MOLLY IN TROUBLE!!!

Question
QUESTION: Hi Renne,
long time no questions. I thought the fish were doing very well until today i noticed my female orange molly have one very BIG PUFFY RED eye and the other one was normal. There have been some changes in her life. The male orange molly died with no sigh of sickness and my brothers took the fancy guppy into another fish tank. The fancy guppy is doing fine and we got 3 dalmatian Mollies to replace the ones i lost. 1 male, 2 females. The male is often pecking at a orange molly's area near the tail where she poops from. ( sorry for using poops but i don't know alot of fish vocaulary ) anyway I'm very desperate to save her and i have to get an answer ASAP! so i came to you. Please help! She looks like she allergic. TERRIBLE RED EYE! i can't bear to look at it! I really need a cure quick!

ANSWER: Hi Manahil,

I just returned from vacation and saw this and I sincerely hope I'm not too late.

Okay, let's get her into salt immediately.  Mollies are not freshwater fish and although they survive in it, they do not thrive in a healthy way in freshwater.  I know the pet store guy told you they would, and many experts will misinform people that they do.  They are not freshwater fish.

Get marine salt.  Dose her 1/4 cup of marine salt per gallon in her fish tank.  She will recover in a brackish system.  She will always require 1/4 cup of salt per gallon to survive healthy.  

Mollies live longer, healthier lives in brackish to full saltwater.  Mine are full salt and birth in full saltwater. :) Mollies also cannot be cooler than 80 degrees.

Good luck and don't panic.  Just be very careful with her eye.  Popeye is extremely contagious to other fish.

If you see signs of this on other fish, then raise the temperature in the aquarium to 84 degrees and add 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon to that tank as well.  Salt will combat the Popeye.

Hope we made it in time.

Renee

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QUESTION: Dear Renee,
Thankfully while I was waiting for you to answer the Popeye got better and now she is fully healed and back to herself. I'm sorry for wasting your time. I wanted to know why my male dalmatian molly is picking at the female Molly's tail-fin area. I often catch the male dalmatian molly picking at the female Molly's and I can't explain it. And the male dalmatian molly has a tube-like thing sticking out around his belly. It's colored like his other fins. Can you explain his behavior and "fin" please?
Manahil

ANSWER: Hi Manahil,

First, the male will bite the female's area to get her to be ready for him.  They do this constantly, since they're always in the mood.

The female's anal fin isn't modified.  It's normal.  A male's is like a stick.  That is his gonopodium.  It's what deposits sperm.
Renee

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QUESTION: Renee, does that mean they are spawning and will give birth?

Answer
Hi Manahil,

Well, Mollies do not spawn.  Mollies are livebearers.  :)

Mine had 14 last litter, and she has 13 still alive and thriving.  They were born in pure marine water, and I don't put my Mollies in freshwater.  They are awesome babies.  Very smart, unlike some babies who seem to find trouble everywhere.

The mother Mollie's stomach will get very round.  She will look like she has swallowed a pea.  The mother will go to the bottom of the aquarium when ready and her babies will pop out one by one and as they do, they will wobble a bit and then swim into the nearest shelter.  If other fish are present, they will be eaten before they get their first swim, but the mother molly usually won't eat her young if she's fed properly.

I recommend getting a breeder net (you can buy them on Ebay for under $10) and to affix it to the side soon as you see the mother's stomach inflated and round.  They birth every 3 weeks, so you would put the net in and put the mother inside it so when the young are born, they are safe.

Once they are born, you can use a very small net and gently net the mother and release her back into the main tank.  

The babies can be reared in any 5 gallon aquarium you have.  Make sure to heat the water and to keep it at a perfect 80 degrees.

If you take no precautions to save the young, they will be born and eaten.  It's sad, but that's how it usually goes in a community tank.  

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Renee