Could my one Molly be Pregnant? Any Ideas on what this fish is?

[BookWorm243]

Well you may notice this is my third posting about fish, so I will sum everything up for you

It started out with a male Betta I had for about a 1 1/2? I wanted to give him some friends and was asking about good tank mates for him. Then my brother got me two female bettas. The one died and so I was wondering if the male and female could be together. Just two days ago my beloved male betta died

My mom wanted to cheer me up so she surprised me with some fish

I know I need a WAY BIGGER tank and I'm going to get one at the end of this month, I also know I need a heater which I will also get

Right now in my tank I have, 1 Black Moor, 1 Algae eater?, 1 Female Betta, and 2 Mollies. What I need to know is how big of a tank I should get, and if either of my mollies look pregnant. Also what this little skinny dude is? My mom said the guy told her he eats algae and is in the Cat Fish family?? Oh also is there anyway to tell if my Black Moor is Male or Female? Molly #2 ( that fat one

) She has been siting near the bottom of the tank next to the one plant. She also appears to be panting? She seems like she doesn't want to be around or deal with any of the other fish.

Thank You!!!!!

Sorry about my reflection in some of the pics

Mollies

Female 1

Female 2

Group Pic

Betta

Black Moor

Cat Fish???

 

[Kevin565]

Your fish are beautiful. Glad to here from other fish lovers. Here we go:

1.If your molly was in with a group it's most likely pregnant. Most of them are.
2. Watch those mollies. They *may* nip your goldfish and Betta
3. The "catfish" is a chinese algae eater. They can get LARGE and they can get MEAN.
4. I know alot of people don't suggest keeping Goldfish with tropical fish. I've done it before but I'm just warning you some may disagree with that.
5. The Goldfish is too young to sex.
6. If she's panting she may not have enough oxygen in the tank or she may be sick.
7. If you would like to raise the fry you will defiantly need to separate the female. The Goldfish and Algae Eater are really bad about eating fry.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Your molly may be lurking around waiting to have babies, she looks quite pregnant. Your black moor looks like it has fungus . I would separate it into a bowl or another rank. That is a Chinese algae eater and they are known to hunt other fish sometimes if hungry . You might want to get it some pelleted fish food. With mollies, I always add some aquarium salt to the tank. They are less likely to get fungus that way. Good luck.

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
Okay for starters

the black moor is a Cold fresh water fish, so may not react well to being in a heated tropical tank with all the other fish, i have a sucking catfish like that in my goldfish tank, it has actually latched on to my goldfish and caused wounds on them, and a friend i have who works in the aquarium industry has warned me those particular sucking catfish like to suck the slime coat off fish if they get the chance too.

The mollies may start to nip at the Betta's fins and are more likely to do so when pregnant..
If you plan on getting a new tank i would get at least a 10 gallon. Minimum, with a 50watt heater and heat the water between 78F and 80F for the tropical fish.

To prevent fungus as another poster mentioned adding Aquarium salt to the water will help prevent it, 1 teaspoon/5mls of salt per 2.5 gallons of water and remember that salt does not evaporate so don’t continue to add salt to the bowl or it will reach unsafe concentrations.

If your fish seem to be "gaping" for air, i would also suggest buying a Aquarium air pump and a bubble stone/ wall to help airate the water, heated water tends to have slightly less oxygen in it too so that is another reason why they are handy, just don't have them going full pelt, a valve in the airline to control the air flow helps plenty as betta's aren't strong swimmers and don't like a heavy current.

If you do plan on getting another Male betta in the future, please have a fair sized tank set up for him with a heater and some plants, i would say he died because he was moved to a vase that wasn't heated, and the ammonia in such a small place was most likely highly concentrated. It doesn't take much for ammonia to kill a fish.

You may want to read up on the nitrogen cycle( see here) , and how to properly cycle a tank, it will help you a lot in the future, i would also suggest with such a small tank they are in now that you do regular 25% water changes to help keep Ammonia and nitrate levels down.

 

[BookWorm243]

Thanks everyone,
Sorry I didn't fill in all the blanks and left some info out. My mom was in the Hospital Sunday and she is going in for surgery tomorrow so I've been a little scatter brained. The goldfish isn't going to stay in the tank with the other fish once I get my new tank. That is my moms fish so she wants her own tank

Which is fine with me! Is a 10 gallon going to be big enough?? I want to add some fish down the road so I'm thinking at least a 20. How many fish do you think I could have in a 20 gallon?? Would a 5-10 gallon air pump work for my tank now? I might be able to get one tomorrow some time. The moor really doesn't look that crappy in real life, he looks alot better in person. My camera really couldn't focus on him.

I guess I need to find a good home for my catfish

Below is a picture of what my male betta was in. I'm not going to get another male if I was going to get another betta I would get a female. He wasn't in a heated tank before, and the water in the vase stays almost the same temp. I am not sure if it should really even be considered a vase but didn't know what else to call it. It holds at least a gallon of water so it isn't to small, but I didn't like keeping him in it. I hate seeing fish in small little tanks. He seemed fine, acting like his normal self. e was just dead one morning

Oh another thing, the plant that is in the fist picture with the second female molly ( the brown one ), any ideas on what it is?? It is a live plant of some kind, sprouted about a month ago?

Thanks everyone!!
I will also pick up some salt! Will the betta be okay with that?

 

[Kevin565]

A 10 gallon would be big enough for now. However, Goldfish are very messy and grow very large and will eventually outgrow it. I personally would look into getting a large used aquarium. A 55 gallon with stand is about 75 around here. How many fish you can have depends on the fish. Are you looking to add more mollies,tetras,etc. If you know what kind of fish you would like I can give you a better answer. Also I would hold off on adding more fish. You need to add fish gradually or you'll upset the nitrogen cycle. The air pump will work for now but would need to be upgraded soon. Don't give up on the algae eater yet. Some are aggressive while others are pretty peaceful. You can keep him now and if he gets too aggressive when he's older you can trade him in at a lfs. Vases can have alot of issues when keeping fish in them. The temperature fluxuates as well as the PH. The nitrogen cycle can also be unpredictable in small containers. Sorry I'm not sure about the plant. Also make sure when you pick up the salt your picking up aquarium salt not the slat for salt water tanks. Some people can get these confused but they are very different minerals.

 

[BookWorm243]

Quote:

$75 for a 55 gallon tank with stand!!!!!

I haven't been able to find one under $200 here! I will keep him until he gets to aggressive. I don't plan on getting more fish for while and also don't plan on using a vase ever again! I would like to stick with tropical fish, I really want some more mollies. I had mollies a few years ago and did the salt, I just wasn't sure if my betta would be ok with salt in the water.

Thanks!!

 

[Kevin565]

Yes they are quite cheap around here. Often even free. Have you tried putting a ad on craigslist? Many people just want to get rid of their old aquariums and you can snag them for a reasonable price. If you want more mollies I would just raise my own. If you separate the female when she gives birth you can raise plenty of babies to adulthood. My mollies have anywhere from 8 to 18 babies each birth. Bettas can't handle salt like the mollies. They don't have the right organs for that. The salt would also harm the other fish.

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
she said she wasnt keeping the goldfish in with the tropical's..

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
I said 10 gallon Minimum

anything smaller than that would be bad, My tank i have my 2 betta and 2 snails in is a 54L tank which is around 14 Gallons,

It all depends how many fish you are getting, the main rule of thumb people use is one inch of tropical fish per gallon, but i wouldn't try and stock to that as you don't want an over stocked tank

ETA: I would go with an Air pump that will suit the tank you will be getting in the future if you have an idea of what you are getting, just get a control valve for the airflow, and a flowback valve ( it stops water going back through the airline incase something happens.