benjaminBreaker

My two black mollies at first were very active. Back when there use to be three, they would swim all over the tank and explore their environment. Now, long after the third one died, they just sort of hover in place.
At first they would sit in one place towards the top or in the middle, now they've built a habit of just sort of resting at the bottom on the gravel. But they don't really just rest there, they pound their fins and are working pretty hard just to stay in one spot.
My Red Wag Platies are okay, they swim all over the place. It's just the mollies.

Weird...does anybody have any idea how to get them moving again?
What if I added a few more mollies? Could I get them to school?

They live in freshwater, no salt(decided not to use salt all the time), 20 gallon tank.

I still need to get a new test kit, but the water has no ammonia or nitrites in it. That, I am certain of.

Craig-D

Mollies aren't schooling fish, so adding more won't solve their lack of swimming. How are you so certain the water has no toxins in it if you have no test kit? That would be the first thing I'd look at. The second thing I'd look at is the fact that Mollies are really brackish water fish. They can survive in freshwater, but it's not really a good habitat for them. I would suggest getting them some salt and see if that solves the problem. Lastly, what is your pH? Mollies require pH between 7-8. If your water is outside that range, that could be the problem as well.

aquarist48

Good morning,

I've moved your thread to the Livebearers/Molly section of the forum to help you to get more responses.

Thanks!
Ken

benjaminBreaker

Hokay...mollies, in fact, ARE schooling fish... And the water can't have toxins in it because it is new well water, and has had no ammonia added to it, what-so-ever, until this point when I put the mollies in. Besides, they have been doing this since before I had them in this certain tank. The tank they were in was cycled, back when I had my test kit, the water was perfect.
ALSO, mollies are NOT brackish water fish, they are in fact freshwater, they can tolerate brackish,(you make it sound like freshwater is harmful to them too...don't do that) and can even be acclimated to salt water(so I've read, never tried) again...

My pH would be somewhere between 7.4-7.6. Due to past experiences, I know what pH my well water is. Also, there is some salt. I put in plenty of salt when I set up the tank, then decided to not add anymore when I do w/c because I wanted to keep tetras.

Anything else?...

Sammyboi1993

Different Sources Claim Differnt things but in my 8 years in keeping mollies they dont seem to school at all in my aquarium, they could be on their last legs witch would why their not active or as was said their could be toxins in the water, toxins can exist in any water and as has been already said how can you know if your water is perfect without a test kit.

benjaminBreaker

Because I know. If you test something over and over and over and get the same exact results every time, you can sort of assume it will still be the same...why would it change this one time?
And in my experience, mollies school together. If there's enough of them, and if there's enough room, they should.

They don't 100% of the time, but they do school. My platies school fine. I have 4 and they are always together.

Sammyboi1993

But water can change, adding fresh water that could have toxins it, adding new plants and fish it all can add toxins into the water

Craig-D

Well, I'm not going to debate you, though I am curious as to what website you went to that told you Mollies are schooling fish and don't do best in brackish water. Though they do like the company of their own, I can't think of any livebearers that are a schooling species likes say, most tetras. As for your water, there are other toxins besides ammonia you know. Have you tested for the presence of copper or other desolved metals? There's no telling what could be in untreated ground water that could be harmful to fish. That said, good luck with finding the solution to your problem. I hope everything works out.

benjaminBreaker

Well, I guess the issue with the mollies schooling is more opinion rather than fact. Everyone thinks something different, so whatever. However, adding more mollies did in fact work. They do tend to school at times, but not always. I am staying with my opinion that mollies school, maybe not as well as, say, tetras, but they do. I got 4 dalmatian mollies and 2 more black mollies, and all 9 mollies always come together to make a huge school in my tank. Sometimes even the platies join in. I will have to take pics as soon as my camera is available.