Sick mollie

[Alin10123]

Guys, i need your help! I've got a sick big bellied mollie. She was fine a couple of hours ago. Then all of the sudden i see her towards the bottom of the tank not being able to stay upright and her gills are swollen and red. All of the other fish are fine.

Last week i went to go get a water test and everything was ok except for nitrites. They were a tad high. So i did a water change @ 25% and then i put in one of those pouches to obsord the bad stuff.

I took the sick molly out of the main tank into a quarantine.

Is there anything left to do? Or is that molly a goner for sure?

Even the small fry that came from another molly in the tank seem fine.

[Alin10123]

So..anyone?

[Lexus]

Mollys get goofy like that. She may have shimmys which livebearers seem to frequently get. I would do another water change and add some salt.

[margo]

It's good that you took the sick fish out of the main tank and put it in a tank of fresh water. I'd put some floating plantlife in there with her so she can rest on top of it or in the midst of it.

Are you near a lake or a river or a canal or a bayou? Even an ocean? I'd let her go in one of those. She can survive well in salt water. In fact, that might be the best thing for her. You might want to let one other mollie go with her. Good luck.

[Lexus]

NO NO NO NO AND MORE NO. Never ever let an aquarium fish out into any body of water, they have diseases that may wipe out native fish. And no it wouldnt survive, since these fish are grown at fish farms they would not know how to defend themselves and would get eaten.

[Alin10123]

Oh boy.. after i took that molly out and put her into quarantine... after a few hours... she stopped moving... then her swollen and red looking gills closed up... and she's not moving now even when i hit her with a net.
Oh boy...
I did do a gravel cleaning and water change in the main tank.
The gravel didn't seem too terribly dirty. Water was a little dark... but the little amound of debri that came up from there seemed very minimal.

I hope i dont loose anymore fish in the tank.
This is my third fish i've lost and my tank has been setup for probably a little over 2 months now with my fish being in there for only less than a month.

I'm going to go get my water changed. Hopefully the fish store will give me a new molly.

[specialname76]

Keep up with the water changes, keep testing. this maybe an ammonia spike that usually happens. you can also up the heat a few degrees to help with health of the fish. add salt to promote slime coat production.

[Lydia]

NEVER EVER LET AN AQUARIUM FISH LOOSE IN THE WILD!!!!!!!! the fish could have diseases that would kill other fish, it could die, and there are many other reasons i dont have time to list right now....thats besides the fact that IT IS ILLEGAL!

[TheOldSalt]

Very illegal, and very dangerous and stupid. Margo, don't make us sic the fishcops on you! LOL!

"Habitattitude" is a new joint effort program just getting started nationwide designed to help prevent fishkeepers from releasing aquarium fish into the wild. You'll all probably see some stuff about this appearing in your local shops soon if you haven't already. Too many local ecologies have been destroyed, and too many native species have been endangered by hobby fish release. If we don't put a stop to it, the hobby will be regulated out of existence. There are a few groups working very hard already to put a stop to fishkeeping forever, and they're making a lot more progress than is comfortable. Lies, exaggerations, and political shenannigans have already wrecked the bird hobby, and the herp hobby is being wiped out a little more each month by very agressive tactics. Once they've perfected their methods, these groups will set their sights firmly on fish. People like Margo are giving them all the ammo they need to shut us down for good, which is their very goal, make no mistake, so all hobbyists everywhere have to learn the facts before it's too late, hence the creation of the Habitattitude project. I hope it works.

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by specialname76

Keep up with the water changes, keep testing. this maybe an ammonia spike that usually happens. you can also up the heat a few degrees to help with health of the fish. add salt to promote slime coat production.

The water is set at about 78-79 degrees already. I dont think that i should go any higher. So...
As for the salt, i bought some aquarium freshwater salt and have been using it since week 1. I add the recommended dosage and i try to replenish the amount of salt based on the amount of water i take out with water changes.

thanks for all your guys help.
I did a water change last night in case it was something that spiked for some reason. I will go to the fish place to have my water tested again today.

thanks

[sbsociety]

Mollies can take temps higher than 79, even as high as 90. People raise temps in salt baths to cure ich. I do that. I've done temps up to almost 90 to cure ich. But only do it if you have livebearers only in your tank. Most others can't take it. My livebearer tanks are actually set at 80. (fluctuates from 80-82) They like the higher temperatures, besides, seems to help the breeding also. So yes, you can go higher than 79 with mollies. But in your case, I honestly don't know what's wrong with your mollie so I don't know if it would even help. Of course, I'm not as experienced as others here so if someone says to, I'd trust them and do it. But ya, temps up to almost the high 80s shouldn't hurt your molly. (again, only if there's no other fish in there)

[margo]

OK. Then I suggest you set up a pond in your backyard or on your patio or something. There's something about a wild setting that perks up fish.

[fishboy]

Originally Posted by Alin10123

I hope i dont loose anymore fish in the tank.
This is my third fish i've lost and my tank has been setup for probably a little over 2 months now with my fish being in there for only less than a month.

I lost 5 fish in less then 2 months in my tank due to stress levels from a guppy being sucked into the filter and a serial killer gourami. The weird thing is for me the only thing that is still from the tanks first generation is maxamillion, my silver molly, who lives with the killer gourami peacefully

[TheOldSalt]

Originally Posted by margo

OK. Then I suggest you set up a pond in your backyard or on your patio or something. There's something about a wild setting that perks up fish.

Quite true. I highly recommend it.
I have a few ponds myself, and I always put fish out in them over the summer. The results are dramatic. I have one pond full of guppies right now that are only a week old, and they already look like the month-old ones that are inside in tanks. The other fish have colors richer by far than those typically seen in tanks.

[margo]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

Quite true. I highly recommend it.
I have a few ponds myself, and I always put fish out in them over the summer. The results are dramatic. I have one pond full of guppies right now that are only a week old, and they already look like the month-old ones that are inside in tanks. The other fish have colors richer by far than those typically seen in tanks.

That's neat. A summer vacation home.

I notice the color difference, too. Their dorsal fins are just gorgeous.