Mother Molly Help

[Ziggi]

hey all,

my adult Dalmation molly is acting very sluggish. Monday I did my 20% water change (I was late by like 2.5 weeks, so there was a big jump in the ammonia but everything else was normal ... odd) she was fine, not running (swimming rather) after anyone or being semi-normal (for her) but she was calm and just pretty relaxed. tuesday I noticed she was moving kinda stiff, her fins were moving alot slower and she just wasn't moving well, she kinda reminded me of an athlete that just had a big work out and forgot to stretch and was stiff I didn't see her eat (granted, I wasn't paying attention either). well I did a 10% water change to reduce ammonia, and hopeing that would make her feel better, which it did, but she's still pretty stiff. also, she didn't eat at all... like not even remotely interested. yesterday (wed) I did another water change, she moved a little better, but still refuses to eat.

today I fed them and she was up there sucking food in but she'd spit it out after a second or 2 of it being in her mouth, however she's actually swimming around the whole tank, not as vigorously as before but definately not as stiff.

she's in a 20 gal long planted tank with her 11 young and 3 amano shrimp. everyone else is fine but she's getting very skinny, though she is swimming better now. Anyone know if it's stress? age? (I got her from petsmart, and this september will be a year that I've had her) maybe since I added some new plants and the shrimp (which I haven't seen bothering anyone, or vice versa) she's flustered? tired from kids being around ... heh maybe she needs some wine to calm the nerves I dont know but she's the only one acting like this and she's my first fish (only adult survivor of my Bay Bridge incident ... ) so I'd rather keep her around as long as I can. if anyone knows what might be wrong, please let me know!

edit:
ok I just threw in 1/4 of an algae wafer to see her reaction (and see if I could lure my shrimp out for role call/count) and she's nibbling at it... she's not chasing the young away like before ... but atleast she's poking at it!

 

[Colin_T]

you mentioned the tank gets ammonia in it. any idea why?
if the tank has been set up for more than a few months the filters should be well established and prevent ammonia from building up. If you are still getting ammonia readings then there is something wrong with the filter or the way you clean it. Alternatively you are putting way too much food in the tank and it is rotting and not being eaten.
Poor water quality is the biggest killer of fish and most times a water change will help fix the problem. If you have ammonia in the water then do daily partial (30-50%) water changes and gravel cleans until the ammonia is gone. Make sure any new water is free fo chlorine and has a similar temp and PH to the tank.
Don't bother putting food in the tank if they ren't eating. If you do feed them, then remove any uneaten food a couple of minutes later.

 

[Ziggi]

you mentioned the tank gets ammonia in it. any idea why?
if the tank has been set up for more than a few months the filters should be well established and prevent ammonia from building up. If you are still getting ammonia readings then there is something wrong with the filter or the way you clean it. Alternatively you are putting way too much food in the tank and it is rotting and not being eaten.
Poor water quality is the biggest killer of fish and most times a water change will help fix the problem. If you have ammonia in the water then do daily partial (30-50%) water changes and gravel cleans until the ammonia is gone. Make sure any new water is free fo chlorine and has a similar temp and PH to the tank.
Don't bother putting food in the tank if they ren't eating. If you do feed them, then remove any uneaten food a couple of minutes later.

the tank was fine and ammonia free since I believe December (07). I normally do a 20% water change weekly or 25-30% if I miss a week... but I've been busy for the past few weeks and was unable to do a water change for about 2.5 weeks, as mentioned, I finally got around to it on monday.

I dont think overfeeding is an issue since I feed once a day, a couple of shakes of semi-crushed flakes. I've never seen any uneaten food within 1 hr (I always feed atleast 2 hrs before bed time)... with exception to that 2 week water change hiatus, and addition of 3 shrimp and new plants, nothing else has changed in the tank... oh and my heater went bi-polar for a minute so there was an issue with temps but that has .... apparently settled since the temp is back to 75 F

The ammonia bloom has me baffled since the nitrite is still at 0 (.... I thought that was impossible) but it is coming down quickly, I've been doing 10-20% water changes every day to see that it does. if the ammonia was the problem though, I think the young and the shrimp would go first, wouldn't they? filter ... it's a new cartridge that was cycled with the old one for a week before replacing, and I cut out a piece of the old and put it within the new cartridge. so, filter media cleaning ... I dont think I need to clean it right now, but I'll double check.

 

[Colin_T]

fish flakes break down very quickly in water and can disappear into the gravel in moments. You want to remove any uneaten food after 5 minutes.

If you get an ammonia reading you need to change more than 10-20%. Small water changes are less stressful to the fish but if they are in bad water, then a bigger water change will dilute the nutrients faster than a couple of small water changes.

You can have an ammonia reading with or without a nitrite reading. Likewise you can get a nitrite reading without having an ammonia surge.
If fish are in the water while it is deteriorating they are much more likely to tolerate the conditions. If they are in clean water and get put into water with a high ammonia or nitrite reading they often die within 24 hours.

If possible just try to squeeze or shake out the filter media in a bucket of tank water. Then tip the dirty water onto the garden and put the filter materials/ cartridge back in the filter. Only replace them when you absolutely have to.

If you replace filter cartridges you need to leave them in the tank with the old filter for at least a month before they are cycled.