chewzas

Well, I’m a beginner. I started a new 20-gallon tank one and a half months ago. I have gradually added 2 Marigold, 4 Neon, 1 Silver Molly and 2 “half yellow and half white” Molly. I do 25% water changes weekly and test the water quality once every other day. And, I try to keep the temperature around 80.

One of the “Yellow/White” molly unexpectedly gave birth of 24 fry a week ago. I put all of them in a breeder and float it in the tank. At the same time I tested my water, and nitrite was very high about 5 PPM, but ammonia was 0 ppm. So, I did 25% water change and added nitrite remover which helped bring it down to 1 ppm. Now, the water seems to be ok as both nitrite and ammonia levels are 0 ppm and nitrate is 10 ppm.

However, my fry have started to die since they were born. Six of them have already died—one or two each day. Also, one of the “Yellow/White” Molly (I’m not sure if it is the one who gave the birth) started to act weird. Its body looks “curved” and it can’t really move its tail. So, it stays at the bottom or hides inside the ornament. I noticed though that it uses its side fins and a little of its tail to swim. I don’t know what has happened to them. Could it be that the fry and the Molly have got the same disease? Or, some problem with the water? Other fish are fine and swim and eat vigorously. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ShaynaB

First off, welcome to FishLore!

Now, was your tank cycled before you put the fish in or did you cycle with fish? And what are all your test readings right now? Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate?

Nitrite should not be that high. I'd do a water change ASAP.

Curved bodies can happen for a number of reasons, but with the fry dying I'm going to say it's probably water quality issues.

chewzas

I just did the test and here is the result. Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 10 ppm.

I cycled the tank with the fish and started with 2 Marrigold and 2 Neon. About a month later I added 3 Molly and then added 2 more Neon last week right before the new-born fry.

When I found that Nitrite was so high, I did the 25% water change and also treated with Nitirte remover. After that, Ammonia and Nitrite have stayed 0 until now.

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore.

Either your tank didn't cycle fully or something set it back in the cycle, as a cycled tank shouldn't have any nitrites at all.

I would bet that the nitrite is what was killing the fry.
Mollies seem to be kind of susceptible to a variety of diseases that manifest as a bent spine. It could be a number of things, but it is likely that the stress of the nitrite triggered the problem.

Hopefully, as you maintain good water quality, the fish will recover.

Chances are that one source of the nitrogen in the tank is overfeeding. Most people overfeed their fish. I probably overfeed mine. Excess food settles on the bottom and turns into nitrogen, or gets eaten by little piggy fish and gets turned into excess poo. Either way, you end up with more nitrogen in the system. Try to only feed them what they can eat in a minute. I feed mine no more than they can eat in ten to twenty seconds.

chewzas

You guys are right. I also think that when the fry came out, the tank hadn't fully cycled yet coz Ammonia was 0 with a little of Nitrate level, but Nitrite was way high.

I hope that my fish will recover soon. I will test the water everyday to make sure that Ammonia and Nitrite levels stay at 0. About feeding the fish, I usually feed as much as they can eat in 1-2 minutes.

Here I attached the photos of the fry and the Molly. If you see them, you will like them. They are so lovely.

Attached Images

	IMG_2069.JPG (94.0 KB, 26 views)
	IMG_2078.JPG (76.1 KB, 24 views)

ShaynaB

They're beautiful fish. Your test results are good right now. Hopefully you can keep them there and no more fish will die!

Also, I hope you have room for more Mollies! haha they like to breed...

0morrokh

Could you post a pic of the molly with the bent spine? Is that molly eating, and is he losing weight at all? Also what exactly are you feeding them? The spinal deformity is either due to a birth defect/bad genetics, improper diet (deficiency of certain nutrients) or a disease. The fry deaths were definately due to the nitrite. The reason nitrite spiked was because you added more fish recently. Each time you add fish the ammonia and then nitrite will probably spike before the bacteria can catch up to the added bioload. When you add new fish you need to do a 50% water change every day until you stop getting ammonia & nitrite readings.

Btw that's a nice looking molly, and the fry are so cute. f

Birdo

Hello, I am new to forums in general and I hope this is ok, but I am going to talk/ask about my young molly fry and its' bent spine as well.

In regards to the question about the bent spine on the little fry. I heard from another forum that antibiotics are bad for the little ones and could cause birth defects such as the bent spine, I gave the mom antibiotics when she was pregnant when she became sick with cotton mouth, but had to make the hard choice of risking the lives of the young so the mother could survive (if the rumors about the antibiotic were true). Did you treat the mom with antibiotics when she was pregnant? I am not sure if anyone wants to chime in on what I heard about the antibiotics. I have heard generally they aren't good to use on fish, but for me they work pretty well. The one little fish is the first one I have had, so I can't generalize like I have had much experience, and perhaps it is a coinsidence?

I have a new 29 gallon tank with 1 molly mamma, one tiny molly fry, and 5 ghost fish. The grey molly mom is fine, does not have a bent spine and neither did the father who passed on a couple months ago. So genetically they appear ok, though maybe the little baby one got a recessive trait from a couple generations ago if the rumors about the antibiotics aren't true?

I went on vacation for 9 days and came back and she had one baby of which looked perfectly healthy this was July 19th. I took him out of the maintank and stuck him in a breeder box. Today I am very worried about the baby, he/she is on it's side trying to right itself up and eating very well, but has a bent spine. The spine is bent so that if you are looking at the fry bilaterally it's tail is drooping downward and it looks as though it's hard for it to swim. This happened so suddenly!

It seems very weak. My tank is cycling though, however the pH is 7.8, ammonia level is less than .25 (very close to 0, yellow color in the liquid tests but a tinge of green so small it's less than that required of the color to be .25), nitrite level less than .25 dark blue but not purple yet on the test (in which there is no in between color indicated for a level on the test), and nitrate is 5. The natural tap water level tests at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, 8.0 ph, and 10.0 nitrate!

I feed the baby 1 drop of fry food a day, but am switching over to flakes soon. I kept a close eye on the baby because most of the bottles say to feed 2-3 times a day, but the baby was pooping a lot so I figured 1 drop was enough and I didn't want to spike the ammonia level's in my tank too high with the liquid food. The baby is still quite small. Does the baby definitely need brine shrimp and is this the reason why it is getting weaker and having a hard time swimming? Perhaps the spine is making it harder to swim? I don't notice any sign of disease on the little one besides the way he/she is acting and his bent spine.

And is there any food you would recommend besides the brine shrimp that the baby will love? Any chemicals you say I should stay away from with the fry? I sometimes use the ph down chemicals.