Molly-they get sick without bubbles?

petfairy · 05-07-2006, 03:16 PM

OOOOOO, the first one to post here. What a privilage.

Well, I have a 20 gallon tank with molly and platy, I have a bubble strip that is always on. I turned it off for about an hour or two. When I went over to look at them, they were not moving as much and looked like they had ich.

But then when I turned the bubbles back on they immediatly became more active and started mating, and now a few minutes later, the spots on the fins are going away.

I will do a water change today but I really need to know why they seem to get sick when I turn off the bubbles. I dont get it.

Thanks,
Janell

OrionGirl · 05-07-2006, 04:19 PM

What kind of filtration does the tank have?

It's not ich--might be some sort of stress reaction, but ich is a parasite that doesn't come and go within a few hours.

petfairy · 05-07-2006, 05:07 PM

there are two filters on each side, both for a ten gallon. the tank is a 20 gallon. I think it might have been stress. Atleast that seems correct. Please correct me if i am wrong. I raised the temp. and changed out some of the water and they seem pretty happy right now. The filters are made by tetra-whisper. 10i

OrionGirl · 05-07-2006, 05:23 PM

As long as the tank isn't overstocked, and has adequate water current, removing the bubbles won't do anything that would stress the fish. The only thing bubblers do is increase surface agitation--but the filters should be creating adequate surface agitation.

How long have you had the fish? How old is the tank?

tricksterpup · 05-07-2006, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petfairy

there are two filters on each side, both for a ten gallon. the tank is a 20 gallon. I think it might have been stress. Atleast that seems correct. Please correct me if i am wrong. I raised the temp. and changed out some of the water and they seem pretty happy right now. The filters are made by tetra-whisper. 10i

Hello Petfairy..
Sounds like you did a couple of right things here, and hopefully they will be fine. One you did a water change and you raised your temp. Mollies and other live bearers do like a warmer water, not much warmer but still warm non the less. But please also answer OG's question about the age of the tank. This will help us out in the future with your tank. Also do not worry about babies, yes, most live beareres can interbreed but platies seem to "Click" more and cross breed easier with Sword tails. Remember once your tank is settled in do weekly water changes. This will help your fish in the long run.

petfairy · 05-07-2006, 10:32 PM

My tank as been set up for approx. 5 months. they have had bubbles every day the whole time. i dont know what it is but with no bubbles the freak out and just hide. they love to swim through them and ride them. there is only one with the little white spots and those have gotten a lot less noticeable. everyone seems happy. i just dont understand it. Still anyway. But I will have to check them again tomorrow and see if I need to use any kind of treatment. i have had the fish a little bit longer though. they got upgraded. it is a little overstocked. but that will soon change when the larger tank is done cycling. but they have all been together all this time with no problems until i turned the bubbles off.

tricksterpup · 05-08-2006, 02:24 AM

Hmmm.. if your tank has been running fine for 5 months now and your fish are acting odd, I would rule out parasites. But when was your last fish added to the tank? Keep us posted.

petfairy · 05-08-2006, 09:35 AM

the last fish was added just a few days after i put them in.so it was still about 5 months. now i have had births, deaths, and redecoration. i lost the mother of my platy babies almost immediatly after birth. then i lost another platy the day after i put them in there. but, i literally lost that one, couldnt find a trace of him. im even wondering if i really got him. any way. the babies are in a seperate 10 gallon by themselves. there are only 5. now one thing i did is that i have two black mystery snails in with the big fish and the male is very aggressive when it comes to mating and the female was scrapping him off of her, so, i seperated them and put the male in the 10 gallon with the babies. then a few days ater i put him back in. no more problems with that, yet. and actually now that i think about it i got a new tank and it had not been cleaned since the last time it was used, so i cleaned it really good, sealed it and it also came with decorations, i soaked those in bleach water over night and then the next day i soaked them in regular water, the the next day i soaked them in treated water. i scrubbed it after every soaking. then i let it sit for a day and put it in with the molly. i dont kow if that is the problem but im just trying to tell you everything that i have done and everything that has happened so that i can find out what im doing wrong. Thank you for all of your help.

Janell

petfairy · 05-08-2006, 09:38 AM

I Have More Babies!!!!!!!!!!!!

tricksterpup · 05-08-2006, 10:01 AM

You know after re-reading your thread, it dawned on me that some times animals are like Autistic Children and they do not like Change.
These animals are used to a constant stimuli in their environment and to have it stop for a bit can cause them to be unhappy or to even hide. I think they are doing the later there and hiding in the tank. If they are happier and moving around just leave the bubble wand on. I do not use them in my tanks so, I never experience anything like this. But it does provide water Movement in the tank. I do not think your fish has any illnesses. They are just stressed by the change in Environment, the bubbler turned off.

But it is always great to hear about babies.

petfairy · 05-10-2006, 02:11 AM

Thank you, I am very proud of my new molly babies. I saved 17, I am not sure exactly how many she had. I thought she was going to die, she was turning brown about half way through labor. She quickly regained her color and did experience some bruising but that went away soon after. Of course, my other pregnant molly is now lurking at the top of the tank where I have set up a baby trap. I find this trap to be very useful in catching the babies that make it up there. I have a snap on lid to a tiny plastic tank, its like a quart I think. The lid is floating upside down in the tank and I put some breeding grass on the corner to sink it slightly so only the babies will be able to swim in. From there I will catch them and transport them into my 10 gallon grow out tank. It has worked so well that I have to recommend it. Unfortunatly I figured this out after losing a lot of platy fry the last time I had babies. I was only able to save 5 then. The platy fry are a month old this week and are getting larger my the minute. I preffer to use this method rather that the breeding boxes and breeding nets. I have never had any luck with those. And I cant stand having a pregnant fish in such a small space. So, the mother swims freely and I save what I can. As for the others that do not make it to the top, well, they are good nutrician for the african dwarf frogs. Sorry about the long explaination, Some reason my mind only works if I explain myself to the fullest extent. Thank you for your help.

Janell

trickbaby1019 · 05-15-2006, 10:07 PM

Het my pet I have a question was it white bumps or white blotches in skin color because that is a big diffrence just curios love ya babe

petfairy · 05-16-2006, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trickbaby1019

Het my pet I have a question was it white bumps or white blotches in skin color because that is a big diffrence just curios love ya babe

So Cute.....Anyway, they were not on the skin, but on the tail and no where else. Besides, they are gone now. But thank you for the concern.

05-07-2006, 03:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
petfairy Clown Freak Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 611	Molly-they get sick without bubbles? OOOOOO, the first one to post here. What a privilage. Well, I have a 20 gallon tank with molly and platy, I have a bubble strip that is always on. I turned it off for about an hour or two. When I went over to look at them, they were not moving as much and looked like they had ich. But then when I turned the bubbles back on they immediatly became more active and started mating, and now a few minutes later, the spots on the fins are going away. I will do a water change today but I really need to know why they seem to get sick when I turn off the bubbles. I dont get it. Thanks, Janell

05-08-2006, 02:24 AM	#7 (permalink)
tricksterpup Need more livebearers... Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 181	Hmmm.. if your tank has been running fine for 5 months now and your fish are acting odd, I would rule out parasites. But when was your last fish added to the tank? Keep us posted. __________________ The fish I most recommend is Heterandria Formosa the least killiefish, smallest livebearer in the United states. Picture is larger than life size. Males reach a lengh of 1/4 of an inch and females up to 1 inch.

05-08-2006, 10:01 AM	#10 (permalink)
tricksterpup Need more livebearers... Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 181	You know after re-reading your thread, it dawned on me that some times animals are like Autistic Children and they do not like Change. These animals are used to a constant stimuli in their environment and to have it stop for a bit can cause them to be unhappy or to even hide. I think they are doing the later there and hiding in the tank. If they are happier and moving around just leave the bubble wand on. I do not use them in my tanks so, I never experience anything like this. But it does provide water Movement in the tank. I do not think your fish has any illnesses. They are just stressed by the change in Environment, the bubbler turned off. But it is always great to hear about babies. __________________ The fish I most recommend is Heterandria Formosa the least killiefish, smallest livebearer in the United states. Picture is larger than life size. Males reach a lengh of 1/4 of an inch and females up to 1 inch.

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05-07-2006, 04:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,722	What kind of filtration does the tank have? It's not ich--might be some sort of stress reaction, but ich is a parasite that doesn't come and go within a few hours.

05-07-2006, 05:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
petfairy Clown Freak Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 611	there are two filters on each side, both for a ten gallon. the tank is a 20 gallon. I think it might have been stress. Atleast that seems correct. Please correct me if i am wrong. I raised the temp. and changed out some of the water and they seem pretty happy right now. The filters are made by tetra-whisper. 10i

05-07-2006, 05:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,722	As long as the tank isn't overstocked, and has adequate water current, removing the bubbles won't do anything that would stress the fish. The only thing bubblers do is increase surface agitation--but the filters should be creating adequate surface agitation. How long have you had the fish? How old is the tank?

05-07-2006, 10:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
petfairy Clown Freak Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 611	My tank as been set up for approx. 5 months. they have had bubbles every day the whole time. i dont know what it is but with no bubbles the freak out and just hide. they love to swim through them and ride them. there is only one with the little white spots and those have gotten a lot less noticeable. everyone seems happy. i just dont understand it. Still anyway. But I will have to check them again tomorrow and see if I need to use any kind of treatment. i have had the fish a little bit longer though. they got upgraded. it is a little overstocked. but that will soon change when the larger tank is done cycling. but they have all been together all this time with no problems until i turned the bubbles off.

05-08-2006, 09:35 AM	#8 (permalink)
petfairy Clown Freak Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 611	the last fish was added just a few days after i put them in.so it was still about 5 months. now i have had births, deaths, and redecoration. i lost the mother of my platy babies almost immediatly after birth. then i lost another platy the day after i put them in there. but, i literally lost that one, couldnt find a trace of him. im even wondering if i really got him. any way. the babies are in a seperate 10 gallon by themselves. there are only 5. now one thing i did is that i have two black mystery snails in with the big fish and the male is very aggressive when it comes to mating and the female was scrapping him off of her, so, i seperated them and put the male in the 10 gallon with the babies. then a few days ater i put him back in. no more problems with that, yet. and actually now that i think about it i got a new tank and it had not been cleaned since the last time it was used, so i cleaned it really good, sealed it and it also came with decorations, i soaked those in bleach water over night and then the next day i soaked them in regular water, the the next day i soaked them in treated water. i scrubbed it after every soaking. then i let it sit for a day and put it in with the molly. i dont kow if that is the problem but im just trying to tell you everything that i have done and everything that has happened so that i can find out what im doing wrong. Thank you for all of your help. Janell

05-08-2006, 09:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
petfairy Clown Freak Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 611	I Have More Babies!!!!!!!!!!!!

05-10-2006, 02:11 AM	#11 (permalink)
petfairy Clown Freak Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 611	Thank you, I am very proud of my new molly babies. I saved 17, I am not sure exactly how many she had. I thought she was going to die, she was turning brown about half way through labor. She quickly regained her color and did experience some bruising but that went away soon after. Of course, my other pregnant molly is now lurking at the top of the tank where I have set up a baby trap. I find this trap to be very useful in catching the babies that make it up there. I have a snap on lid to a tiny plastic tank, its like a quart I think. The lid is floating upside down in the tank and I put some breeding grass on the corner to sink it slightly so only the babies will be able to swim in. From there I will catch them and transport them into my 10 gallon grow out tank. It has worked so well that I have to recommend it. Unfortunatly I figured this out after losing a lot of platy fry the last time I had babies. I was only able to save 5 then. The platy fry are a month old this week and are getting larger my the minute. I preffer to use this method rather that the breeding boxes and breeding nets. I have never had any luck with those. And I cant stand having a pregnant fish in such a small space. So, the mother swims freely and I save what I can. As for the others that do not make it to the top, well, they are good nutrician for the african dwarf frogs. Sorry about the long explaination, Some reason my mind only works if I explain myself to the fullest extent. Thank you for your help. Janell

05-15-2006, 10:07 PM	#12 (permalink)
trickbaby1019 Tainted Join Date: May 2006 Location: Liverpool, N.Y. Posts: 9	Het my pet I have a question was it white bumps or white blotches in skin color because that is a big diffrence just curios love ya babe

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