Should I Get Another Fish Yet Or Wait?

[Luc401]

Hello, my current molly was sick and had a bumb on its back but now every thing is back to normal its been about a week.He still sags his re-end but hes swimming around constantly now compared to when he was sick.He is the only fish i have in my tank right now and i want to get a guppie tomorrow.My stats are 0 ammo 0 nitrite 0 nitrate so its cycled.Should i get another fish yet or wait awhile longer for him to heal ? Also should i get a male or female guppie? thanks

 

[KrystaK]

How many Gallons (Or) Liters is the tank? Guppies and Mollies are generally okay together, though Mollies tend to be a little territorial.

Do you add any aquarium salt to the tank? Mollies are brackish fish, which means they like salty water, and Guppies are hardy and can survive in salty water.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hi! How long has the tank been running? Was it a fishless or fish-in cycle? Trying to determine if you are really cycled yet. Thanks.

 

[Luc401]

Ok so it was a 15g tank no salt.I did a fish in cycle since i was a newbie.The tank has been running for about 2 months now i originaly had 6 mollies and 1 common pleco (bad idea) i was a newbie so i never knew.But for the past week since the pleco died i have 1 molly left right and every thing has been fine and hes almost healed.Need any more info ask away!

 

[KrystaK]

It generally takes about 6 weeks to become fully cycled, so yours probably is. Personally I'd wait another four days to a week, testing every day, to make sure my tank was cycled (Unless you have been doing daily checks and it's been stable for a while)

If you wanted to get some guppies you could I suppose. Males are prettier, but females are bigger and can defend themselves better. (Though they're almost always preggers when they come home from the pet store)

Mollies tend to get the 'Shimmies' if they are kept in unsalted tanks. (It's usually around-ed table spoon of aquarium salt per 5 gal) But if you just added even one tablespoon that would probably make your Molly happier.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Agree...sounds cycled to me!

 

[Luc401]

its been 0's for 10 days now i plan on breeding them so i plan on getting 2 males and 4 females in the end i plan on adding them 1 every 2 weeks should i get a female for the first one?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I would not introduce new fish to a recently problematic tank for about a month, I had issues in the biggest of my 6 tanks mid summer and it went into complete lockdown until very recently, the new fish could infect the recently sick fish with something else or the healthy new fish could catch something from your recently sick Molly.

Regardless, it is far safer to quarantine new fish, again for several weeks. You are only likely to take this approach after having a tank wipeout shortly after adding a new fish directly to an existing community, believe me it does nothing for your fishkeeping confidence and you can lose your favourite fish in the whole mess (I lost Steatocranus casuarius "dad" amongst others after adding 4 Upside Down Catfish directly to my existing group). I bought a lovely 3rd Synodontis brichardi last Friday, he is in quarantine in my 620T, showing no signs of illness and his thin body is already filling out with no competition for food after normal small portions in a fish shop tank. If all goes well I have 4 African riverine species to pick up this Friday, they will go in what will then be a vacant Rio240 for a quarantine period, although I am prepared to seperate them out further if any of the groups need special attention.

 

[Luc401]

Also i forgot to mention that my molly hasn't been eating i feed him every night and watch him see if hes swolling any food any for the past 10 days he has not so i think hes going to starve soon.. This morning he was lying on the bottom unlike yesterday very happy and swimming around.