pregnant molly sinking...?

[butterflylove]

i recently just seperated all of the males i have from the pregnant females that are close to birthing. one of my dalmation mollies is about to have babies for her first time. i know this for a fact because i have had her since before she wasnt fertile. she has been doing perfect up until a few days ago i noticed she was laying on the bottom alot. i thought she may have her babies soon, but she still hasnt, and wont even get off the bottom long enough to eat. she looks like her belly is too heavy for her to carry around, but i have never seen this before with any of my other birthing mothers. could it be that she is just about to have her babies, or is something else maybe botherin her???? its just her and 2 other pregnant mollies and 2 fancy guppies. the males arent there to bother her anymore, so what could be the problem??
thanks in advance for any advice, i wont be able to read any until i get off of work.
amber!

 

[Harlock]

Well, water parameters could help some. Is the female showing any other obvious signs of distress? Clamped fins, etc.? Has she had any stringy white poo. Have you offered sinking foods to her?

 

[knashash]

Sounds like she has swim bladder disease. The swim bladder is what enables the fish to stay afloat basically so when it goes out....thats what happens. I had a black Molly and the exact same thing happened after I moved her to a new tank. Maybe the change in water parmaeters triggered it. They will survive for a while like that but it is not a great existance....and im sorry to say there is no cure

 

[Harlock]

Sounds like she has swim bladder disease. The swim bladder is what enables the fish to stay afloat basically so when it goes out....thats what happens. I had a black Molly and the exact same thing happened after I moved her to a new tank. Maybe the change in water parmaeters triggered it. They will survive for a while like that but it is not a great existance....and im sorry to say there is no cure

Woah, bringer of doom, hold up a sec. Swim bladder disease is brought on by different things, many of which are absolutely treatable. It could be as little as constipation to as much as internal parasites, virus or bacteria. That's why you ask things like, what are the water parameters and other symptoms if any... no need to jump the gun and scare folks.

 

[butterflylove]

my nitrates and nitrites are at 0 and my water hardness and aklinity is kind of high, but thats about it. she hasnt been moved in months, and she is showing no clamped fins or other signs. today when i came home from work she was swimming at the top, then she like sank to the bottom, so she is still getting around , just not goin up to try to get some food before the others. i will try to sink something down there. i know they really like my pleco food, so i could try that and hope she goes to it before everyone else...... i will keep you updated to see if she does better or not.

 

[Harlock]

Sink a cooked pea without the shell on down to her. She may just be constipated. Peas can ease that for her.

 

[Kissofthegorami]

i recently just seperated all of the males i have from the pregnant females that are close to birthing. QUOTE]


Which did you remove, the females or the males? The females easily get stressed out when heavily pregnant. Also if you put her in a breeder trap, the water quality may be bad and she may be showing signs of stress. I kept mollies for years and they were always perky and hungry up until they dropped their brood.

 

[butterflylove]

i moved the males, to my bigger 55 gal , along with some of the other females who had just had some babies. i dont have her in a breeder net, although that was the way that i did it before i got my 55 gal, and i have always had successful breeding... but i know it can be stressful.

on sunday night she had the babies. she was swimming around that day, but i let her be until today.(i didnt wanna stress her) now she is in the 55 gal and LOVIN it! i am thankful that she is okay, but i still fear that maybe something else might have been wrong with her, b/c i have never seen this happen with any of my other livebearers. i guess we will just have to see when she has her next batch of babies!!! thanks for all of your help and suggestions!!!

 

[butterflylove]

bad news......

unfortunatly,(SP?) she died today. i found her on the bottom getting chewed up by one of my snails. i guess there must have been something else wrong with her.