Mollie Questions?

Question
Hi Karen.  I have 3 strange questions.  To answer a few questions, all my water parameters are fine.  The tank has been established for about 8 months now with no huge problems (44 gallon with Aqua Clear filter).  At this time I only have 14 juvenile dalmation mollies, 1 white sailfin male; 1 white female molly; 1 female dalmation molly and one female black molly.

#1:  My molly just had fry 5 days ago (now in a nursery tank). After she had them, I put her in a separate net and let her rest for 24 hours. After I put her back in the community tank, I noticed that she was acting weird. Her fins were going in circles at different times, she looks to have developed a "hump back" (Head up and body/tail lower in water giving a humpback appearance)and just looks weird in general. I put her in a hospital tank right away. She doesn't appear to have gotten any worse, but she just kind of sits there with her fins not moving (like just staying at her side), unless she is disturbed, and then she swims.  I don't know what is going on with her, and I'm upset. When you look at her from behind now, her spine appears to be a little crooked (I just saw this). She's eating fine though.

#2:  I also have a white sailfin molly male.  He swims around vertically most of the time with his tail on the bottom and his head up at the top (like he's walking).  It's the strangest thing to see.  I do have some marine salt in the water as I have seen it suggested in many places, and the water is I would say 1/2 way brackish.  They are by themselves so I have no worries about other fish with the salt.

#3:  I have a white molly that I've been waiting to get pregnant, but she hasn't yet.  I was wondering if there was any reason you knew of off hand as to why she wouldn't be (it's been almost 4 months they've been in the tank).

Have you heard of any of this or do you have any ideas/suggestions?  I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you for your time.


Answer
Hi Caitlyn,

For the first question, it sounds like either your female molly may be exhausted or really stressed out. It could also be poor water quality. Trying doing 20-30% water changes on the tank for several days and keep the salt level where its at. The humpback problems seems to be very common in mollies and I'm not entirely sure why. It could be a tumor, or her body may be shutting down from the stress of having babies. Mollies tend to be quite delicate little fish.

This applies also for question number #2

The best thing I can say for you to do is to take care of your fish in the best way possible. With high-quality food and plenty of water changes. Sometimes there is not much you can do for fish that develop this. Sometimes it can also be old age.

As for question #3, I'm very sure that your White Molly will be pregnant very soon..If she isn't already that would be a shock. Most mollies you can't keep from being pregnant and they usually are carrying babies their entire lives. Then again, sometimes male mollies have a preference for certain females in the tank and they put all their attention to those individual fish. I'm sure you'll get babies soon from the white molly though.

I've had all sorts of Molly problems just as you've been experiencing. Sometimes there is nothing you can do for the humpbacked problems besides doing your best to make sure they have the best water quality possible and they are getting a good varied diet.

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~