Is my fish dying???........ today we bought 3 fish for my sons 10 gallon aquarium. I believe one is a molly,?

Question

one a tetra and the other is white with small black dots all over him. I do have a divider at the end of the tank for his betta. The betta has been living in the aquarium for almost a year and has done really well. However I have noticed that the molly (orange) is staying at the very top of the water, she does not swim around like the others. I let them adjust to the water temp when we got them, it has chlorinator and a pump. Am I doing something wrong? We are new to this so I really don't know alot about them (I have been researching though). Can anyone help? Also I have read on here that people have there bettas in the same tank as their other fish - will mine work with these fish?

Answer 1

Since the molly is new, it may just be adjusting to it's new environment. Even if she continues to do this for a while, it may still not be much to worry about. If you notice, mollies have an upturned mouth, so they can feed at the surface. So it's natural for them to spend some time at the top of the tank (looking for a meal), but it should still go to other levels when swimming.

Is there any chance it's being harassed by one of the other fish? If the other fish are in the same tank as the betta, he may defending "his" territory, since he seems to have been in the tank longer. Also, tetras are schooling fish, and tend to become nippy if they don't have enough tankmates of their own species (generally, they should be in a group of 5 or more of the same type).

Are you using a filter, or an air pump? If no filter, or an undergravel filter, do you use a gravel vacuum to clean the tank, and do 25% water changes on at least a weelky basis? If not, you may have nitrate building up in your tank. If the other fish have been in the tank for a while, they may have gotten accustomed to a higher level, but if the molly is new, it may be reacting to this.

The addition of three fish may increase the ammonia levels in the tank fairly quickly. Ammonia is toxic to your fish, but it's normally converted to nitrite (also toxic) then to nitrate by bacteria in the tank. If the betta has been the only fish up until now, there may be more ammonia than the current bacteria can handle. The bacteria will eventually reproduce to handle the "extra load" but until then, you'll need to do water changes to keep the levels down and be certain the fish aren't overfed (more food=more poop=more ammonia).

As far as whether the combination will work long-term, bettas have individual personalities. Some accept tankmates better than others. You can reduce "territorial disputes" by moving ornament around so there's no familiar "territory" for him to defend. Apart from that, you'll just need to watch how the fish interact. I would suggest returning the tetra, though, since it probably won't be comfortable being an "only one of its kind".

These links have some good information that you can refer to about fishkeeping: http://www.fishlore.com/ , http://www.firsttankguide.net/
But I want to particularly point out this section: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm since it talks about the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate which may be causing your molly's behavior. Also see these on the problems ammonia and nitrite can cause and the symptoms: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm , http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/nitritepoison.htm

Answer 2

Your Beta will be fine with these fish.Tetra are more comfortable in schools,so consider getting 3 more.

As far as the molly goes,getting moved around can stress fish.Leave the light off,and try too stay back from the tank.Also try to keep any loud noise away from the tank.(I have kids too,so I know this might not be possible :) )

Acclimating fish into a new tank can take sometime.Making sure the temperature is the same is good,but sometimes the PH of the water can be different.Fishlesscycling.com has a very good article on how to properly acclimate fish.
But,unless you bought the fish from a store that has a different water source than you do,that usually is not an issue.
I buy fish from 3 or 4 different stores and the PH is always very close to my tanks.
More than likely it is just stressed from the move.So try keep things quiet and dark around the tank for tonight,and she will probably be more herself tomorrow.

Answer 3

oh man i freaked out when that happend too im a semi new/old tank owner ive had it since july or so i am mainly with mollies i have about 25 of em(babies ^_^) and when i got the first ones they did the same thing she/he is just adjusting to the newimviorment and there is almost nothing to worry about just check all ur levels with a tester or go to peco or something and tel can check it for you(just to be safe) but i dont think anything is rong its just the stess of being in a new tank just leave him/her alone and she should be normal soon well i hope this helpped good luck wiht ur new fishies (andi think the spotted on could be a dalmation molly they are so preety) ^_^ and i dont know about the betta w/ mollies mollies are communtity fish and bettas are agresive so just look on petco website and see if they are compatable!

Answer 4

Don't exactly understand the prob. there are severals issues. if you have adequate aeration i would tend to think the molly is lonely (that is if she is eating ok).... beta should do fine without the divider


get another molly

Answer 5

there is something called water p.h.
which has to be at the right spot, if its to high or to low, it will upset your fish, make them sick, and they most likely will die, that could be your problem, go to your local petstore, and ask them for a ph test kit, it will tell you if its normal or not, then once you know, go back to the petstore and ask them for a product that will fix it, you could also bring a sample of water in to your petstore, and they will help you find out what your problem is, describe the fish to them and their activities, hope i helped <3