Black Molly laying on bottom of tank

[bearfreeman]

Hi,

I have a Black Molly laying on the bottom of the tank, still swimming up for food but sinks down again.

I've added aquarium salt and swim bladder stuff.

Any ideas?

 

[black angel]

usually when fish lie on the bottom its a water quality issue and this should be checked first before the swim bladder. need to know the size of tank, what and how many other tank mates, test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph

 

[sylvia]

True. Also, are there any other symptoms and what are your other fish acting like? Has there been any gasping at the surface? Try feeding a shelled pea rather than medicating just yet.

 

[bearfreeman]

Hi,

Tank is 180 litres [Juwell Rio I think] with undergravel filtering/air 'tubes'. 4 more Mollys all okay, 6 Tetras, 6 [Golden?] Minnows, 4 Orangey-ish [Plattys?], so just the one Molly at the bottom, no gasping at surface, all other fish okay, but lost 4 x [Cobra?] Guppies [blue-ish with yellow tail], only set tank up [ie ready stage] weekend before xmas, water quality ok then.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[WILDER]

If you have no scaless fish add some salt to the tank one tablespoon to 5 gal.

 

[sylvia]

The water quality would have been fine when the tank was first set up because it didn't have fish in it Is it cycled? Read through the links in my signature.

 

[black angel]

sylivia is right, your tank is cycling and the more sensitive fish will feel the effects first. you must get test kits to see where your levels of ammonia and nitrite are.

 

[bearfreeman]

Hi all,

Just added pea. Will test water.

Thanks,

 

[bearfreeman]

Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = between 50 & 100
gh = 16
kh = 10
ph= 7.2

Feeding with frozen food blocks [worms etc] but Molly not coming off bottom anymore

 

[bearfreeman]

Ammonia = 0

 

[WILDER]

Your nitrates want fetching down now as they tank has cycled you will need to do daily water changes, do a 30 to 40% change today.

 

[bearfreeman]

Ok, 30-ish% water change done with treated water, poorly Molly still on bottom but seems more animated - hope that's a good sign.....

 

[bearfreeman]

Hello,

Molly still on bottom, taking some food, all other fish okay. Should I test the water again after a partial change?

Cheers,

 

[WILDER]

Don't test the water till a couple of hours after the water change, or you will get a false reading.

 

[bearfreeman]

Hi,

These results from 'Tetratest 5 in 1 test strips'.

No3 between 50 & 100
No2 0
GH 16d
KH 20d
PH 8.4
Ammonia 0

Black Molly seems able to swim higher today, though still spending most of its time on the bottom - probably exhausted from exertions. Adding 3rd dose of swim bladder stuff Thursday 13th - all other fish still look okay.

How am I doing?