish being moved, and much less eated babies! I also put some of those plants in it...unfortunatly I think I moved some of those pond snails over with the darn thing, I saw a sack of eggs on it, and only fry and snails have been near them, so I know it was them, evil little monsters....I took off the eggs when I noticed them, but that doesn't mean some didn't fall into the tank. ¬¬;

As for the plants in the new tank, I like those longer green ones, the red ones are making me angry. The mollies like to forage, so when they poke the plants, sometimes they unearth themselves and float to the top where the mollies beat the leaves off of them, they also pull leaves off the ones they haven't unearthed and cleaning up the leaves is kinda a pain in the butt. They get plastered to my filter too. Sure, they're pretty and might grow up even prettier...but right now I just want to kill them. lol

What do you think about my gold/gold dust mollies? Are they the same breed like they said at the shop?

I also bought one of those variety packs of frozen foods, it's got brine shrimp, bloodworms and mixed veggies...they loved those veggies, but I can't say it did any good for the water. Thankfully my mollies are little vacuums and it was only a small amount! I defrosted them and dropped some into the tank and I swear it was an explosion of green stuff! I also put a small amount into my fry tank, and the rest will be saved for later.

I also gave away those three babies that were in the big tank. I had initially kept them because they were smaller than their six siblings that I gave away over a week ago. I was debating on whther or not I wanted to keep them in the first place, but I decided they'd be happier elsewhere. My aunt wants that male black molly. I was going to take him to the shop today with the three juveniles, but my grandma got upset about it told me she'd bring him to my aunt and I wasn't allowed to give him away. I have to say, he is rather gorgeous! He looks like he's got some sailfin in him, or maybe that's just how black molly males are. He's kinda got a mini sail, but it doesn't cover his whole back, just about a quarter of it, but he can put it up about half an inch or so. :3 He will make a beautiful addition to my aunts Tetra tank, I am going to offer her a second adult as well, he wont be happy by himself(as per problem below) I am thinking of giving her both of my adult black mollies. Problem is, one is a female sailfin and I don't know if my aunt wants babies everywhere, I'll have to discuss it with her. Either way, again, atleast two have to go now, I may even ask if she'll take a Marble molly(I really don't want to give those two marble mollies up, they're my favorites next to my big sailfin!). T_T Maybe I can squeeze in another tank! Wishful thinking. xDD

Problem...Made room and lost it again. =-=; My grandmother got me two balloon mollies. I don't really like them that much, or I didn't before today. She got me a male and a female(I think she's about to have babies, but I dunno with those little balloon monsters, guess it's a bonus for me, that'll be interesting, not so great on space, though they will go into the ten gallon after birth and only be kept until they're big enough to be re-homed), Butterfly Balloon mollies. I know NOTHING about them! She's like "Hey, I WANT these, these go in your tank, you have room now, you WILL get them for me." I was like no I don't. ^^; Well piffle! lol I think they look cute and all, but weird and never really wanted balloon mollies...Frank and Cleo...my new aditions. Well, I suppose these two are rather pretty....the male is bright red with a few white spots, yellow stripes and he has yellow arm-fins(What do you call those fins?), and the female is mostly white with orange/red on her back and also has yellow fins. Prettiest Balloon mollies I ever saw, but they aren't some small fish...Ehhh....My grandma needs to get her own tank! >_>; She also forced me to get those two black mollies in the first place. LOL Well, I suppose it'll be ok once my aunt takes a few of them, I'll see about this happening on Friday. They're such odd looking little bobbly aliens, but they have pretty colors. lol Ehh....how big do those get, and are they aggressive, or just like any other molly? x.x Anything in particular I should be aware of for them? I would sneak them back to the shop...but I don't want to get...well...uh, let's just say my grandmums feelings would be hurt and she kinda takes it far...she'll never help me again. >___>;;
 
#16 ·
HAHAHA!!! Every time you start to clear out, you get overstocked again! Too funny!!! Well, with all of the help that your grandmother has given you, I *guess* it's fair that she gets to pick out a couple of fish, lol!

Balloon Mollies. . . personally, I am NOT a fan of ANY of the various fish bred and marketed for the 'balloon' defect, but many people (including your grandmother, apparently) think that they're gorgeous. Personality-wise, they're sweet as any other Mollies, but. . . essentially, the balloon molly started off as a Sail-fin Molly that has been selectively bred (and inbred) in order to produce genetic deformities to the spine that give it that 'balloon' shape. They DO have many health issues because of their shape, and are far less 'hearty' than other molly breeds are. In general, they have a shortened lifespan, and they're very susceptible to bloat, constipation, swim bladder, and digestive issues in general from what I've read. They can interbreed with other types of Mollies, and the balloon defect may or may not be passed down to their fry - you might get some that have it and some that don't.

As for your Gold-dust Mollies, they look like mollies to ME. . . but if this is the same shop that takes YOUR fry, remember that you could be getting any kind of weird crossbreed, since they're probably also taking them from others, as well. They're probably basing the type mostly on coloration, and who knows how they were raised before being taken to the shop. She could have been stunted growing up in a tiny tank, or maybe is just naturally smaller. . . it's really hard to say!

Fins 101. . . I *think* you might be referring to Pectoral fin when you talk about the fish's 'hands.' The Pectoral fin is on the SIDE of the fish, just behind their gills. Then there is the Pelvic fin, which is located on the fish's underbelly, closer to the fish's front, while the anal fin is the one that is more toward the tail, and used to determine gender with Mollies. The Caudal fin is the tail, Dorsal fin is on top, and some fish (like Tetra) also have a little fin between their dorsal fin and their tails which is called the Adipose fin, but Mollies don't have this one :-D

Do you know what types of plants you have? If you can give me an idea of what they are, I may be able to help you figure out what to do with them, lol! viney-like. . . is probably a stem plant, but it could be one of many options. I'll go back and look at your video and see if I can get a better idea of what it is. . .

Glad you get to keep some of the mollies you're attached to by sending them to your Aunt's! That's a good way to solve problems, lol! And who knows? She may STILL not be able to breed them (for whatever reason) Glad to hear that you got a better breeder box, though. From the sound of it, you'll be putting that thing to much use!!!
 
#17 · (Edited)
Ouhh...I had no idea it was a deformity that was bred into them for looks at the cost of the fishes health! I make a point to NOT purchase such things. They are kinda fun little things, but I still think they are more cute and less pretty, the colors are pretty anyway. That hunched back gives them odd faces... Now when they breed a fish for beauty but also health, that's fine with me. This is why I like to have more than one kind of molly in my tank, less chances of inbreeding and problems. Mutts are usually the best for a lot of animals, like fish dogs and cats. lol Although it does sometimes make issues...I am hoping that my nice healthy fish breeding will create some bigger gene pools and make less chance for such issues, not to mention have some interesting fish! I am sure I may get some problems here and there, but hopefully less than I would breeding just one type of fish. They may not be pure-bloods or whatever, but they should be nice looking, healthy fish.

This is actually a video of my fry nursery again, I was cleaning out some water at this time and found when I moved the light over to one corner so I could get at the water, a lot of the fry moved over. You can see I do have some pretty babies in there, three broods of different ages, and the lighting is MUCH better!



This is my new breeder, it is indeed NOT big enough to fit three fish in it like they say, I mean if you got pushed maybe two, and only for a very short time period in an emergency. lol I'd rather have no more than one at a time, but sometimes the fish have other ideas. I ended up putting my balloon female in there, you can see that she is about to explode...I initially thought she was just fat, but she is showing all the signs of being a very short time away from delivery. I actually had to stay up for a time last night to do research on balloon mollies during pregnancy, I don't want any problems if I can avoid them. But she also got picked on, by of all fish, my smaller gold molly! And the black male...And she looked like she was trying to go into labor. From what I've learned with my other females, is they will gag and get very moody just before labor starts, which she was doing, she was also hiding. She did not have her babies, so I put her in the main tank when I got up. She actually seemed MUCH less stressed than when I first put her into the tank, but she still hides, which is a thing for balloon mollies apparently, through -most- of their pregnancy, not just THE day of. Haha.
But here's that photo of her in the breeder, it also has one of those "Viney" plants in it, they can be free-floating or attached to a rock...they don't like to attach though. I don't know what that big leafy one is called, I DO know I have an Aquatic fern though. lol You can also see the male balloon in the background, he does have a rather brilliant red/orange coloring to him. Her belly is about double(Maybe even more than double) his belly size. I sure hope she pops soon, she might break her poor back if she gets any bigger. ^^; I hope not, but it does worry me when they're shaped like that.



It's hard to tell, but I actually removed all the compartments but the bottom one that keeps the fry safe to give her all the room. I wish they'd think of the mothers and give them more room, this was the medium sized one...ended up being smaller than I thought!

I've got a bunch more research to do, again...but atleast I have MORE than enough room for all my current and incoming fry. I have to relearn the signs of mollies in labor for the Balloons as well, since they seem to be a little bit different. And hopefully she will have some non-deformed babies with this brood, I am assuming will be "Pureblood"(Since she was only in a tank with one other male and female balloon molly and rosebaras), and will breed with my other fish to lessen the chances further. As for the male, if he breeds with my non-balloon mollies, there probably will be an extra chance of them being ballooned, but maybe it will help their health and life-spans, and have a less extreme deformity. I feel so bad about helping to pay for deformed fish I actually want to cry now. Sure, they don't always know, and may have better lives when well cared for, but that just sucks. It's like choosing to have a baby with cancer because youwant to tinker with their genes! (Like wanting to force a baby with dwarfism instead of having a normal baby)

As for the petshop I take them to, I take them to both Petco and Petsmart. They usually state if the fish are "Mixed" or if they got them from breeders. =) And they usually put the "Mixed" fish in their own tanks. Petsmart puts them in the back room, but Petco gives them their own, well-planted tanks on display in the main area. That's where they put the three juveniles I brought them, and the lady was rather happy about how pretty they were. ^_^ I really wanted to keep that black and gold one, he had some lovely markings and colors, but I just can't get enough room! I'll just have to be content watching them grow up and go to new homes. =) I do, afterall, have about 15-20 or so just like him in my nursery right now! And with a ten gallon all to themselves for the first 3-4 weeks, I shouldn't run out of room for fry. Haha. Famous last words! Right? You want some? xD
 
#18 ·
HAHAHA!!! NO! I do NOT need any more fish at this time, lol! But I would be happy to know that any of my mollies came from as good a caregiver as you :) Right at the moment I'm down to only one adult, Danny. He's *technically* a Dalmatian, but looks much like your black male, with the amazing topfin. I've had him since day 1, and he's one of my favorite fish. Since he's been with me, he has fully matured and lost ALL of his spots, so he really just looks like a black molly at this point. He's getting old - and HUGE - but he's a gorgeous and ridiculously sweet little man! I also have three of his babies - the others have all been re-homed, and their mother recently died :cry:. Once the 29 gallon Molly tank settles a bit more, and I have room in my QT tank again, I'm planning on getting a couple more - one being a creamsicle lyre-tail :) I suspect I'll get 2 females and leave things at that and see what happens from there.

Don't feel bad, first of all - YOU didn't know about balloons! Secondly, it was for your grandmother, so. . . you were kind of bullied into bringing them home, anyway! Plus, with all the aid she has given you in expanding your tank and such. . . well she kind of deserves to have her pick with at least a couple! And Third? Unless EVERYONE stops buying balloon versions of everything, they won't stop making them. Since you've already gotten them, just do your best to keep them safe and healthy (I know you will!), and be glad you could help the poor critters out!

I've never kept Balloons, should be interesting for you to figure out how they differ from the 'normal' Mollies in behavior. . . I've always wondered how to tell a pregnant balloon molly - guess I know now! I hope all of the stress from the move didn't upset her pregnancy. *fingers crossed* for a healthy brood!

Your video didn't work for me, BTW. Might be my computer being a fool. I'll try again later :)

The plant in the basket looks like Anacharis. It's a very good and quickly growing stem-plant - great for removing toxins from the water, and wonderfully resilient for a beginner - they're hard to kill :) They usually come in bunches with a lead weight holding them together. This weight CAN be put into the tank. If you still have the weight, you can wrap the ends of the stem(s) gently with it, and the weight should help to hold it down until the new root systems can form. Once it roots into the substrate, the roots will hold it down so you can remove the weights and the plant should stay stuck. I often will break a larger weight into 2-3 smaller pieces, so that I can root several separate groups of plants :)
 
#19 · (Edited)
Ah, those are a little out of control, but they really aren't the problem now that I've figured out I can tie them to other plants and rocks. They didn't come with a weight. The ones causing me a problem are the ones with the red leaves in my big tank(Although the Anacharis does like to occasionally drop a small piece of itself off and clog the filter or wrape around it, I can re-angle them). They continuously lose their leaves and they get stuck in my filter, other plants, the fish think they're food, and they just clog up the whole top of my tank! My mollies do like to forage, but when they even touch those little red plants the leaves pop right off and go everywhere. I pull out ten-twenty leaves per day. They LOOK alive...but they've looked pretty much the same since I bought them, they were in one of those air-tight bags, and I don't think they liked them. They may actually be dead or dying. ^^; If they lose all their leaves, I'll just get rid of them. There are two or three that actually started to pick up and look good, the rest still seem a bit...wilted? I guess that's the word. Well, I'm doing great with all my other plants, aside from the big one that has soem snail bites in it, but there aren't any snails in there now that will chew on it. Atleast I hope not, I haven't seen any. I do have an apple snail, but I hear they wont mess with plants. I feed my plants API Leaf Zone Plant Aquarium Plant Food. I put some in there when I was setting up the tank, and I put some in for this week as well. You're only supposed to put a certain amount in once per week. My other plants are absolutely flourishing! Maybe I finally found a plant that I suck with? lol I am a beginner and know very little about plants, so it's a shock to me I've managed to keep my Anacharis, Aquatic Fern and my big leafy plants alive for so long. Hard to kill or not. But then I have always been very good with plants and gardens...Maybe I have a green thumb.


As for my babies, boy they're growing fast in the main tank compared to how they grew in that cramped breeding net! They all look happy and energetic, and forage on their own quite often like the adults. Of course I still feed them 3-4 times per day. I've discovered they too, LOVE algae wafers. I usually drop a small corner off of one in there for my cory every two days or so(With those plants and food too big for the fry, he gets enough to eat), and the fry will occasionally mob him off of it. LOL If there's anything left in 20 minutes or so, I remove it, but that's rare since my cory usually eats half of what I put in, and my 40+ fry eat the rest, occasionally there's a tiny smidge left for me to remove. I've got a video of them mobbing him. lol

You can find me on Youtube under the same name: Sylverclaws. =) I have a lot of videos up of my fish and ferrets. lol Even have one of my cat getting a bath after he got into fertilizer! He likes water though. :3


Oh yes, I did have another question which you may or may not be able to answer considering it's about the babies. I have a few fry that came out brown in color, few light browns, few dark browns. Some have some spots, others have perfect stripes going down their bodies from head to tail, right through the middle. A few have only the one stripe, but one or two have three stripes. I am assuming it was from the mix of parents. lol Have you ever had some fry come out brown with or without spots or stripes? I am thinking they may grow into marble mollies or something similar(the ones with spots anyways), do you have any guesses? =p I DO actually have a female marble molly, who is not a mother yet, that has brown where her whites should be between the black. Maybe they will look like that. I know they change colors as they grow sometimes, I can't wait to see how they turn out in a month or two!
 
#20 ·
huh, that's really interesting! I've never seen a striped molly!!! They DO change a LOT as they grow in my experience, though - so maybe those stripes will break into spots as they age. Mollies in their wild form are more of a brownish and greenish color, so it isn't uncommon for these colors to come through - especially in a mixed batch! It'll be really neat to see how they develop - keep me posted!

Any babies from your balloony girl yet?

Have you any idea what plant it is, exactly, that is giving you the trouble? Stem plants (like the anacharis) are really easy to keep, as is Java fern. . . I'm guessing that your 'leafy plant' might be Anubias, which is also a very tolerant one. It could just be that you got a plant that requires conditions different than what you have in the tank - like higher light. Or maybe it needs a root tab. If I knew what the plant was, I might be able to help you. Can you try to take a clear picture of it? Won't hurt to try!
 
#21 · (Edited)
Yeah, my Balloon molly is giving birth right now actually...unfortunatly all is not going well. I've done everything I can to keep stress down on her after being moved from the pet shop, unfortunatly I think she was already sick or something, she's been slow and hanging out in the corner since I got her. I found her at the bottom this morning on her side and gently scooped her into the breeding/QT tank, I don't think she even knew I moved her. I thought she might be constipated because I could see her having trouble with something stuck and she hasn't gone in the three days I've had her, and they do get that issue. I moved her about two or three hours ago and she started to pep up a bit, that's when I noticed something was stuck. I thought it was poo. I went to get her some cooked peas, since they are a great constipation remedy in fish, and in the three minutes it took, she had fourteen babies(Only two were alive). It's been about half an hour since then now and she's had a few more.

She looks sick, she really does. She's got one eye filming over with this grey bubble that wasn't there this morning, what in the world is going on here? x.x Right now I only see five live babies. The rest are still partially in eggs, and a few not very formed eggs, more coming I am sure. Obviously she miscarried, but that doesn't explain why she's got that film over her eye, she has a white patchyness on her back I thought was scarring from an old burn...I really hope I didn't get a sick fish. ^^; Next time I'll be looking before my grandma does any buying! In anycase, I've tuend out the lights and shut off my TV so she has no noise, no light, and can just relax. I really don't think she will survive though. =( But atleast I'll do what I can to give her a chance.
If this sounds like anything you know about, please share it. ^^; I've never seen anything like it, and I am new to fish, I can spot dropsy, ich and ammonia poisoning, but that's about it.

As for the plant, I have no idea what it is called, I lost the container it came it...well, the bag it came in. lol I'll see about a photo later on.
 
#22 ·
Awwww, man, I'm SO sorry to hear such bad news. You're right, it sounds as if she aborted the pregnancy due to the stress of being moved. Usually white patchiness is a sign of a fungus - and to be honest, most of these things are already IN our tanks, but when a fish is stressed out, just like in people, their immune systems are not as able to fight off infection, and they succumb to things that they otherwise could have fought off. :(

I really am wishing you had a QT tank, and if there is any way to put her in the 10g, and get the fry into the breeder trap in the main tank, I would do so ASAP. It sucks to move her again, but better to do THAT than to have any of the others get sick. . .

Good luck. . . :( what a night!
 
#23 · (Edited)
Yeah, I thought it might have been a fungus too. But her eye looks like it has a grey shell over it that is popping off, her eye looks normal under it. Funjgus on the eye? Poor baby. >< But the white patches on her back...I really should have known! It's so obvious too, that the lady at the petshop(who knows better than people like me and they have a policy not to sell sick fish!) who gave them to my grandma should have seen it, I noticed it when I saw her, but Grandma didn't want to go back. =-= Stubborn. I also thought it may have been burn scars, because they had a heater malfunction that also burned two other fish. But I am looking into what type of fungus it could be and I'll see about treating the tank. No sense in contaminating my big tank and my nursery, she's already been in there over three days. I DO have her in a Quarentine. That breeding net doubles as one, or so they say. Atleast it does contact-wsie, which -might- help, but damage has already been done. I WOULD move her to the nursery, but I have so many fry in there it would just be impossible to move them all out, and I don't have a net big enough even if I used both of the ones I have, some of them have gotten big, six of which are three weeks old and surprisingly big enough for the adult tank, where they are already. I intend to nip this in the bud, I will not have a tank I worked hard on be destroyed because my grandma wanted a powder puff! But I wont yell at her either. >_>; I'll just do damage control, she's helped a lot so I'm not saying anything at all to her. lol She came to look at them when I told her the Balloon was giving birth, she had this HUGE ear to ear grin. I just can't bring myself to tell her she may have brought a big nasty into my tank. >>;

I also turned the heat up to 82 from 79(did this last night, it's not quite there yet since I'm doing it slow, though it's not a huge change, it's enough to shock should I do it fast), and I added a little aquarium salt, she has pepped up a lot and looks more alert. I am hoping this will fix it. Heat and salt is a treatment for some fungi, so hopefully that will keep my other fish from getting it. I'll also have to do a small water change sooner than planned. Very small, I don't want anyone else getting stressed. But after living in my ten gallon, most of my fish are used to those small, often water changes.

Hopefully all is will be well...I'll be moving my black molly to the nursery in a breeding pen probably in the next 24 hours or so. She's started squaring off and is doing that "Hey, I'm hanging out in the corner now." Thing. Once her dorsal fin starts hanging down I'll know she's ready to go into labor soon. Yup, more babies. But like the Creamsicle, these are ones we've waited very impatiently for. Balloon's and Black mollies are my grandma's favorites, and she's hoping she bred with my other black molly male. I told her "Fat chances, I have three boys in there, and he's the most docil one of them all." lol Plus, I saw her breeding with both my sailfin and my silver lyretail. :3 I certainly wont be unhappy with the results, so long as the birth goes well for mom!

Ah, I'm getting the hang of this all. I think I am going to do a big study session on diseases mollies can get, it'll be a long week. If there is one thing I can surely say I am an expert at by now, it's how to tell when a molly is going into labor, and when she's due for it atleast two days before.. ;D But atleast there is one thing I can brag about that's really helpful: I learn pretty fast! Knock on wood so I don't get jinxed any further, especially with space and illnesses!
 
#24 · (Edited)
Quick update here for you guys, I seem to have the infection under control. The balloon molly seems to be back to her normal self (She's eating, swimming normally and seems energetic, still in the QT though), and the fungus is shrinking back and falling off, her eye looks ok too, no more giant shell of yuck! Still a bit filmed over, but it looks alright underneath. She can obviously see with it too Over the last couple days I've turned the temp up from 79 to 84 degrees and added salt little by little. I know mollies like it warm and I hear they can handle up to 85+ degrees, but 84 is doing it just fine. If that's too warm to survive long in, how long can I/should I keep it like that you think? It's visibly doing its job killing the fungus, and the fish don't seem to mind. lol Only one other caught it, the same day my Balloon molly gave birth I noticed my black molly had it on her eye, but I caught it early with her and it didn't spread, it's already almost gone. I see none on any other fish. I wish I had noticed sooner, I almost had a heart attack thinking my tank may be wiped out. T_T The store wont reimberse me for damages, nor will they take her back, said they don't have a QT tank, I told them she had it there and they said they'd already sold the other Butterfly Balloon molly that was with them. =-=; I'm not shopping there anymore.

As for her babies, unfortunatly most of them died. I've seen three of them swimming around in my fry tank nibbling on the algae wafer I put in for my cory(All my fry love to mob to those, but the little ones were first since they still hide near the bottom). They look ok, there might be more, but I doubt it. ^^; All the fry from my oldest batch and a few of the black and orange ones that got big fast are in my adult tank and doing well. =) In a couple weeks they can go to new homes.

Still waiting on my Creamsicle Molly and my Black molly to give birth, they're both being stubborn...which is just fine, they'll have the babies when they are good and ready! =) It's hard to wait, but it's not like any of us have a choice. xD Babies come when THEY want to.
 
#25 ·
Glad to hear things are going better for you over there!
I'm sorry, it's been so hectic over here, I haven't had time to check in. . .

It kind of depends on the illness that they have, but if it's ich, turning the temp up to 84 is the perfect solution. They'll be fine at this temp until everything settles back down, but in general I'd say a temp of around 79-80ish is a better place to run the tank when everyone is healthy. It wouldn't hurt to run a course of Pimafix through the tank. It's a very safe med for all the fish in your tank, won't harm the bacterial filtration, and will act more as a prophylactic to keep the others from getting sick.

Don't be too fast to blame the shop. Many of the illnesses our fish get are already present in the water. Just like catching a cold, they're more likely to succumb to these illnesses when under stress - though their immune systems have been keeping things under control previously, the added stress gives the uggies a foothold to cause problems. Old fish, fry, and those who are have just been moved are obviously the most at risk, as their immune systems are the most compromised. As always, the best thing you can do for your babies is to keep their water pristine at all times, and avoid stressing them out as much as possible!

Keep an eye on your plants, SOME plants do well with salt, while others can't tolerate it at all. In either case, you may see a melting and re-adjustment period as they get used to both the salt and the higher temps. Be sure you remove all dead/dying leaves, so they don't add to the bioload of the tank and cause ammonia to rise! If you plan to keep your mollies in salt for a longer period of time than is required to get the illness out, you might want to do some research into the type of salt you're using. Usually, basic aquarium salt is used to medicate, but there is another type of salt (which is used in saltwater tanks, I believe) that would be more appropriate to use long-term. I'm just looking into all of this myself, so be sure to do your own research here!
 
#26 · (Edited)
It's not ich. She had this rough, swollen white patchyness on her back that spread to her eye and kinda left this grey shell over it. Not a film, it looked like an actual shell of yuck. It looked kinda like a shedding snake when it started popping offif that gives you a better idea. One of my black mollies got it on her eye, but it hasn't spread further. When it starts coming off a bit, it has a fuzzyness to it more than rough-patcyness, so I'm pretty sure it's a fungus, that and I heard from someone else with the same problem on her mollies and guppies. The heat and salt seem to be causing it to dry up and shrink, it's falling off of the eye, but I do still need medications.

As for blaming the shop: The reason I am blaming them, is because she had it when we bought her. Meanign -they- should have seen it. Ignorance isn't an excuse on my part either, but they still shouldn't sell sick fish to people who may not know about such things. The other reason I blame them, is because the Platy Tank I had for about eight months was ruined from buying a sick fish from them. One of the guys there, when I told him about it, was miffed that someone there sold it without checking the fish. I had bought a bumblebee platy and a Redfin Rainbow shark, both had it. I had never seen Ich, so I didn't know what those speckles were, I thought it was just part of their color! It killed my entire tank in about a week. I am hoping to keep this from happening, and as I said, I'll be doing all kinds of research on fish illnesses and diseases so this wont happen again, hopefully. If it does, I'll atleast know what to do! =)

As for medications, I intend to get some. We couldn't go yesterday because we were babysitting, we intended to go today, but we got a surprise visit from my baby nephew again and my little cousin. lol We're still going to try to get there today, and I'm going to mark down that medication you mentioned and have a look at some others. It can't hurt to be careful. I am also going to get my water tested to see if I need to make any other changes, maybe even figure out what it is.


As of right now, my black molly seems to have fully recovered. Her little shell on the eye dropped off and her eye seems perfectly normal. She only had it for a short time though...regardless, I can't let things stand as they are and put more fish at risk. But they both seem to be doing better. The balloon molly is back to going at her food like a greedy gut, so I have to be careful no to over-feed. LOL I have two fish that are so-called "Greedy guts" her and my Creamsicle, so I have to make sure I spread out the food or they eat it all before the others. Haha. While they're doing better, they should be able to handle a little change, like the temp. It goes down at night on its own, this could be a problem in winter, I'll have to look into things to keep that from happening. lol But it only goes down to 82, and over-night, so that shouldn't shock them since it is normal in the wild, atleast I'm hoping. ^^; And they should be able to take medicated water, they don't seem to be in the critical anymore. I was really sure that the balloon molly would die and prepared myself for it, I'm happy she pulled through and seems better.
She also likes her Quarentine area. lol Doesn't seem stressed, eats well, doesn't act crazy. I have her in a net in the tank, which probably wont stop it from spreading, but I unfortunatly don't have another tank to put her in. I'm going to see about getting a little 2-5 gallon tank JUST for quarentines. In anycase, this is the old fry net, it's big enough to be about a half gallon or so, not big enough to LIVE in ofcourse, but big enough to recover in. I also put some plants in there for her, she seems perfectly happy. I just have to suck out all the extra food and poo. It has nice circulation in it as well, so she wont suffocate, I just have to manually remove the filth every day, which doesn't bug her. I just slowly stick in a turkey baster and suck it out, nice and slow so it doesn't scare her. It's unfortunatly the best I can do, but it seems ot have done her good. I am hoping to clear this up soon, she can't stay in there much longer, regardless of seeming happy about it...she wont be for long. lol But if she's in the main tank, she risks spreading it more, AND the other fish pick at the stuff growing on her and she hates that, this is probably how it spread to my black molly in the first place. Still no signs of it on the others. I've noticed with the two that had it, they seemed lethargic, uninterested in moving, eating or anything really, and then the next day their eye shelled over. None of that from my other fish, but I am watching them like a hawk!


Thank you for all your help and kind words! =) It's allowed me to get even more into my Go-Mode to get this done without losing hope. Critism, even harsh critism, is always welcome in my book as well. So really, thank you.
 
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