Mollies huddling in corner after water change

So I did a water change yesterday in a 20 gallon. I fill up 6 one gallon jugs with two water, I add in Prime for the chlorine & I distribute aquarium salt evenly & let them sit. Usually the water in the jugs are warmer then the tank so I wait & check them with a thermometer until they are 78° I did my usual cleaning, wiped the walls, cleaned the gunk out of filter, I just rinse filter in a bucket of dirty tank water & put back in. After changing water all 5 of my mollies were hiding in the corner. I went to work for 6 hours, came home, fed them, they are then immediately went back to huddling together in the corner, usually they scavenge for 2 hours after feeding- stealing the corys sinking food. I have 3 corys in here also & they are not showing any signs of stress. I grabbed my test kit this morning and I can't seem to figure out what's wrong. I did everything that I normally do.
Temp 78°
Ph: 7.6 (usually 7.4-7.6)
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
I did move the air stone from the left corner of tank, to back middle of tank. Because food kept getting trapped behind tubing.
They look like they are in shock! Any ideas?

 

The first thing I would do is put the airstone back where it was and see if they go back to their normal selves. It could be they are just upset by the change. At least you will know if that is what the problem is. Sometimes the simplest things can upset the balance in our tanks.

 

The first thing I would do is put the airstone back where it was and see if they go back to their normal selves. It could be they are just upset by the change. At least you will know if that is what the problem is. Sometimes the simplest things can upset the balance in our tanks.

Thanks, I just called my LFS to see what they think & he was baffled, told me to add stress coat & watch them for a few days. I have the long air stone, its a couple inches, it was buried in the corner, with a suction cup attached to keep it in place & the sinking pellets would get stuck there. All the mollies would dig it out thus detaching the air stone so it would just hang vertically no matter how many times I put it back - so I moved to the back of tank about 4 inches from where it was. So weird huh?

 

Thanks, I just called my LFS to see what they think & he was baffled, told me to add stress coat & watch them for a few days. I have the long air stone, its a couple inches, it was buried in the corner, with a suction cup attached to keep it in place & the sinking pellets would get stuck there. All the mollies would dig it out thus detaching the air stone so it would just hang vertically no matter how many times I put it back - so I moved to the back of tank about 4 inches from where it was. So weird huh?

Really weird but since that is the only thing that has changed it stands to reason it is the reason they are acting strange. It is very possible if this is what is causing it they should get used to it fairly quick. Hopefully they will get used to it in a day or two. If they are not back to normal by then we may have to dig into it deeper.

Personally I am not convinced that stress coat does anything to calm fish. The tiny bit of aloe in it is a pretty good sales pitch though. We've all heard or read that aloe is good for lots of things.

 

Really weird but since that is the only thing that has changed it stands to reason it is the reason they are acting strange. It is very possible if this is what is causing it they should get used to it fairly quick. Hopefully they will get used to it in a day or two. If they are not back to normal by then we may have to dig into it deeper.

Personally I am not convinced that stress coat does anything to calm fish. The tiny bit of aloe in it is a pretty good sales pitch though. We've all heard or read that aloe is good for lots of things.

I'm starting to wonder if it's our town water. They add flouride to it a few times a year. Should I do another water change ? If so how much?

 

I'm starting to wonder if it's our town water. They add flouride to it a few times a year. Should I do another water change ? If so how much?

Well shoot. I was hoping they were back to their normal self by now When they add flouride do they just do it one time and the water goes back to normal quickly? If that is the case and the flouride in the water is causing what you are seeing it might be a good idea to go ahead and do another water change. If the fluoride is still in the source water a water change may not help if that is what is causing this.

 

Well shoot. I was hoping they were back to their normal self by now When they add flouride do they just do it one time and the water goes back to normal quickly? If that is the case and the flouride in the water is causing what you are seeing it might be a good idea to go ahead and do another water change. If the fluoride is still in the source water a water change may not help if that is what is causing this.

Im not sure, I was talking to my grandmother & she brought it up. They're still not acting like their normal selves. I just can't figure it out. This happened right after I did my weekly cleaning & WC so I wasn't sure if doing another WC so soon would disrupt them further. I can buy Poland Spring natural water at the store down the road. I've used it in a mixture of my own tap water before. (I bought the jugs just so I would have the 1 gallon containers on hand for WC) 1 molly in particular was being picked on, I had to take her out and quarantine her. She looks like a skeleton. I have never seen a Fish so skinny. The top of her dorsal fin is all jagged. & it did not happen until the WC too. The other 4 molly fish physically look healthy & are eating. The 3 corys look good & my baby pleco looks good. The mollys are just hiding & huddling together.. Oh & they are super jumpy. Every time something goes near the tank they swim chaotically away.. Which is not their curious selves. Normally they see a person come near the tank & they swim to top thinking it's food time.

 

Im not sure, I was talking to my grandmother & she brought it up. They're still not acting like their normal selves. I just can't figure it out. This happened right after I did my weekly cleaning & WC so I wasn't sure if doing another WC so soon would disrupt them further. I can buy Poland Spring natural water at the store down the road. I've used it in a mixture of my own tap water before. (I bought the jugs just so I would have the 1 gallon containers on hand for WC) 1 molly in particular was being picked on, I had to take her out and quarantine her. She looks like a skeleton. I have never seen a Fish so skinny. The top of her dorsal fin is all jagged. & it did not happen until the WC too. The other 4 molly fish physically look healthy & are eating. The 3 corys look good & my baby pleco looks good. The mollys are just hiding & huddling together.. Oh & they are super jumpy. Every time something goes near the tank they swim chaotically away.. Which is not their curious selves. Normally they see a person come near the tank & they swim to top thinking it's food time.

It does sound like something is going on with the water but one of them being so thin is concerning. Internal parasites maybe? You may want to start another thread specifically for this so those that know how to treat it may see it and hopefully be able to help. I've never used any kind of medications so have no idea what to do to treat for internal parasites.

It may be a good idea to do a water change with the natural spring water to see if your other Mollies show any sign of going back to their normal selves.

 

Here is a photo of the girl that's not looking good.

 

Maybe my other fish are just fat or are still pregnant, but compared to the other she looks super skinny.

 

looks like she is haveing a hard time breathing could be gill flux do the gills look inflamed or red

 

looks like she is haveing a hard time breathing could be gill flux do the gills look inflamed or red

Up close I do not see any inflammation or discoloration. She was upside down with her head in the gravel that's why I took her out. Gave her a mix of 1/2 tank water + 1/2 new water & a bit of salt. She was very aggressive with other fish & nipped at the other lyretail badly all the time. Then the dynamics changed & they all started picking on her, after my WC they all looked shocked & hid together except her, she started isolating & became very ill looking. There is uneaten food in her container. It's midnight here so I'm off to bed. I guess I will buy some store-bought water & see if it helps with whatever they seem to be suffering from. Ty both

 

cool that rules that out then the salt is good for them