Molly swimming tail straight up

[FemGoddess]

I have 5 baby mollies in a 2 gallon tank. All of them are very small except 1. The 1 is larger than the others. It's about 4 times their size I'd say, although not anywhere near full grown. I've had them for just over a week and they all seemed to be doing fine in my tank until this morning. The big one has started swimming with his tail almost straight up. It looks like the front half of his body is sinking while his tail is trying to float. What could be causing this and how can i fix it? I have a disposable filter and jr heater in the tank. Am I maybe feeding him too much and he's getting to heavy to swim cause he's bloated? Please help me. I don't want my fish to die.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Angel Lady]

I have 5 baby mollies in a 2 gallon tank. All of them are very small except 1. The 1 is larger than the others. It's about 4 times their size I'd say, although not anywhere near full grown. I've had them for just over a week and they all seemed to be doing fine in my tank until this morning. The big one has started swimming with his tail almost straight up. It looks like the front half of his body is sinking while his tail is trying to float. What could be causing this and how can i fix it? I have a disposable filter and jr heater in the tank. Am I maybe feeding him too much and he's getting to heavy to swim cause he's bloated? Please help me. I don't want my fish to die.
Thank you in advance.

it sounds to me like a swimbladder infection mabey you should get him out of the tank with the others and start him on some Maracyn -two and I have found that salt does wonders for mollies. If you get him on the medicine fast you might be able to save him. Those Mardel products work great plus the have a fish chart on almost all of the diseases that is a big help by it self. Try a salt bath tonite he may be stopped up from eating so much. Try putting a couple of teaspoons of aquarium salt in with all of them and see if that helps if it dont I would for sure put them on the maracyn 2 and let me know how it is doing I ask a lot of questions but I have mollies andI have done a lot of reading on them they like salt they are a brackish fish.

 

[FemGoddess]

Thank you for your reply. I went to the pet store where I got the babies from and bought some sea salt. I put it in the tank. I also fed the fish about 20 min later. Unfortunately, a couple hours later, one of the babies was dead. , although it wasn't the one I've been so worried about. I put the salt in the water as directed and the biggest one is still swimming with it's tail up. It doesn't seem to be digesting anything either though. Usually, when I look in the tank, the fish have a reddish string-thing coming out of their underside (poop I'm assuming). The weird thing is, the big one hasn't had that for the last 2 days. Instead, it has a faint white, hmm.. not sure what it is. It looks like a thread, but smaller, like a fuzz thread for lack of better words. It has gotten pretty long now, but it's not the thickness of the usual passed stuff. Like I said, it's very faint and seems to float along under the fish. The man at the pet store told me that it is probably in deed the fish's swimbladder, but he said it would most likely correct itself in a couple of days. If there is no improvement by morning, I am going to buy some of the medicine you recommended. Thank you very much for your help.
Oh, one last thing, when I went to the pet store, I took a sample of my water to be tested. All my levels were good except for the water hardness (curable by the sea salt I have now added) and the ammonia level. I added some AmQuel detoxifier for the ammonia. He recommended that I do a 50% water change, but isn't that too much for a tank that is not yet cycled? I have not changed any of the water yet. I'd like to get your take on this first. I have no experience with fish. These are my first. Thank you once again.

 

[Angel Lady]

Thank you for your reply. I went to the pet store where I got the babies from and bought some sea salt. I put it in the tank. I also fed the fish about 20 min later. Unfortunately, a couple hours later, one of the babies was dead. , although it wasn't the one I've been so worried about. I put the salt in the water as directed and the biggest one is still swimming with it's tail up. It doesn't seem to be digesting anything either though. Usually, when I look in the tank, the fish have a reddish string-thing coming out of their underside (poop I'm assuming). The weird thing is, the big one hasn't had that for the last 2 days. Instead, it has a faint white, hmm.. not sure what it is. It looks like a thread, but smaller, like a fuzz thread for lack of better words. It has gotten pretty long now, but it's not the thickness of the usual passed stuff. Like I said, it's very faint and seems to float along under the fish. The man at the pet store told me that it is probably in deed the fish's swimbladder, but he said it would most likely correct itself in a couple of days. If there is no improvement by morning, I am going to buy some of the medicine you recommended. Thank you very much for your help.
Oh, one last thing, when I went to the pet store, I took a sample of my water to be tested. All my levels were good except for the water hardness (curable by the sea salt I have now added) and the ammonia level. I added some AmQuel detoxifier for the ammonia. He recommended that I do a 50% water change, but isn't that too much for a tank that is not yet cycled? I have not changed any of the water yet. I'd like to get your take on this first. I have no experience with fish. These are my first. Thank you once again.

I wouldnt recommend doing that much of a water change on a tank that isnt cycled yet it will only take longer to cycle. Take the fish out of thier and get it on the medicine that is the only way to save him if the salt didnt help him. If that salt made him poop and he is still upside down then it is the swimbladder infection and it will die if you dont get it on the medicine.Mollies and sharks is just about all the fish I keep and I have close to 60 fry and I havent lost one of them yet. I would do a 10 percent water change on the babies and I would get the other one that is sick out of that tank before the others get it to. I feed my fry baby brine shrimp and some flake food and shrimp pellets I crush all of that up real fine and I keep the temp on 80 degrees and I can watch them grow. Try doing this and see if you have good luck with them. When you do the water change make sure the temp. is the same because that will affect them more than you know and the stuff you are using to bring the ammonia down is the best that is what I use and I havent lost not one of my mollies yet. Keep me posted on how they are doing

 

[FemGoddess]

Very good news today!! I got up and checked on my fish after I added the salt last night and low and behold, it's now swimming correctly! The salt worked. I'm so happy! The only thing I'm concerned about now is the fact that I still haven't seen my fish poop. The smaller ones do, but the bigger one still has me puzzled. Thank you for your recommendation on the water change, I will change 10% as you said. How often do you think I should change the water?

I'm just SO happy my fish is not swimming lop-sided any more!!!!!

 

[Angel Lady]

Very good news today!! I got up and checked on my fish after I added the salt last night and low and behold, it's now swimming correctly! The salt worked. I'm so happy! The only thing I'm concerned about now is the fact that I still haven't seen my fish poop. The smaller ones do, but the bigger one still has me puzzled. Thank you for your recommendation on the water change, I will change 10% as you said. How often do you think I should change the water?

I'm just SO happy my fish is not swimming lop-sided any more!!!!!

keep a check on the ammonia because that is the last thing you want to do is let that get high only do the water change every 3 days because the tank is so small try feeding them what I told you. As I said the salt does wonders for the mollies. If mollies is what you are going to keep I will be the first to tell you to keep all females or buy a bigger tank one. If you do want babies then only keep 1 male to every three females because the male will drive 1 female crazy that is a males whole life is eating and breeding and trust me you will have more babies than you know what to do with in a short time every 28 days or so you will have any where from 10 to 40 babies every 28 days or so they add up in no time I have 60 already.One more thing keep a very close check on the ammonia and nitrites while your tank is cycling. I made the mistake of buying all of my fish up before I knew what cycling a tank was all about I have managed not to kill none of my fish but it has been a job I had to do a 10 percent water change everyday to keep my fish alive.They are great her on this fish forum they have helped my keep my fish alive for which I am very greatful. You need to buy you some testing kits ammonia and nitrite being the most important thing and ph. I am glad your fish is better and welcome to the forum my name is Diane.

 

[mathman]

If you are worried you have over fed them, go one full day without feeding them anything. I asked a while back how long babies could go without being fed and was told that a weekend would be fine. My Mollies act like they are starving at all times. Even act that way directly after I feed them. I am still trying to stop over feeding. I wish there was a measuring spoon lol even though it would be tiny. I keep my fry in the same tank with my adults as I have so many "pairs" if I tried to save them all I would be run out of house and home.

 

[FemGoddess]

Thank you very much for your help. I have good news and bad news to report. I'll give the bad first. My fish with the swimbladder problem died yesterday. He didn't seem to have any fungus or anything on him, so I'm not really sure what happened since he had started swimming correctly a few days before he died. The good news is, I have 3 babies left and they all seem to be very healthy. When I walk up to the tank, they all swim out to see me and they seem to be very active. Thank you very much for welcoming me here and thank you very much for you advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[Kryten]

Sorry to hear about the fish. It is upsetting when you have worked to save the little fella. At least you know you did all you could, which is the best thing you can do.

It is always inevitable that some will not survive. Let us know in a week or so how the other three are getting on.

 

[Fishsmurf]

. He recommended that I do a 50% water change, but isn't that too much for a tank that is not yet cycled?

I wouldnt recommend doing that much of a water change on a tank that isnt cycled yet it will only take longer to cycle.

Hi FemGodess,

Hey I am sorry to read about your molly.

It's never nice when you get a lose a fish, but at least you came somewhere to try and sort it out.......

The only thing I wanted to add is that I have a difference of opinion with the advice you have been given here over the water changes. I am with your guy from the LFS, when you are cycling with fish (which from one of the earlier post I gather you are) largish water changes are actually beneficial to your fish. The reason is fairly logical in as much that both Ammonia and NitrIte are toxic to fish, so the lower you can keep the levels of these the comfier it will be for your fish and you keep these levels down with water changes.

Also I would recommend that you gravel vac your substrate as this will assist in clearing up any leftover food and other detritus that may have sunk to the bottom of the tank. This combined with water changes will assist in providing a cleaner / comfier home for your babies.

The reason many people give for not doing large water changes is the belief that the bacteria you are trying to cultivate during a cycle are free floating in the water, therefore every water change removes these bacteria. This this is a popular mis-conception that just won't go away.

Almost all of the bacteria you are trying to cultivate whilst cycling your tank are actually contained within the substrate, filter media, filter housing and attatched to other surfaces in the tank. These are fairly hardy little buggers to the point that a light gravel vac or gently rinsing the filter media (in water removed during water changes) will not disturb them.

Another reason I am gonna carry on (oh yes there's more ) selling that water changes is that is does sound like you molly had a swim bladder problem. Often swim bladder problems are as a result of a bacterial infection, normally a fishes immune system in strong enough to withstand this bacteria, however if the fish is stressed (which it could be if Ammonia or NitrIte levels are present in measurable quantities during cycling or if tank maintenance / water changes haven't been kept up) then the bacteria gets a foot in the door and problems may start to arise.

So from me all I would recommend would be to test for Ammonia / NirtrIte (if you haven't got test kits, they are a good investment), keep up water changes at a level that keeps the Ammonia / NitrIte readings down, gravel vac the substrate (if you feel comfier 50% one water change 50% the next), sit back, chill out and watch you baby mollies grow.....

BTW none of this was meant as direct critisism, just advice.... Oh & to try to burst a bubble of mis-conception.

Good luck and I hope all goes well......

 

[Angel Lady]

i am sorry to hear about your fish I hate to hear about anyones fish dying I love everyone of mine it would kill me if something happen to mine, but i am a animal lover I have everyones strays cats and dogs and fish for that matter I wish I would have went on to college I would love a job taking care of animals but where I live at they are only one vet, and 1 shelter and I couldnt stand watching them put those animals to sleep. Make sure you keep a check on those water conditions and you should be on your way to keeping healthy fish.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Been reading these post with much interest....here is my take on the matter...............

I went to the pet store where I got the babies from and bought some sea salt.

When you say "sea salt" do you mean salt intended for marine/reef tanks?? If so then this is a needless expense.

Regular aquarium salt will do the job just as good, but at a much cheaper cost.

Please let us know the brand of "salt" you have.

I put the salt in the water as directed

Again, if it was sea salts, this is not good!! Directions for sea salt go by specific gravity and therefore you probably added to much!!

Usually, when I look in the tank, the fish have a reddish string-thing coming out of their underside (poop I'm assuming).

This is a good sign!! This is what your fishes feces should look like.

The weird thing is, the big one hasn't had that for the last 2 days. Instead, it has a faint white, hmm.. not sure what it is. It looks like a thread, but smaller, like a fuzz thread for lack of better words.

This is not good!!! This is a possible indication of an intestinal bacterial infection brought on by a case of constipation!! Constipation, if left unchecked can lead to intestinal problems!!

Try soaking the flake food in a small amount of aquarium water prior to feeding it to the fish. This will stop the flake from swelling in the fishes intestinal tract and causing a blockage.

The man at the pet store told me that it is probably in deed the fish's swimbladder, but he said it would most likely correct itself in a couple of days.

This is true if it was a simple case of constipation!!

He (fish shop guy) recommended that I do a 50% water change

This is also poor advice!!! NOT because your tank is not cycled yet, but because baby fish cannot handle this amount of a water change!!!

The man at the fish shop should NEVER have sold you that young a fish without having an established tank ready for them!! Young fish can be very delicate and should not be used for cycling a tank!!

it sounds to me like a swimbladder infection mabey you should get him out of the tank with the others and start him on some Maracyn -two

Listed are some of the causes of swim bladder disease.....

1. A virus. The virus attacks the epithelium of the sac and inflammation occurs which makes the epithelium too thick for gases to diffuse across. Thus the fish is stuck at a certain buoyancy because gases have nowhere to go. This may be more of a factor in non-goldfish species.

2. A bacterium. There is little evidence to support this, but it's widely known that bacterial infections can cause the same kind of thickening of the swim bladder epithelium as viruses.

3. Anatomy. Globoid-shaped fish like ornamental goldfish are predisposed to problems with the swim bladder because their guts are all squashed up in their abdomen. This arrangement predisposes to food impactions, which in turn clog up the pneumocystic duct.

4. Diet. Feeding dry foods which tend to take on water like a sponge and expand in the fish predispose to food impactions. See # 2 above.

If it was a swim bladder problem, IMO it was not caused by a virus, but by a constipation problem that affected the swim bladder. If this was indeed the case, than it is NOT contaigous and medication would not help!!

Also, most medications are dosed for young adult or adult fish and NOT babies!!! They (medications) should be used VERY cautiously when dosing babies!!!

If you are worried you have over fed them, go one full day without feeding them anything

Good advice!!


Hope this helps..........

CM

 

[FemGoddess]

I'm very happy to report that the remaining 3 fish are doing great. They are growing bigger each day and are very active. I love the fact that every time I walk over to the aquarium, they swim up to greet me. I believe my tank is now fully cycled. I've had it over a month now and I have seen it go through the cloudy stage and the water is now crystal clear as I've read it will do. I still take my water samples to the fish store to have them tested and everything has been A-OK. I'm so excited. I really believe I will be able to watch these guys grow into adults and it's GREAT!! Thank you all for your help. I will continue to post, although I think now that my emergency has been settled, I should move my post to another part of the forum.
*hugz*