xlilwhitedove101x

I just bought a bunch of new fish, but the one that stands out the most is my Dalmation Molly. He just stays in one spot of the tank and doesn't seem to move I also have a Black Molly in the tank as well. Is this normal and or what could be causing this??

Thanks!

2lucky

I think that your tank is most likely going through New Tank Syndrome..

I'll give you the run down:

When you buy a new tank the water has to cycle, this is a process where beneficial bacteria grows in your filter. Beneficial bacteria breaks down harmful fish waste and other by-products that turn into ammonia, even a little bit of ammonia can be lethal to fish.

Many people who are new to fishkeeping fill up a tank of water, chuck in some fish and expext it to be ok... But the bacteria has not had a chance to grow in the filter and there is nothing to break down the ammonia.

Go to the Fishlore home page and go to the page called the nitrogen cycle.
I would return all your fish to the shop until you understand more about it, otherwise very soon you're going to end up with a whole lot of dead fish very soon.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

KyWildFish

Yeah, mollies are sensitive to ammonia and nitrite. Its likely you have quite a bit of water changing to do before the situation gets better.

xlilwhitedove101x

I bought the tank 3 days before I put my fish in it. I talked to the guy at petco and he said to fill it up with distilled H2O and then add the H2O conditioner and then let the tank cycle for a few days. So that's what I did. I slowly put fish into the tank and the Mollies were the last ones I put in the other fish in the tank are acting normal including the Black Molly. The Dalmation Molly appears to be full grown and he's not eating but the other fish eat good. Do you think that he might have gotten sick at the pet store or do they just swim in one area for a long time because of the age and or peaceful att. The water temp. is 74 and it stays balanced between that and 76. I mean I have raised many fish in my life but this one just doesn't seem normal but I don't know much about them.. thanks for any help..

KyWildFish

The problem is the tank is not cycled properly. The advise you got from the pet store is bad. There is a cycle which has recently been more defined called the nitrogen cycle. The first part of the cycle is the addition of Ammonia to the water. This comes from fish waste and decomposing food. The second phase is the Nitrite phase (notice the spelling). This phase is caused by a certain kind of bacteria breaking down the ammonia into Nitrite. The last phase is the nitrate phase. This is caused by another type of bacteria that breaks down the Nitrite.

The problem with the advise you got from the fish store is there is no way what so ever that the cycle is complete in a few days. There are products on the market which seed all the proper bacteria but they are hard to find and provide mixed results.

The tank needs to be cycled. Mollies are very active fish (I have lots) and dont normally pass up a meal, they are big pigs. The behavior is likely due to ammonia poisoning and the fish might die if you dont take matters into you control. You need to get water testing supplies that test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The first two pollutants are VERY harmful to delicate fish like your molly. The problem with letting the molly be sick is it could potentially make your whole tank sick because it is weak.

For a better description on taking care of fish during the cycle read the main page's rundown on cycling or you can feel free to private message me and I will walk you thru the process as I have fallen under bad advise myself and have cycled with fish (and no losses thanks to fishlore).