davina

Help, my golddust molly isn't acting good this morning. I went to feed my fish and it was sitting on the bottom still alive. When I put in the fish food it tried to swim to the top but seemed to give up. I have done a quick water change since it has been a week but don't have much more time for that as I need to get my daughter to her dr appt. My ammonia just barely registered on the test strip so after doing the water change i did the liquid test and it comes out negative. It is swimming some now but still right on the bottom.

CHoffman

Hi davina,
Sorry your having troubles with your molly. Test strips are pretty inaccurate, So the ammonia could be much higher then what it's saying. Even small amounts of ammonia are very harmful to fish and It's likely that's what's causing the molly's problems. Doing a waterchange is exactly what you should have done, so good call there. ..If your tank isn't cycled, which if you have ammonia, or nitrite readings, it's not, It would be a good idea to do daily waterchanges of 50% so the fish aren't being harmed for the ammonia and nitrite. There is a liquid test kit you can get that is VERY accurate and does a ton of test. It's called API freshwater master test kit...I would recommend getting one so you can be sure of what your readings are..I love mine and it's a def staple to the hobby. Keep up with the daily water changes and hopefully your molly will continue to get better.

davina

I just did the test strip for a quick check. I have started using the api test solutions and love them much better. This tank has had 0 ammonia readings for a while now and about 10 nitrate so it is cycled. I may have gotten a little slow on water changes though as I just started school and trying to get into a routine with housework, being a mommy, and school. I am getting the water up to temp of the main tank in my QT tank and am going to switch it over. There appears to be a fin nip on its dorsal fin so I am thinking of using the antibiotic solution the LFS gave me. Are mollies more sensitive than tetras. I have had problems with my mollies since I got them and this is my last one. Everyone else seems to be doing fine.

CHoffman

I don't' have experience with mollies so I'm not much help there. When you have the time you might want to check with your API to see if you actually have an ammonia problem, that test strip could have given you a false reading you might not have any ammonia at all. But if you do have ammonia your tank could be going through a mini cycle. Your tank isn't overstocked and it had only been a week since your last water change so I don't think that's what is causing the problem. I never treat with meds unless it's absolutely necessary, which in this case it isn't. You can put him in QT because he's acting ill but for nipped fins plenty of clean water (small partial w/c each day) and a good diet will heal him up in a week. Clean water will cure almost anything.

davina

He didn't make it. This is the last of the mollies that I have had die. I don't think I am going to do mollies again but stick to the other fish as they seem to like my water.