Can Someone Help Me? My Marbled Mollie Is Acting Weird.

[burtonjon4]

Hey there! My Marbled Mollie(I got it and all the accessories about 2 days ago) Is staying at the top and it looks like it is gasping for air. It has been doing this for almost 6 hours straight now. I tried feeding it a couple times, it just swims around the food, any suggestions on what I can do? I also got this tube looking thing that looks like a bubbler, not sure how to hook it up but would love if someone could help me out! Thanks

 And I am sorry for the bad quality pictures!
 

 

 

[Ny82]

Gasping for air at the top of the tank is not a good sign. There could be ammonia present or the water doesn't have enough oxygen.  Do you have water agitation in your tank? Does your filter break the waters surface? The surface of the water needs to be broken for oxygen to be in the water. 
Before you added your molly, did you cycle the tank? What are your water stats and the size of the tank please. 

 

[burtonjon4]

Gasping for air at the top of the tank is not a good sign. There could be ammonia present or the water doesn't have enough oxygen.  Do you have water agitation in your tank? Does your filter break the waters surface? The surface of the water needs to be broken for oxygen to be in the water. 
Before you added your molly, did you cycle the tank? What are your water stats and the size of the tank please. 

Water Aligation I am not sure, and not the water is just barely going into the tank. And I am new to this so I do not know what cycling the tank means exactly or what the water stats are, It is a 5 gallon tanks though.

 

[Ny82]

Ok. Let me start by saying 5 gallon is too small for a molly. They can grow upto 5 inches long. I have seen them that big.
Cycling the tank means building up the good bacteria in the filter to handle the waste that the fish produce. 
There are 2 things you need to keep an eye on. Ammonia and Nitrite. These need to be at 0. Any higher and fish will die with poisoning. At the moment your ammonia will be sitting very high,dark green on the test chart. We need to tackle this. What I suggest you do, is a large water change immediately. Do you have any live plants in the tank?
 If you want the fish to survive, you need to handle the ammonia and will need to do a fish in cycle. Water changes, water changes and more water changes! I did not know about cycling either when I joined 2 years ago and I had to do a fish in cycle too. I was doing 3-4, 50-75% water changes a day to tackle the high ammonia. 
You should also buy a test kit for your water. This way you can keep an eye on stats after every water change. Also go to the beginners resource section of the forum, there you will find everything you need to start your tank. 
Now you know you need to cycle your tank, you're here on this forum and we are all here to help. 
 
What I mean by surface agitation is-does the water that comes back out the filter, ripple the surface of the water?
 
If you need anymore help just ask.

Have a read through this thread, it tells you everything you need to do to start the cycle.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/224306-fish-in-cycling/
 
Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[burtonjon4]

Ok. Let me start by saying 5 gallon is too small for a molly. They can grow upto 5 inches long. I have seen them that big.
Cycling the tank means building up the good bacteria in the filter to handle the waste that the fish produce. 
There are 2 things you need to keep an eye on. Ammonia and Nitrite. These need to be at 0. Any higher and fish will die with poisoning. At the moment your ammonia will be sitting very high,dark green on the test chart. We need to tackle this. What I suggest you do, is a large water change immediately. Do you have any live plants in the tank?
 If you want the fish to survive, you need to handle the ammonia and will need to do a fish in cycle. Water changes, water changes and more water changes! I did not know about cycling either when I joined 2 years ago and I had to do a fish in cycle too. I was doing 3-4, 50-75% water changes a day to tackle the high ammonia. 
You should also buy a test kit for your water. This way you can keep an eye on stats after every water change. Also go to the beginners resource section of the forum, there you will find everything you need to start your tank. 
Now you know you need to cycle your tank, you're here on this forum and we are all here to help. 
 
What I mean by surface agitation is-does the water that comes back out the filter, ripple the surface of the water?
 
If you need anymore help just ask.

Have a read through this thread, it tells you everything you need to do to start the cycle.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/224306-fish-in-cycling/
 
Good luck and keep us updated.

Luckily enough I tried something and it worked. I did what you recommened and removed some water so more bubbles occur from the filter, and when I turned of the tank light for the night he went down and started to swim around. And when he starts to grow more I plan to upgrade largely, just for now I want to start small. I also figured out what the tube is for, it is for cleaning rocks, like a syphin(if I spelt that correctly) Thanks for your help! If I have any more problems I will let the forums know!

 

[Ny82]

Oh yes sorry that's a siphon! It vacuums out the waste from your gravel.
Well that's good, it's a start but the major issue is the ammonia which will be sky high. You need to do a big 75-90% water change asap. That will take the ammonia down by about half, then do another one straight after. That will take it down again. That will relieve the fish slightly from the poisoning. Get into a routine of doing water changes frequently, one after the other until the tanks cycled. Remember to get a test kit, it's very important. Good luck!

 

[the_lock_man]

A 90% change will remove about 90% of the ammonia.

With a large fish and a small tank the ammonia will build VERY quickly. You need to be doing large water changes every day.

Read the link in my signature area, it tells you what to do in more detail and why you need to do it.