Panicking fish, Panicking ME!!!!!

[SlateSpider]

I walked into my room, and went over to my fish tank to check and see if everything was doing okay. Prince (my betta) was flaring up his gills when the other fish came near the divider and his colors were brighter than I've ever seen them before! all the other fish were swimming around their side of the divider really fast, occasionally stopping to eat something off the bottom. What is wrong with them??

BTW, my gold dust Mollie female is skinny, now. I don't see any fry, so I don't know what's up.

Both of my Danio's are getting larger around the belly, so it's possible they could be pregnant, too.

 

[Thyra]

What are you readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Was your tank ever actually cycled? To my knowledge, Danios are egg layers so I don't know if they get really fat before hand or not. Your mollies could have slurped up the fry as they were born.

 

[SlateSpider]

I don't have a test kit yet, but I will in a couple hours. How will I know when the danio's have laid their eggs? The other fish will probably eat them, though.

 

[SlateSpider]

Finally!!!!

I noticed the divider was crooked, so I went to fix it. I saw some movement, and at the bottom were...

BABY FISHIES!!!!

My mom and I stood there for about 10 minutes and rescued 10 babies from throughout the tank. I might need to reorganize my tank, now...

We put the fry in a betta bowl, and we are about to go to petco. The babies have black bodies, yellow head, and large, black eyes. They are about 1/4 inch long. Which one do you think is the mother? The black Mollie, or the gold dust Mollie?

 

[Thyra]

I guess whoever was the fattest is the mother, lol. But, those fry are very sensitive. How are you keeping them the same temp in the bowl? And did you use water from your tank for the bowl? The shock of any change will kill them quickly. Also they have nothing to feed on in the bowl. You still haven't said if your tank was every cycled. Do you understand about the nitrogen cycle?

 

[SlateSpider]

No, I have no idea what the nitrogen cycle is. My mom won't let me buy a water test kit. She says that the fish will be fine without it. When I saw the babies, I immediately grabbed the betta bowl and dunked it in the tank to get some water in it, then I began fishing for fry. So far, I have found one more baby, and then it and two others died, so now I have 8 fry in the bowl. My mom has had baby fish before I was born, so she got all exited when I found the fry. She suggested that I put the betta in his big bowl, again, and put the babies on that side of the divider. I bought a few caves and stuff for the babies to hide in, too. I ground up some fish flakes and put them in with the babies. Am I doing everything right so far?

 

[Thyra]

I did suggest you read the "Stickies" at the beginning of this forum so you would start to understand the significance of cycling a tank. The fry will die quickly when you move them without proper water conditions. When you went to Petco with your Mom did you take any water to be tested?

 

[Dan Steveo]

Agreed. And the babies would be a lot better off In the tank. There's no air or water disturbance in the bowl? Ie filter? Bettas are one of a few fish that can survive with no air... Mollies can't and certainly not fry. I'd catch Betta in net, dunk bowl in carefully and gently let babies out, then refill bowl with non-babied tank water then put betta inside.


How long has your tank been running?

 

[Thyra]

I have to disagree with you one thing Steve - betta need air. They come to the surface frequently, they are labyrinth fishes and will actually "drown" if they can't get enough oxygen from the water.

 

[Thyra]

Oops, I guess you are "Dan" and not "Steve". The rest of your advice is very good. Those fish definitely need that whole tank with out the betta and I hope there are some hiding places for fry.

 

[SlateSpider]

Three of the fry died, and my mom suggested feeding them to the fish. Good thing I figured this out. The Danios started fighting over the dead fry. Princey ate one, too. Until they are big enough not to be eaten, we washed out a glass spaghetti jar, dumped the babies in the jar with their water, and about every 5 minutes I added a little more water from the tank until it was full. I then put the jar in the middle of the tank, so that the water in the fry's 'tank' would stay the same temp as the big tank. The Danios still chase around the fry from outside, but they are doing fine. I woke up this morning, and they are all still alive!We actually just went to walmart, and my mom said that we didn't need to go to petco. She seems to not know how important fish are...

The tank has been up for about a month or two, not exactly sure.

My black mollies both have a white 'moldy' looking spot on their mouth. Possible ick?

 

[Thyra]

That sounds like a fungus to me. Your LFS has meds that will treat it. I am not sure how it would work in your tank with the fry. Maybe someone else has more experience. My understanding is it is caused by poor water quality and stress.

 

[SlateSpider]

I don't have an LFS near here. Like I said earlier, the fry are in a different 'tank', so it should be safe to treat the other fish.

 

[OrangeCones]

My understanding is it is caused by poor water quality and stress.

Correct.

SlateSpider - Unless this glass spaghetti jar you are using for the fry has aeration added to it and you do regular water changes, the fry will soon die. If the danios are trying to chase (eat) the fry from the outside, this will cause tremendous stress to the fry and they will die from that alone. Do you have something to put in the 'jar' to offer them some sense of security? A plastic plant, some deco, rocks, etc.?

 

[SlateSpider]

Yes, I could stick one of the plastic plants in there for them to hide in. I will try to figure out some way of keeping the fry in a place that they won't get eaten, and they won't easily die. Maybe another tank if I can find a place to put it...
Or maybe just move the betta, and put the babies over on that side of the divider.

 

[SlateSpider]

Okay, I put Prince in his bowl, put the danios where he was, and now we're thinking of fixing the divider so there is no chance they could get through, and putting the babies on that side with the other mollies and danios on the other side. We might move the tank downstairs or in the living room.

 

[Thyra]

You can't actually move that tank with any water in it - therefore no fish either. Whatever you do is going to cause the fish a lot of stress at this point and you already have what sounds like fungus which can easily kill your fish. IMO you really need to put your effort into learning about the nitrogen cycle and how to maintain your tank properly or I am afraid you are going to have a lot of heart ache and disappointment and get discouraged by this hobby - and none of us want that.

 

[SlateSpider]

Okay, we put the babies on one side of the divider, the Danios and Mollies on the other side, prince in his bowl, and now everyone is happy! My dad might take me down to petco today to get medication for the spot on the fish. We might also get some other fish things that I've been wanting for a while. Things like the water test kit, maybe even a breeder net in case I have a ton of babies at once. ( I have 9 babies right now )

 

[OrangeCones]

We might also get some other fish things that I've been wanting for a while. Things like the water test kit

Excellent on the test kit. Make sure it reads ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at a minimum. Liquid test tube type tests work far better than the 'strips'.

maybe even a breeder net in case I have a ton of babies at once.

You will need a bigger (2nd) tank, not a breeder's net.

 

[Thyra]

I agree with OC, your tank simply isn't big enough for any more fish and a breeder's net or box will just make the available space even less for your other fish. You need to figure out all the things you really need. You now have your betta in a bowl and he probably needs more space and at least a heater. Any babies that live will need a tank of their own, a heater and some sort of filter (you could make a sponge filter for that tank, but you still will have to buy an air pump) and your 10g needs the heater and filter you already have. Even if any of your fry survive to bigger than bite size, there isn't any room in the 10g for more fish.