# dieing Molly (is recovering :)



## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

I bought a sick female Molly 5 days ago -I know I shouldn't have, but I bought her anyway..
She was the color I was looking for, but very thin (I assumed internal parasites) but I had one of my tanks in quarantine, so I figured she could go in there to be treated.. 

She was swimming around normally enough in the tank in the shop, but as soon as the guy netted and bagged her, she started whirling / spinning around in the bag upside down and everything -I thought, damn, this really isn't good! 
The guy agreed and suggested I pick a different one, but there weren't any others I liked so I said I'd take it anyway (I'm not sure why, but I kinda felt sorry for this fish) -I didn't even think it would survive the trip home, honestly.

Anyway, I managed to get her home (she was looking worse by the second though) and fed her in a separate container and she ate it all, despite still spinning upside down and in circles! I put her in the tank but later noticed her nose-down in the gravel, so I put her in an isolation net in the same tank.

By this stage, I was just waiting for her to die as she was at the last stage, she was only in the isolation box so i could retrieve the body easily when she died.. I've seen fish at this stage before and they never make it.. but!..

Hours later she was still alive! The next morning, she had defied all odds again! 

So I figured maybe it's worth a try saving this molly -I got a syringe and a drawing needle (which is a blunt, metal tube, not actually a 'needle') and filled it with a little 'Prazipro' (treats internal parasites), water and powdered flake food (I mixed it all up, then filled the syringe with a little bit of the mixture)

I then picked up the Molly, holding her in the water with her mouth at the surface, keeping her still and getting the 'needle'(tube) down her mouth into her stomache, syringing out a little of the mixture carefully..

Then I release her and she spins madly in circles, landing nose down, tail up until she 'recovers' from being handled, usually about 5 or 10 mins.. (the spinning looks the same as whirling disease in salmon fish).

I've done this each day for a few days now and she seems to be getting a little better each day -she's already managed to survive 5 days since I bought her, which is pretty much a miracle! She's also gaining weight and pooping which is a good sign 

I'm still not sure she'll recover (she probably has brain damage, hence the spinning) but I'll keep you posted 

I had a guppy recover 100% from medication poisoning, so I guess you can be lucky if the fish really wants to live.. Unfortunately though, most give up the fight too easily. 

Has anyone else had any luck with saving fish that are basically dieing?


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## debisbooked (Jan 7, 2012)

Good job saving the molie, allllien. Sounds like you have a chance there.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words, that funny fish is still defying the odds  Tomorrow will be one week


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I had some livebearers I was given that started spinning like that. I lost most of them, but I also treated with prazi since I saw a white worm protruding from one of them. Once I had treated, they recovered. I don't recall if I saved any that had reached the spinning stage - it was a few years ago - but the colony group is still here. 
I couldn't tell if the damage was neurological or to the swim bladder - I assume the worms travel like worms are wont to do. Still, I was able to coax the fish back to life when some of them were really thin. A couple of females that had sunken bellies and bowed backs were able to straighten their spines and eventually produce fry. They certainly had shorter lives, but with the fry, they did what they had to do.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I have a soft spot like you, usually it fails but once in a while... I suspect she may always be weak if she does survive but it's nice you are giving her a chance. Will be waiting for progress reports.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

navigator black said:


> I had some livebearers I was given that started spinning like that. I lost most of them, but I also treated with prazi since I saw a white worm protruding from one of them. Once I had treated, they recovered. I don't recall if I saved any that had reached the spinning stage - it was a few years ago - but the colony group is still here.
> I couldn't tell if the damage was neurological or to the swim bladder - I assume the worms travel like worms are wont to do. Still, I was able to coax the fish back to life when some of them were really thin. A couple of females that had sunken bellies and bowed backs were able to straighten their spines and eventually produce fry. They certainly had shorter lives, but with the fry, they did what they had to do.


That's awesome, glad you could save most of them  I'm thinking it's probably a neurological thing as well. She was paper thin when I bought her, belly completely sunken in, spine protruding, sunken eyes, she was in a really bad way. I never saw any signs of worms though which is odd?


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

snail said:


> I have a soft spot like you, usually it fails but once in a while... I suspect she may always be weak if she does survive but it's nice you are giving her a chance. Will be waiting for progress reports.


 For sure, I don't think she'll ever be perfect again, but if she does survive I think she'll still manage ok. She still spins / rolls over from time to time, but she's seeming more in control of it now, she's not suffering but almost 'playing' with it, if that makes sense.

I took some photos today (day 8) showing the little belly she's started growing  (I really wish I got a photo on day 1 for comparison!) The last photo is her upside down doing her little spin thing. She has cute eyes -she looks at me almost like she knows I'm trying to help her, which I never thought a fish could do. I have a real soft spot for this particular fish now.. 

I'm hoping she survives long enough to have some fry!


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

Ok, I released her out into the main tank this morning (Day 9) to see what would happen.. So far, I haven't seen her spin once all day! She ate and keeps getting harrassed by the 2 males trying to mate with her constantly -the other fish haven't tried to attack her so far, so it's looking really promising  Here are some photos.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Keep an eye on her to make sure the males don't over stress her, it can get to be to much for females if they are not strong.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

snail said:


> Keep an eye on her to make sure the males don't over stress her, it can get to be to much for females if they are not strong.


Cheers, yeah, I've been keeping a close eye on her, they're probably annoying her at best, but not really harassing her  I think she likes the attention


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Everyone likes a good news story. Bravo for what you managed there!


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

navigator black said:


> Everyone likes a good news story. Bravo for what you managed there!


Thanks, I'm really quite amazed she's still here, it will be 3 weeks soon! She seems quite happy constantly grazing on the algae lol  

Here's a pic I took today (day 18)


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

I forgot to say she doesn't spin anymore either  The only exception is if it's really dark and I suddenly turn the lights on in the room, but even then it's not every time, just occasionally if she gets startled. 

She definitely seems to be on the mend


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

great news!


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## Brendalynn23 (May 1, 2012)

You are the Molly wisperer! Good job, that is awesome to see.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

I'm just as amazed 
..and she's still doing well 

That funny fish always hovers at the glass now and watches me lol, it's very odd


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

She wants you to grab her and shove food in her mouth, lol!


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## crozzy (Nov 13, 2011)

Well done great story.


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## GalGuppy (May 4, 2012)

Good Job on saving the molly!


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

snail said:


> She wants you to grab her and shove food in her mouth, lol!


lol, that's exactly what she was like, almost waiting for it, she easily let me pick her up as well (I had food mixed in with the Prazi the first couple days, but after that it was just straight prazi for about a week lol)


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

It reminds me of the f8 puffer I had that swam into a cup every day to be scooped out of the tank and fed. He was always skinnier than the others and a bit slow so didn't get much food before the others scoffed it. To get enough food to him I would have had to way overfeed the others. Eventually he started to go down hill and I realized he wasn't going to make it if I didn't work out something. That's when I started the cup thing. It didn't take him long to get used to it and even though he was never as plump and strong as the others I managed to fatten him up a lot and he lived for a couple more years.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

snail said:


> It reminds me of the f8 puffer I had that swam into a cup every day to be scooped out of the tank and fed. He was always skinnier than the others and a bit slow so didn't get much food before the others scoffed it. To get enough food to him I would have had to way overfeed the others. Eventually he started to go down hill and I realized he wasn't going to make it if I didn't work out something. That's when I started the cup thing. It didn't take him long to get used to it and even though he was never as plump and strong as the others I managed to fatten him up a lot and he lived for a couple more years.


Its funny how some fish are much more intelligent than others within their species. Sounds like a cute fish lol


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Other animals are interesting - a few years ago, I found a crow about a week short of flying in my backyard. I knew the cats in the neighbourhood would kill it, so I got a towel, wrapped the scared bird up, climbed onto my shed and got it into the tree it had fallen from. It managed to get back to the nest, and I thought it was done.
Later that summer, almost every time I went into the yard, a young crow would fly over, sit about 3-4 meters from me, cock its head and watch me. It stayed a careful distance away, but seemed to find me a source of great questions. I felt like it was Jane Goodall and I was a chimp.
You got a tame molly there - I wonder if she was a tame easy-going fish before you went to all the trouble, or if somehow there is a molly brain that observes...I know, you can't expect other species to think like humans (you can't always expect humans to think like humans) but it is something to ponder, when you feel like a crow.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

navigator black said:


> Other animals are interesting - a few years ago, I found a crow about a week short of flying in my backyard. I knew the cats in the neighbourhood would kill it, so I got a towel, wrapped the scared bird up, climbed onto my shed and got it into the tree it had fallen from. It managed to get back to the nest, and I thought it was done.
> Later that summer, almost every time I went into the yard, a young crow would fly over, sit about 3-4 meters from me, cock its head and watch me. It stayed a careful distance away, but seemed to find me a source of great questions. I felt like it was Jane Goodall and I was a chimp.
> You got a tame molly there - I wonder if she was a tame easy-going fish before you went to all the trouble, or if somehow there is a molly brain that observes...I know, you can't expect other species to think like humans (you can't always expect humans to think like humans) but it is something to ponder, when you feel like a crow.


I do know crows and Magpies (and also some other birds) are quite intelligent like that -we had a Magpie that realized it could get a free feed whenever we were cooking a barbeque, it would fly up to the balcony pier and sit there waiting for a scrap. It would even take food from your hand. 
A couple months back, I was waiting at a bus stop near a university, eating a pie, when all of a sudden a crow runs out from out of nowhere, waiting in front of me, staring at me. I thought it was going to try attack/swoop like some birds do, but then I realized it just wanted some of my pie lol so I threw it a bit and it jumped and caught it mid air like a dog. I think someone from the uni probably regularly feeds it, perhaps either in that same place, or maybe someone that looks similar to me. It was unexpected, since I was expecting an attack lol  
I've never seen another molly, or any livebearer for that matter, look at me like this -like she is observing, so perhaps a molly brain can have a bit more going on in there than we give them credit for 

Here's some new pics -She finally looks like a normal molly, and her spine isn't protruding anymore


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

what an amazing story!!! was expecting you to say she passed away....but so glad shes made a full recovery  im also glad the are other people who go out of there way to save fish!


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

zero said:


> was expecting you to say she passed away....


LOl, must say every time I get an update notice for this thread I think it's to say she died after all, but it's really looking like she has made a good recovery. It's one of those stories that cheers you up.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

snail said:


> LOl, must say every time I get an update notice for this thread I think it's to say she died after all, but it's really looking like she has made a good recovery. It's one of those stories that cheers you up.


Thanks, I was expecting to be posting that too, but she's turned out to be a real fighter 
I even found 4 fry in the tank the other day, I'm pretty sure they're hers so I'll be keeping those ones, they're special


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I have a friend who is a commercial importer, and one time he received a poorly packed bag of two inch piranhas from a new exporter in Colombia. He wasn't very happy because piranhas being piranhas, an overcrowded bag was carnage.
In the mess, he discovered two wild guppies cowering in a fold in the bag. He took them out and gave them to me. They were stunned little things - can you imagine being a guppy spending 48 hours in a bag stuffed with frenzied piranhas? The male died about 24 hours after he came here, but the female survived to drop babies twice. That little colony of 'piranha guppies' is one of my favourite tanks, just because they simply should not be here. 
I bet it'll be the same with your molly. Even after she's gone, you can look at her offspring and it may bring a smile to your face, just at the toughness of life.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

This is awesome!She is a beautiful girl,and a fighter to boot!I love strong willed fish who make it against all odds.

Good luck,I hope she gives you many more fry.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

navigator black said:


> That little colony of 'piranha guppies' is one of my favourite tanks, just because they simply should not be here.
> I bet it'll be the same with your molly. Even after she's gone, you can look at her offspring and it may bring a smile to your face, just at the toughness of life.


My sunfish that I picked up off the mud from beside a puddle is my favourite fish, as well as being full of personality, like you say something about the way he survived makes me smile.


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## allllien (Apr 6, 2012)

navigator black said:


> I have a friend who is a commercial importer, and one time he received a poorly packed bag of two inch piranhas from a new exporter in Colombia. He wasn't very happy because piranhas being piranhas, an overcrowded bag was carnage.
> In the mess, he discovered two wild guppies cowering in a fold in the bag. He took them out and gave them to me. They were stunned little things - can you imagine being a guppy spending 48 hours in a bag stuffed with frenzied piranhas? The male died about 24 hours after he came here, but the female survived to drop babies twice. That little colony of 'piranha guppies' is one of my favourite tanks, just because they simply should not be here.
> I bet it'll be the same with your molly. Even after she's gone, you can look at her offspring and it may bring a smile to your face, just at the toughness of life.


Its quite amazing they survived in the bag, possibly the piranhas couldn't quite reach them in the corners or they were just really fast swimmers  I know what you mean though, sometimes it becomes more about the circumstances rather than the actual fish. I'm normally really particular about which colors I want to keep and breed etc, but with these Mollys it really doesn't matter what color they turn out to be, I might eventually breed them into specific color strains, but I just like the initial fish's survival skills, which makes them special in their own right


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