# sick or pregnant molly?



## kourgath1

ok i'm pretty new to keeping fish so have only had my tank for about 5 months now.
i've got a dalmation molly that just seems to keep getting bigger and bigger, i've had a couple cases of bacterial infection in the tank resulting in balooning fish then death


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## noahhill

I have never seen anything like this , I also keep Mollies . if shes preg. then she has alot of babies in her !!


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## PaulLamb

That's definitely not from a pregnancy (the bloating extends all the way up to her gills). Looks like a buildup of gases inside the fish. What have you used to treat this problem in the past? In fresh water, Mollies are highly susceptible to diseases and parasites. I'd recommend using something stronger to eliminate the problem before purchasing more Mollies.


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## mousey

DO mollies do much better in brachish tanks?
I have a friend who goes thru mollies like you wouldn't believe. She recently had one develop a body fungus after 2 weeks in her tank. She had recently bought it.
She loves mollies but they just up and die after a couple of months. Thye get a white film or non ich white spots. She has hard water and high Ph.


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## PaulLamb

mousey said:


> DO mollies do much better in brachish tanks?


Yes, brackish water is ideal. If that isn't an option (due to other fish in the aquarium that are not tolerant of salt), a good alternative is weekly treatments of Aquarisol (12 drops / 10 gallons) plus occasional 25% water changes. This dramatically improves their survival rate, but it also kills snails and shrimp (and supposedly some plants), so that might not be a viable option in every case either.


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## Revolution1221

i dont know what it is about mollies but they just dont seem to take to newer tanks very well. for the life of me i couldnt keep them alive for the first 5-6 months in my tank. it was disease after disease whiping only them out. i had one get bloat no others infected ever. then they got dropsy. then ick and velvet even used aquarium salt when it was only them and guppys. suddenly they just stopped getting sick and dying now i have no problems with them. ive talked to others who have experienced this as well. for the most part ive stopped keeping cheap fish because they never seemed to last. the only fish that ever die in my tank are in the $1-$5 range aside from the gold banded loach i lost rescently. but ive had my gold nugget since my tank was fairly new and he has never gotten sick. idk if its due to the fact that distributers obviously take better care of more expensive fish or if its just from massive inbreading of cheap fish or what. on the other hand ive had a tank of neons for about a month now with no problems asside from a snail infestation but it like i said its only been a month.


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## PaulLamb

Revolution1221 said:


> i dont know what it is about mollies but they just dont seem to take to newer tanks very well.


I don't think it is as much newer tanks as it is new environments. Mollies are naturally brackish-water fish that have been bred to tolerate fresh-water. Because of this "artificial" tolerance, they do not have a natural resistance to many fresh-water diseases, fungi, and parasites. When they are introduced into a new environment, they are highly susceptible to any unfamiliar diseases and parasites that are floating around. Those fish that manage to survive will have developed an immune system response to whatever is in that environment, so they will do quite well afterwards (until you introduce something new to the aquarium, like new fish with new diseases).



Revolution1221 said:


> On the other hand ive had a tank of neons for about a month now with no problems asside from a snail infestation but it like i said its only been a month.


Neons prefer the exact opposite type of water (fresh, soft, acidic) than mollies do (brackish, hard, alkaline), so that could be another factor.


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## Revolution1221

but the thing is i can throw a molly in my tank and they seem to do fine and i add fish to my tank quit often. recently a couple glofish danios and guppies got sick that have been in the tank for a long time so i put them down but my newer mollies never contracted it. and i used to use elevated salt levels like 2-3 table spoons per 5 gallons for my mollies with still a lot of problems and i acclimated them properly and still had problems. now there is no salt in my tank and they do better. im not saying what you said isnt true because i know it is it just didnt seem to be what was going on in my tank. i have even taken molly fry from one tank without acclimation and threw them straight into my big tank even tho the temps were almost completely the same i had no problems. i mean and they are not the only cheap fish to die. different tetras and pencils and guppys and danios but no expensive fish. people even tell me rams are delicate to some extent but they have been in their through a few diseases also.


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## PaulLamb

I suppose the "new tank syndrome" is always a factor as well.


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## Revolution1221

PaulLamb said:


> I suppose the "new tank syndrome" is always a factor as well.


yeah idk my levels were never out of check but it could be other things to do with having a new tank.


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## mousey

unfortunately Aquarisol used as directed seems to have no effect on my snail population .
I had some orange sailfin mollies that did well in non brackish water but my friend likes the marbles and black mollies. she also is one of theose people who clean the tanks 'thoroughly'. She detests any sort of algae which of course is a salad bar for mollies. She never gives foods other than flake iether and I do think fish like a change or treat.


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## PaulLamb

mousey said:


> unfortunately Aquarisol used as directed seems to have no effect on my snail population .


There are a few common varieties of snails that seem unaffected, but your fancy expensive snails will almost certainly keel over, which is why I mentioned that it is dangerous to snails (learned from experience) ;-)


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