Elvis is in the house

This afternoon we went and bought another Siamese Fighter to replace the one that died last year before Christmas. We also need something to try and keep the baby fish population under control as both the Mollies and Platties are breeding excessively.

He is red in colour with a touch of blue towards his back. Photos to follow later. When L saw him, she fell in love with him and named him Elvis. We hope he will supply us with lots of enjoyment.

Sailfin Molly No More

Yesterday I discovered that the Sailfin Molly had gone to the big fish tank in the sky. Over the last week his swimming had been getting worse and we noticed that his body was starting to bend. I think he might have been suffering from old age and like humans who become hunch backed, so do fish. I have noticed this with a few fish that I have had.

An interesting thing I have noticed about the tank is that the female fish live longer than males. Most of the deaths we have had were males, not sure why that is. Could be that the males were older when we got them or that they have short live spans. Or by going on the number of baby Mollies we have, they just wear themselves out.

Unhappy Male

Today L noticed that our male Sailfin Molly was acting strangely. He does not seem to be able to swim properly and is struggling to right himself. Will keep an eye on him.

Automatic Feeder

When I bought my tank, I got with it an automatic feeder. As I like to watch my fish when feeding and use the time to see if all are present and well, the automatic feeder got assigned to the cupboard. But when we decided to go on holiday, I realised this could be very useful tool to feed the fish. So a week before we went on holiday I set it up to feed the fish every 12 hours, so that they could get used to it.

The automatic feeder consists of two parts, one that controls the motor and the timings of when to feed the fish; and the other is a compartment where the food goes into. This compartment has an adjustable gap where the food falls out of when the motor rotates the compartment. Getting the right size of the gap took some time as too big and the fish get overfed and too small and the food does not come out. After a bit of trial and error, I found that the granules worked best for feeding, as the flakes kept getting stuck when a bit of moisture got into the compartment.

The first time we went on holiday, the feeder worked fine and the fish looked well fed on our return. But just before we went on our second holiday, the baby Mollies arrived and this meant that the feeder would only feed adult fish and not the babies as they were in the breeding trap. So for that holiday I had to get external help to come and feed both the adult and baby fish. I have since used it again with success and unless I need babies to be fed, I will use this when going on a holiday.

Box the Juwel automatic feeder came in

Automatic feeder installed on the lid of the tank

Out With The Old, In With The New

While L was feeding the fish this morning, she noticed a few new babies swimming around the bottom. When I got home tonight, I was able to catch 3 of the 4 that I saw. They look different to the baby Mollies, and I suspect they are Platties. So I had to fish out the breeding trap which had just been put away. Luckily I am acquiring new fish without paying a penny :-)

Two of the three waiting to go into the breeding trap

By the look of the Siamese Fighter's stomach, someone has had their Xmas dinner early

Freed Babies

Today I decided that the baby Mollies were getting too big for the breeding trap and decided to release them into the tank. I gave them a quick feed and half an hour later released them. Just after I released them, I dropped some frozen bloodworms into the tank to distract the other fish from the presence of the babies. Mommy molly still found them and reminded them who ruled the tank, but so far they seem to be settling in.

Bigger Babies

Since my last post, the babies have grown considerably. Some are bigger than others. Not sure if this indicates sex, as I have noticed that the female adults are bigger than the males, or the bigger ones are those that are just quicker at getting the food. I am thinking of releasing the babies into the tank in a week or two, as the breeding trap is starting to get a bit crowded and the baby Mollies are nearly as big as the smallest Cardinal Tetra.

7 of the 8 wanting their food

Siamese Fighter watching his meal get bigger

Mom sucking the babies food through the gaps

Babies Update

The 8 Molly babies are coming along well. In the last few weeks they have grown quite a bit, over 1.5 cm now and have started to show the colours they will be when they fully grown. 7 of them are white with a few black spots, but 1 is a dark grey with white/yellow spots. It is still a bit small to totally make out how it will look, so something to look forward to later when it is a bit bigger.

Trying to take photos of the babies has become a bit difficult and the camera only focuses on none white colours and as most of the babies are white, I end up getting blurred shots. Below are the best I could get.

Holiday

Over the last few weeks L and I have been away on holiday, which has led to a lack of blog posts. One of the dilemmas we had was how the baby Mollies were going to be fed as the automatic feeder would either not give them any food or empty all the food into the breeding trap. Luckily I was able to get a friend of mine to come in once a day and give them all their daily feed. It worked well and all the babies are much bigger now. We only lost a Danio, which was looking old before we went away. I was surprised to see how much algae had grown on the glass, so will be doing a bit of cleaning up this weekend.

New Arrivals

Yesterday we decided to pop into our local fish shop to get more fish, even though we have 8 busy growing. We wanted a bit more colour and variety, so decided to get some Platies (Xiphophorus maculatus). We got 2 males and 3 females, all of different colours (photos to follow when I get a chance). We also got a male Sailfin Molly to keep the girls occupied. All seem to be settling in OK and the mixture of colours has brightened up the tank.

Babies Update

The 5 baby Mollies I caught last night all survived in my temporary safe haven I created with the the jug. I was able to transfer them successfully to the Marina Floating Fish Hatchery (breeding trap) I bought. I was able to catch another 3 babies and noticed that there is still one more swimming in the tank. So it was a total of 9. The last one is hiding amongst the plants and after several attempts I decided to leave it as I was worried that I might knock the breeding trap and let the rest of the babies out. So unless it happens to swim over to the other side of the tank, I will leave it alone.

Box the breeding trap came in

Breeding trap floating in the corner of the tank

with 4 visible babies

Exciting News

As I started cleaning the tank tonight, I noticed something small dart away from my hand. Curious, I looked around the tank and found a baby Molly. I called L to come have a look. Together we found another. I decided to catch them to prevent them from getting eaten. As I was trying to catch them L was finding more and more. In total we found 8 of them. I was able to catch 5 of them and put them in a white plastic jug, which I am floating in the water to keep the jug's water temperature as close as possible to that of the tank. I have added a Java fern leaf to give them somewhere to hide under. Tomorrow I am going to buy a breeding trap to put the 5 babies in. Hopefully a few will survive.

3 of the 5 Mollies

Strange thing is that the male Molly has been dead now for a month. An interesting fact about female Mollies is that they can store sperm for a few months, allowing them to breed without the help of a male.

Baby Suddenly Eaten

The baby Molly has been eaten! Not sure why the fish decided that is was time to use it as a snack. We had setup the automatic feeder, so not sure if we had under fed them and they were still hungry or that it was lucky at avoiding their jaws up until that point.

The plan for next time is to get a floating container that is kept in the tank, that the babies can live in until they are big enough to survive.

Baby Update

The good news is that the baby Molly is still around and growing. It is still white, but now has a few black spots appearing on its body. I have tried to take some photos of it, but because it does not stay still long enough, all I get is just a blur. The picture below is the best I can do to date.

Blurry baby Molly amongst the Vallis

Babies Update

L discovered that there were three baby Mollies in the tank rather than the two we first saw. I say were as there is only one left now. This batch of babies seemed more brazen than the last batch, as they were swimming out in the open amongst the plants and around the bogwood, which probably made it easier for them to be eaten. The sole remaining one has started to loose its transparency and has gained a bit of white in its body. If it survives, it will be interesting to see how it grows up and what colour it will eventually become.

Legacy

It appears that the black male Molly left his legacy behind before he died, as we noticed two baby Mollies swimming around in the tank. They appear much braver than the last baby the speckled Molly dropped, as they are swimming out in the open and eating off the plants. So far the Siamese Fighter has not found or noticed them and the other fish appear to be ignoring them as well. Lets hope they survive longer than the last one. So there has been lots of activity in the tank this last week.

Deaths

Over the last week L and I have not been home much. Unfortunately in that time period we have had two deaths, both while we were away. The first to check out of the hotel earlier this week was the black male molly, who died after suffering from Dropsy. I found his body under the filter and had to fish him out (excuse the pun) with my hand, as nothing else could really get under there. We both enjoyed having him in the tank and he will be replaced as soon as we get a chance. Over the weekend we lost a Leopard Danio who was looking old. Both will be much missed.

Tank Update

The sick Molly is still sick. He has started eating a bit, but generally is not doing well. There are a few scales that are missing and the speckled Molly is returning the favour of chasing him around the tank. I am surprised he has lasted this long.

The Kuhli loaches are settling in and have made the gap under the bogwood their home. They can be found hiding there most of the time and only come out when the lights are off or there is a bit of food out. But they are slowly acclimatising to the tank and every now and then we see one swimming along the bottom.

I now know why they call the shrimp "Ghost Shrimp". It is not because they are see-through, but it is because you do not get to see them! Since they have entered the tank, I have only seen them a few times. They appear to like the Java fern and now and then I see both of them hanging on the leaves. Occasionally a fish will chase them around until they get away.

Last but not least, the snails have been reproducing. The total number of snails have increased and we have even seen some snail egg sacks on the Java fern's roots. They appear to live mostly on the Vallis and Java fern. I might have to invest in a fish that likes snails for dinner to start keeping the snail population under control.

I also noticed that the Vallis was starting to block out the light to the plants below, so I decided to do a bit of pruning. I thinned out the longest leaves, creating space for the new leaves. I decided to cut the leaves just as they reached the surface. Some of the off-cuts were nearly a metre long, so the total length of the leaf must have been over a metre.

Molly Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Molly

Scientific Name	Poecilia sphenops
Family	Poeciliidae
Common Names	Molly, Black Molly
Origin	Central and South America: Mexico to Colombia
Adult Size	6 - 10cm
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks
Lifespan	2 - 3 years
Diet	Omnivore, eats most foods
Breeding	Live bearers
pH	7.5 - 8.2
Hardness	11.0 - 30.0 dH
Temperature	18 - 28 C

Sick Molly

This morning I noticed that my black molly was not eating when I was feeding the fish and on further inspection I noticed that his scales are sticking out. This is an indication of a condition called Dropsy. Not sure what caused it. The Internet lists possible causes as poor water conditions, poor diet, bacterial and some viral infections. I did a water test and the results were fine, but to be on the safe side I did a water change. Unfortunately Dropsy is usually fatal as it an indication of swollen internal organs. It is not contagious, but the cause of the infection could be. So it looks like I will be removing a dead fish from the tank in the next day or two. Because both L and I like the black molly, it will be replaced as soon as the tank has settled down with the other new occupants.