i have a female and male dolmation molly fish. my female seemed pregnant for about a week now, but this morning when i checked the tank i discovered 2 things. 1 of my neon fish was dead and my dolmation molly wasn't pregnant any more! my dolmation molly also has some marks on her, and it looks like some scales are popping/ have fallen off of her. I checked the tank really closly for babies but i coldnt find any. what is going on here???!!
2006-09-18 09:36:43 · 10 answers · asked by guitarist2309 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Sounds like you are over feeding your tank and the effects of that are starting to show. To start with, raise your tank's temp a couple of degrees and do a large (50%) now, and again in a week. Add salt for freshwater fish and cut your feeding in half. Your Dalmatian may have had embryos only from bad water quality and they would have been eaten really quick (would explain the death of you neon).
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2006-09-18 14:18:28 · answer #1 · answered by iceni 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have mollies too and sometimes they two can act very weird. Your dead neon was either because the molly might have been pregnant and was either very protective or stressed. Either that or your neon just died. It depends on if the neon looked all scratched up. If he/she looked normal than it probably just died.
Another thing about pregnant fish is the way to tell if they are fat or pregnant is to hold a light up to them and if they are pregnant their will be a dark area under their normal organs. When my first fish was pregnant I as so confused when she one day didn't look pregnant. It turned out that fish can some times absorb the babies like eating them. It is weird and stress full time but i was able to breed 20 fish from a platty and i still have them and they are healthy. I Hope this was a help. GOOD LUCK!
2006-09-18 16:44:37 · answer #2 · answered by drumerman38 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the female probably gave birth, and the other fish ate them and in the feeding frenzy, nipped the female, and killed the neon. Next time you have a female that is pregnant, (in about 20 days), put her in a breeding box so the fry survive, and the other fish can't get at her or them. Breeding boxes arefairly cheap, between $2 and $10. depending on the type ans where you buy them. I got a small plastic one from Walmart for about $4 here in Canada and it works fine.
mean while , sprinkle a little salt in the water to help her heal, or put some fish treatment in.
2006-09-18 16:48:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm thinkg that she never was pregnant, but maybe was bloated. It sounds like she is very sick and needs immediate care. How are the ph, ammonia and nitrate levels as well as the temp?
Is there any signs of fungus?
Mollys do prefer slightly brackish water (although your neons don't) she may need salt
As far as your neon goes, they really aren'y hearty fish it may well be unrelated.
What size tank do you have, and how many other fish?
Edit: there are many recommending the breeding tanks/boxes. I breed, and i really don't reccomend them. They put undue stress on the mom and cause a greater chance to miscarrage. The best thing to do is have lots of plants and caves for the babys to hide in.
2006-09-18 16:51:20 · answer #4 · answered by allyalexmch 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most likely your ammonia, or nitrates are to high. It sounds like she has dropsy. (She many have abort the fry due to illness, or they died after being born.) Neon are very sensitive to high levels of nitrates, and ammonia. (So are molly, but not to the degree of neons.) For really expensive like Discus. Experienced owners always have neon in the tank. If you tank's water chemistry gets out of whack the neons die and alert you before the discus get sick.
Get a test kit to test ammonia, nitrates, and pH. Or take a sample to the local fish store and see if they will test it.
2006-09-18 18:11:48 · answer #5 · answered by Sabersquirrel 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have had succesful livebearer breeding for a long time now i find that the fry will come out when there ready or maybe the other mollyshave ate the fry as they do this but you should also check your filtration system bcus thats where they hide
2006-09-18 16:58:51 · answer #6 · answered by dwayne b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She either ate them, or what IMO think is she has dropsy. As far as the neon, they're very sensitive fish.
2006-09-18 17:20:05 · answer #7 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She may not have been prego, sometimes they do get fat and poop out a mile long string to decorate the tank. =)
But if she was, either they were eaten or sucked into the filter....Or hiding very well.
2006-09-18 16:45:07 · answer #8 · answered by joe b 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Or she already ate them or the mate did. You should of place her in a separate container which stays in the aquarium
2006-09-18 16:47:37 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
make sure there are no dragon fly larvae in your tank,they sometimes come in live fish food
2006-09-18 16:46:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋