RyanRotten

Hello, Im new here and could use a little help.
I have a 55g tank with 1 5in pleco, 1 swordtail (male), and 3 lyretail mollies ( 2 female and 1 male) My pH is 7.4 which I read swordtails and mollies like ph between 7.2 and 7.5 my nitrates and nitrates are at safe levels and my ammonia level is at .25. Ok so with that said my 2 larger mollies ( both females at 2 in) yesterday began swimming still and occasionally shaking. They dont do it all the time as they do stop to chase the male mollie and swordtail around. They are also eating. Im confused. Nothing in my book about this and i find conflicting opinions online from there having babies to their dying. I dont have much experiance with aquarium fish and such but I do have experiance in pond fish, koi's, goldfish, catfish..and ive never seen this kind of shaking. Please help. O...Ive had them for a week now and when I noticed this I did a 20% wc and vacumed half the gravel.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!
im sorry your fish babies arent well I hope it gets better soon!


the tank is so new, you need to cycle the tank I would at this point, find either some tetra safestart or prime...if you find the safestart, it will be a bacteria you add to your tank and let it cycle within 7-10 days..if you find the prime, you need to do DAILY water changes until you have 0 fr ammonia/nitrites, and under 20 nitrates..the prime will detox the ammonia/nitrites for 24 hours until your next wateyr change..the shaking is probably due to ammonia/nitrite poisoning..both of which are toxic to fish......

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore )
Ditto what Shawnie said.
One thing, in your post it says your ammonia is .25ppm, but your aqaurium info says 1.PPM?
Do you have the exact readings for nitrites and nitrates? What are you using to test?

Best of luck!

Tony G.

Welcome to Fishlore. Shawnie and Lucy have you covered. One thing though. What does the shaking look like?

Sorry your fish babies arent feeling well

RyanRotten

that was a week ago when i first introduced the fish, before that I had the tank running for 2 weeks and I used "freshwater biozyme" drybac cause it reminded me of the kind i used in ponds. As for the test kit I forget te nitrate nitrite test strip name, but I used API ammonia test kit and API ph test kit(wet test). I really dont think its that. Maybe i worded my question wrong....I have 2 mollies that for the most part seem fine (swim around, eat, no gasping or rapid gill movement) but every now and then stop in the middle of the tank and shake thier tailfins and do a little shimmy....

RyanRotten

is that the answer? There having babies?...

Lucy

I don't have live bearers but I'm sure others will chime in and hopefully give you an idea of what to look for if they're reading to drop fry.

Tony G.

aaaahhh tail shimming is courtship sometimes my guppies do it all the time.

Shawnie

the biozyme is more like the product cycle..it will not self sustain and will die off the second you dont use it the only proven live bacteria that works for now, is tetra safe start (formerly bio spira) ...not all fish gasp, or have rapid gill movement with ammonia/nitrite poisoning...each fish handles it differently...if you have ANY ammonia/nitrite readings. the tank isnt cycled and could harm the fish.. when you have fish in a tank, it takes weeks to cycle it..and if you use the improper live bacteria with the fish, it gives you false readings as long as you continue to use it...

RyanRotten

thanks Ill give it a try, I did another water change a few hours ago. They seem to be doing it less now. I was waiting to get live plants but if i get them now will that help with the nitrites?

ccb04

Your tank may not be cycled. If using a bacterial additive ... TSS is about the only one that works.

What you are likely seeing with your mollies is 'shimmying'. Mollies like harder water with a higher GH/KH and a high mineral content.

Many recommend using marine salt or something like Seachem's Cichlid lake salt as both contain calcium, magnesium, etc. Don't use tonic (eg: API) salt if you use any.

Being that I kept my mollies with other fish (mostly other livebearers), I chose to use a product called 'Wonder Shells' instead of consistently using salt. Wonder shells essentially disolve as necessary to replenish calcium, magnesium, etc.

You can order them at Linens n' Things online ... or from American Aquarium Products.

Here's a good read on Molly care: http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com...aquariums.html