Molly's square bottom

[Belinda Carter]

Hi, only new to keeping fish. I have one female Molly who gave birth to about 40 fry almost two weeks ago but was just as fat afterwards. That was her 3rd lot of babies.This morning I noticed her bottom has a square look and she is flashing every now and then.

No other fish seem to be bothered and appear happy

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Is the fish a balloon molly?
Balloon mollies are not as long as their normal counterparts and their internal organs are squished up, this makes them fatter. If the fish has eaten a lot of food it will look fatter and if it has lots of intestinal worms it can look fatter.

If the fish has stopped eating and got really fat overnight, then it is probably an internal bacterial infection, which are very hard to treat.
If the fish is still eating normally then it is probably not an internal bacterial or protozoan infection.

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Can you elaborate on flashing?

If the fish is rubbing on objects in the tank it might have a protozoan infection. These can occur in any tank but are normally introduced with new fish, plants or contaminated water. Poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite or high nitrate levels) can also cause fish to rub on objects, but normally it's a protozoan infection like whitespot/ Ich, Costia, Chilodonella or Trichodina.

Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

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How long has the tank been set up for?
What other fish are in the tank?
Do you know what the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH (general hardness) levels are in the tank water?

Most petshops can test water for you or you can buy test kits and monitor these levels for yourself.

The pH and GH can usually be found on your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't provide you with the information, take a glass full of tank water to the pet shop and get them to test it. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the test. If they say the water is fine, ask them what the results are in numbers. Also ask them what the tests are measured in (eg: ppm, dGH).

If the water is too soft (low in minerals) the mollies don't do that well. So it helps to know what the GH is.

 

[Belinda Carter]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Is the fish a balloon molly?
Balloon mollies are not as long as their normal counterparts and their internal organs are squished up, this makes them fatter. If the fish has eaten a lot of food it will look fatter and if it has lots of intestinal worms it can look fatter.

If the fish has stopped eating and got really fat overnight, then it is probably an internal bacterial infection, which are very hard to treat.
If the fish is still eating normally then it is probably not an internal bacterial or protozoan infection.

------------------------
Can you elaborate on flashing?

If the fish is rubbing on objects in the tank it might have a protozoan infection. These can occur in any tank but are normally introduced with new fish, plants or contaminated water. Poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite or high nitrate levels) can also cause fish to rub on objects, but normally it's a protozoan infection like whitespot/ Ich, Costia, Chilodonella or Trichodina.

Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

------------------------
How long has the tank been set up for?
What other fish are in the tank?
Do you know what the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH (general hardness) levels are in the tank water?

Most petshops can test water for you or you can buy test kits and monitor these levels for yourself.

The pH and GH can usually be found on your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't provide you with the information, take a glass full of tank water to the pet shop and get them to test it. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the test. If they say the water is fine, ask them what the results are in numbers. Also ask them what the tests are measured in (eg: ppm, dGH).

If the water is too soft (low in minerals) the mollies don't do that well. So it helps to know what the GH is.

Hi Colin,


Thankyou.

She is a balloon Molly. She appears to be same size as she was after last birth, almost like she is still pregnant. It's just her bottom has dropped and is like a right angle instead of round.

I have not introduced any new things other then returned an ornament I had removed and cleaned a few months ago which had a few snails on it (from some plants) but died when I dried it out.

I added a new filter about 2 months ago and a mini UV light about 4 weeks as I had read it was meant to help water quality and help with fish health and parasites

She has been rubbinging herself along the air hose, which flips her off.

She seems to be eating ok, I fed them a tad so she would turn for photo and she gobbled up a pellet or two.

I tested everything about a week ago and it all had good levels.

I added aquarium salt is December and have topped up with more during each water change

There are 4 female and 3 male Mollies in tank with two albino suckers. I also have the nursery attached with about 40 odd fry.

I'm thinking tank is overcrowded with ornaments.

Tank has been set up since last September.

 

[Colin_T]

u/v light units don't do much and are not the money. You need a really slow flow rate of water through them and unless you can guarantee that all the aquarium water goes through the u/v unit before it is returned to the tank, it will never kill 100% of diseases in the water. At best they kill single celled algae and perhaps 50% of the microscopic organisms in the water. At worst they do nothing but waste power.

----------------------
If the fish had fry about 2 weeks ago and she is really fat again, then she is probably full of intestinal worms like tapeworm and threadworms.

You can treat tapeworm (and gill flukes) with Praziquantel, which is available from any pet shop. You treat thread worms with Levamisole, which some pet shops carry but you might have to buy it online.

You remove carbon from filters before treating, then treat the tank. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24 hours after treating the tank. Repeat treatment once a week for 3-4 weeks to kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs.

Do not treat for tapeworm and threadworms at the same time because you can poison the fish. Threadworms are more common in livebearers so treat for them first. Treat all your tanks at the same time to prevent cross contamination.

These medications will not affect filter bacteria, plants or fish, and are safe for baby fish as long as you don't overdose.

----------------------
Depending on the salt you add, the albino suckers might not be happy.

 

[Belinda Carter]

u/v light units don't do much and are not the money. You need a really slow flow rate of water through them and unless you can guarantee that all the aquarium water goes through the u/v unit before it is returned to the tank, it will never kill 100% of diseases in the water. At best they kill single celled algae and perhaps 50% of the microscopic organisms in the water. At worst they do nothing but waste power.

----------------------
If the fish had fry about 2 weeks ago and she is really fat again, then she is probably full of intestinal worms like tapeworm and threadworms.

You can treat tapeworm (and gill flukes) with Praziquantel, which is available from any pet shop. You treat thread worms with Levamisole, which some pet shops carry but you might have to buy it online.l

You remove carbon from filters before treating, then treat the tank. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24 hours after treating the tank. Repeat treatment once a week for 3-4 weeks to kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs.

Do not treat for tapeworm and threadworms at the same time because you can poison the fish. Threadworms are more common in livebearers so treat for them first. Treat all your tanks at the same time to prevent cross contamination.

These medications will not affect filter bacteria, plants or fish, and are safe for baby fish as long as you don't overdose.

----------------------
Depending on the salt you add, the albino suckers might not be happy.

Thankyou so much.

Admit I wondered if they had worms when she was so big, but did not know there were two sorts.

Would it be better to just remove substrate and replace?

 

[Colin_T]

Fish need something on the bottom of their tank to give them security and to help them work out which way is up and which way is down. They also need something on the back of the tank to make them feel more secure.

If you want plants in the tank they also need a substrate so leave the gravel in the tank. The parasitic worms live in the fish's digestive tract so removing the substrate will not fix or even prevent the problem.

Fish get infected with intestinal worms by eating foods that contain worm eggs. The most common source of infection is Daphnia, cyclops, small aquatic insects, crustaceans, and aquatic worms that live in the mud, that are collected from waterways that have waterbirds (ducks, geese, swans, etc) living, feeding and pooping in the water. Infected fish can also spread worms to other fish.

Most livebearers are infected with worms, flukes and other diseases at the Asian fish farms where they are bred, reared and fed on potentially contaminated live foods like those listed above.

The best way to deal with worms in fish is to quarantine all new fish for 4 weeks and treat them for intestinal worms before adding them to the main display tank.