Tank update!

[ItsDinoChips]

Unlike most of my other threads that just ask questions in a panic, this one is just me sharing exciting and sad things.

In the past week I've had two mollies die. My black one who I assumed has brain damage due to a recent incident, this one I knew was coming she was not eating and lost weight so fast. The other was a complete surprise I just found her against the filter dead after dinner one night, she was fine and eating the same morning so it was a shock.

After the recent deaths I felt depressed and felt like a bad fish mama. So instead of mourning like a normal person I got a female betta who is acclimating right now as I type. But the catch is I get home with the new betta and what do I find? A small fry. Only one though and I have no idea who's it is. Is it the mamas who died yesterday or the white one who is still alive and I thought was just over weight. I guess time will tell but she looks clear right now so hard to tell.

Anyways I rushed to find fry food and came back and still no more fry. Maybe more tomorrow, I hope to get one more into the breeders box at least to save them and if the others outside the box survive I have a good home ready for them in another temporary tank until my sister can come get them.

So all in all I have two adult mollies, one adult gourami one small betta female and a fry molly. It has been a fun and sad week.

Another bit of information is I got my first plant. A moss ball. The most complicated plant, I know.

PPS turns out there is about 12 fry rn and the betta is adjusting well. The only problem I've had is the gourami chasing her once but she is actually quite a shy betta. With my other females having died the male molly is harassing the last female and she is still giving out fry. I gave them extra plants to hide but she does not use them.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Move the fry if you want to keep them. Is the betta in with the other fish?

 

[Colin_T]

You should never add new fish to a tank where fish have just died. There could be a disease in your tank and adding a new fish could increase the problems. The new fish could develop the disease that killed the others, or it could introduce new diseases into the tank.

Keeping 2 species of labyrinth fish (Bettas & Gouramis) in the same tank usually ends in trouble. Watch them closely because they might kill each other.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree with Colin. That’s why I was asking if the betta was in the same tank. I would put him in his own tank of at least 5 gallons. Be careful when you go to purchase new fish. Make sure you are purchasing fish that are compatible and have the same temp and water chemistry needs. The Gourami and betta shouldn’t be together. One will get hurt.

 

[ItsDinoChips]

I had done a water change after the two mollies had passed and the last two remaining mollies are healthy, I assume. Since she popped out so many babies yesterday. The betta is now in with the others and is extremely shy and the gourami sometimes swims near her to irritate her but she has never flared up at any of the other fish. I have four of the fry I could catch in a breeders box and two of them are going, once they are old enough, to my sister who only has one gourami at the moment. If the rest who are not in the box survive the big fish then we will look at rehoming all 11 of them and keep them in a temporary 3 gallon spare tank until someone takes them. Dont worry I am extremely picky with who I'll give them to, only people I trust. I also had to add an extra internal filter with the amount of fish that suddenly happened to be in the tank all at once. I have put in extra tall plants and a betta hide for her just in case the gourami tries to bully her, she sticks to herself and the fry are using the hide instead.
I had done research before getting the betta and it said if you find the right female betta then they can go with gouramis. He is the big male so I expected some dominance display but since she still is small and younger I assume she just accepted being the bottom rank. She sticks to herself and hides in the plants. So far everything is great.