2nd dead Molly

TexasTanker

Starters PH 7.0 GH 120 KH 0 NO2 0 NO3 <20 Ammo 0, Temp 78, 55 Gallons, Gravel Substrate, varied frozen/pellet/flake diet. Occupants 1 Molly, 5 Platy , 3 Emerald catfish, 2 guppy, anacharis.

Last week sometime, maybe before, I had a silver molly die all of a sudden. She was big and healthy looking one day then the next she looked deflated. I wrote it off as a bad case of labor/stress. I just found my male molly dead. He was a black lyre tail molly. He got sick about two months ago while cycling a smaller tank. But he bounced back fine after going to the big tank.

Both fish were asymptomatic. Fins in tact, no discoloration or apparent shedding. From first notice of something being off to death were less than five hours each. Around one this afternoon I noticed him listing and riding the current from the filter. This is exactly what the silver female did before she bit it (She also appeared to have fin lock). I was doing a very larger water change when I noticed it, so I hoped that would help. Freshwater, is every fish's cure right?

Anyhow, now I'm concerned that the final female molly will be susceptible to to what ever did in the first two. I'm also concerned for my other live bearers.

A side note: I had a Fancy guppy in the tank but had to remove him a couple days ago because the Molly were fin nipping. This was a problem before the female died last week. She was fin nipping one of the gravid platy. When I saw the bite marks on the fancy guppy I removed him. As I was fetching the net I saw the male molly take a nip. Could there be something to that?

kitten_penang

try searching for signs of velvet.they cause finlock and difficulty in breathing

MustardGas

Is there salt in the tank? Mollies require a fair amount of salinity and hardness to their water to stay healthy.
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TexasTanker

Thank you all. This issue was resolved -mostly. My my estimation it was a combination of stress from moving tanks, the fish flakes, and aggression. To my surprise "non-aggressive community fish" is not all encompassing. They still have a pecking order and can be aggressive if the mood strikes. The molly were both aggressive towards the female platy. And in hind sight the platy did bully back. Their weakened state from the stress compounded with the turf war made them quickly susceptible to sickness and death.

The one female platy that was a prime target of the Molly held out for a couple months with all the TLC I could provide but it was not enough to bounce back and she finally passed. The rest of the Platy are fine now. The single remaining Molly is out of the big tank and away from the aggressive blue platy. She is now housed with a school of Zebra Danio and actually schools with them and seems happy. The single most aggressive Wag Tail platy is now with a school of neon tetra. She is still aggressive but too slow to do harm. She will most likely be moved again when I have a place for her.

I have since introduced two Gold Gouarmi (m/f) to the big tank and the pecking order seems to have evened out signifigantly. The Golds are surprisingly easy going and tolerant of the other fish. On the second day I noticed them go after the blue platy as they were picking on one of the Emerald Cory Cats. They stopped and have since been non aggressive.

As it stands the big tanks is home to:
2 gold Gouarmi (1m/1f)
3 female blue platy
1 male sunset platy
2 female Guppy
10 Emerald Cory Cats
20 Zebra Danio
a handful of mystery fry
and in a divided section:
1 Male Beta
1 Emerald Cory Cat
1 Wag female fry (that keeps getting in there in spite of being removed several times)
2-3 young mystery fry.

Also in there is a signifigent number of pond snails and MTS. The Zebra danio do knock them off the glass and eat them, I remove the shells weekly.

All the tanks are cycled and at a good median temp for the inhabitants.

I have also set up a QT tank and an "isolation tank" more or less for the fish that prove to be too aggressive, if the need arises.

I am hoping to remove all the platy and guppy from the big tank in the near future and rehoming them.

bones14

I had the same problem with mollies and so has my dad.I won't be getting anymore.Like Mustardgas said they like salt in the water and don't do well adjusting if the water isn't just right for them.

kitten_penang

congrats of getting to the bottom of the mystery in your tanks.the guramis are like hall monitors lol.... i will not stand for bullying a peck on the platy's tail and off they go =)