angvalanche

I had got a pair of mollys about a month ago to go along with my 2 corydoryas in my 5 galon tank. Both mollys were fine, and adjusted to the tank quite nicely. Now however, my female molly is acting strange. She is now frightened whenever i walk by the tank; if i turn on the light she'll dart around the tank and hide in one of the corners near the waters surface. This is odd behaviour because usually she comes up to the glass to look at you when you walk by. I am not sure what to do because i'm scared she may get too stressed and die. Any ideas what might be wrong :S?

Additional notes:
5 gallon tank
2 corys, 2 mollies
had this tank for a month and a half i'd say
I do a 25% - 50% water change every week
I feed them fish flakes and algae wafers
I dont have any real plants
The temperature is ~70F (goes up during the day)
I use carbon/polyester filters (Elite, Hush 10)

agabr123

well there are a couple of things going on in your tank...
1. your temp really needs to be up around 78-79, all those fish are tropical and will thrive much better at the higher temp
2. do you have a test kit? if so, what are your readings for the tank (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)? if not, i'd recommend getting the API freshwater master test kit, it's a little more expensive than the strips but is MUCH more accurate and will last longer than the strips
3. did you let your tank cycle before putting fish in?
4. IMO you're overstocked, with two corys you have about 2.5 inches of fish each and the mollies are at 3, so you'll end up with 11 inches of fish in a 5 gallon. i think they would be great in a 10 gallon (you could probably fit just one more corycat in a 10), but the increased bioload could have caused your cycle to crash.
5. when you turn on the light, was it completely dark in the room beforehand? a lot of times if the room is very dark and you turn on a bright light it will scare them and they will be disoriented for a little while
6. i can't recommend doing this with the cories as they are VERY sensitive to salt, but adding a small amount of salt to a species only tank with mollies can be helpful to them, again the cories are very sensitive to salt so you shouldn't add it to the tank as long as they're kept together.

hope that helps, welcome to fishlore!!!

angvalanche

Okay, i'll be sure to keep the light on during the day, that should help bring up the temperature a little. And i don't have a test kit so i guess i'll have to go shopping for one of those. And i let my tank cycle for about 2 days before putting fish in (is that not enough time or too much?). And as for my corys and mollys, they're actually not that big at all. My corys are really small, i'd say each is about an inch, and the mollys are only a tad bit bigger than that. The guy at the fish store told me that my set up was okay, but he also told me the wrong genders for my mollys :P so he's not really a reliable source haha

agabr123

yeah, unfortunately fish stores (if you ever see LFS on this site, that means local fish store, just a heads up) generally give pretty inaccurate advice. your cories and mollies will grow to the sizes that i put for you above

two days isn't enough time to cycle a tank, my ten gallon took over a month to cycle! here are some links on the cycle to give you a better idea of what's going on in your tank
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm

you should probably look into getting a heater to keep the temperature where it needs to be and more stable, here is a link for a heater that i have in my 5 gallon, i'm not a huge fan of it because it isn't adjustable and only gets the tank to about 76-77, but it's pretty cheap and works alright, if you can invest in a better one i'd recommend it though
http://www.petmountain.com/product/a...le-heater.html

i also have this heater, which i prefer to the other one
http://www.petmountain.com/product/a...le-heater.html

also, here is a link for the test kit that i recommend
http://www.petmountain.com/product/a...-test-kit.html

angvalanche

Thanks so much for all your help! I really appreciate it

agabr123

no problem don't hesitate to post any more questions you may have!

CWO4GUNNER

I recently cycled and have 6 mollies in the community of 24 other fish in a 60 gal tank. My experiences is that my mollies need at least 74 degrees as I tried 72 but it made them timid and quiet but at 74 they are just as lively as when at higher temps. Also the swings in temperature from day to night due to an aquarium compared to a large lake are a bit hard so you may want to consider a cheap submersible heater at Walmart for about $15. Molly's also need a little more electrolytes for their nervous system since they originate from brackish waters. I have researched and found that as little as 1 tablespoon of "Mortins pure salt (green box)" per 50 gallons of water (available at Walmart for $1.50 for 4.5 pounds) is just enough for molly's to function properly without affecting Cory's or Pleco's.
I keep my aquarium at 74 degrees to stave off growing bacteria blooms and viral infections in the water and also to minimize the affects of toxins on fish gills. Do not use the light as a substitute for a heater as longer light hours will only encourage algae blooms.

angvalanche

Oh dang, algae blooms aren't much fun D: As you can see i'm a hardcore n00b when it comes to fish tanks... I'll be sure to get myself a heater asap. How do i know what size heater to get? Does it say what tank sizes it covers on the box?

agabr123

it should say the recommended tank size on the box

angvalanche

Oh another question! If i get a heater, should i get a bubbler thing too? At what water temperature should i worry about oxiginating my tank with a bubbler?

agabr123

you don't need to worry about an air stone or bubble wand until the tank is getting over 80 degrees (for example, if you're treating for ICH it's recommended to raise the temp to 84 degrees and leave it for two weeks, then you'd need it because of the high temp) or if you're medicating the tank for whatever reason, a lot of times medications say on the bottle/box that you should provide extra aeration

angvalanche

Alrighty Thanks again!

Btw I looked at some of your fish tank set ups - very nice! I'm hoping to get some real plants in my tank this summer.. I need to master taking care of fish before i can figure out how to keep a plant alive haha

agabr123

no problem

thank you! yeah....you'd be surprised how fast they add up! i literally started keeping fish last november, and now i have eight tanks!

plants are pretty easy depend on what you have, the only kind of plants i've really been able to keep alive are java fern, java moss, and anubias, they are low-light plants and pretty easy to care for so they've survived i add some flourish made by seachem to the tank when i remember and they do okay

oh, are you using a water conditioner? if so, what kind? if not, i recommend prime, it detoxifies ammonia for 24 hours and removes chlorines, chloramines, and heavy metals, and is WAY more concentrated than stress coat +, which does basically the same thing

angvalanche

I use this thing called Cycle. The other text on it says "Reduces fish loss, more nitrifiers. Keeps Quariums healthy. Rapidly matures new aquariums."

I also got a filter. Its called "Elite, mini sumbersible". Its a 25W heater for up to 5.5 galons. It says to turn on the heater and leave it on until the desired temperature is reached, and then to turn it off. I was wondering if this was a good buy or the worst thing i could have done in my life :P I was also wondering how to use it. Does this mean that whenever my temperature falls down, i have to turn on the heater until it reaches back to normal? Also, should i heat the tank up 1 degree at a time over a long period of time? I don't wanna cause any shock to my fish that may harm them.. Sorry for all the questions, but i need all the help i can get, sadly to say lol.

angvalanche

Oh and i tried to take your advice about that specific heater, but the petstore i went to didn't have the specific one you advised me to get in stock.. so i had to settle with the one i just mentioned above

CWO4GUNNER

Heater wattage for a specific size aquarium usually runs about 5 watts per gallon and 3 watts per gallon on tanks larger then 30 gallons. This is mainly to make it more efficient so that it is not on so much trying to keep the water warm. However 35 yeas ago all heaters were underpowered and seemed to be on about 50% of the time and as a result only lasted about 2 years, however they still managed to keep even my old 40 gallon warm. My point is yes its better to get the appropriate size heater but even an under powered heater will work overtime to keep it at temperature. Also a micro bubble aerator wand and cheap pump is good insurance against oxygen depletion, effects of gill damage due to toxins, helps remove toxins, helps your filter pic up debris, helps your heater maintain an even temperature throughout the tank, and discourages algae blooms as algae does not like oxygen rich water. Just remember if your wand full bast during the day, turn it down to 1/4 or less at night so the fish can rest without too much turbulence. An air wand is pretty much all upside on benefits. Oh and if you use an airline manifold with 2 or more valves be sure to turn down the air by bleeding off excessive air (through an open unused manifold valve) rather then restricting air on the pump. Restricting air on the pump overworks and overheats it shortening its life and effectiveness.

agabr123

unfortunately the product cycle has the wrong kind of bacteria in it, it's not self sustaining and if you don't add it every day it will crash your cycle. i'd stop using it now while you're still getting through the cycle. i only use prime, if you want to cycle a tank quickly the only product that works IMO is tetra safe start (not tetra aqua safe)

hmm.....does it say that YOU have to turn it off manually? if you have to turn it off and it doesn't have an automatic shut off then that probably isn't the one that you want

you should try to aim for turning it up one degree per hour, that will give him enough time to adjust

agabr123

http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=767716

is this your heater? if so then i dont think it's what you want, it says it only keeps the temperature at 70 and you need it closer to 78-79

angvalanche

Yeah I'll have to look into getting that tetra safe start stuff, or the prime stuff that you use.

And yeah that sounds like the heater i just bought. Though, i put it in my tank and it already went from 70F to 76F (over a course of a few hours, not just instantly haha). I'm hoping that my mollies start acting normal after this... it's really strange though. When i bought them they were curious and active. Then one day the temp spiked in my room (and in the tank) and brought their temp to about 74F. Ever since then, they started acting strange - as in getting spooked and darting around whenever i walk by the tank or turn my bedroom light on (even though their tank light is already on). They only swim around when i'm no where near the tank, and when i am there they dart around and hide in the corner.

agabr123

nope, it's an "add-all-at-once" kind of thing

and you'll need the prime regardless of whether or not you get the safestart, and it should be added with every water change to the new water

hmm, okay it should be alright then, just keep an eye on the temp

yeah...getting the temp constant and getting them into a filtered tank will probably get them back to normal

angvalanche

Alrighty, so that heater is acually working better than i thought. It has kept the temp at 78 very nicely. My female molly is still acting a little skiddish when i walk by the tank, but maybe i need to give her some more time. My male one is shy as well, but he's been like that since i got him. Should i have gotten the same colour of molly so that they wouldnt feel alone? Or does the colour really matter? (my female one is white, and my male one is red incase you would like to know )

agabr123

yeah, i'd just give them some time. maybe i missed this buy did you buy a tank, if so what size? if you just set it up then you'll need to either buy tetra safe start or do daily water changes (you'll need to do this if they are in the bowl too) since it will be cycling

color shouldn't matter much, i'm sure they'll be fine in a little while

angvalanche

Yayy! i'd just like to thank everyone for their help! My female molly is back to her normal self again I'm very happy i decided to join this site - it's very helpful! thanks again everyone