Mollies acting weird

[msnow09]

I have 2 male mollies that have been acting very strange lately but I can’t figure out why. I have a 29 gallon tank with 2 dalmatian mollies, 2 dwarf gouramis, 5 cory catfish, 7 neon tetras, and 3 zebra snails. I set the tank up back in December and transferred the fish into it around the beginning of January. Both of my mollies were fine up until around a couple weeks ago when one of them started hiding in a log and staying down at the bottom of the tank. He still comes up to eat but after he’s done, he goes back down to the bottom and just kinda lays either in one of my plants or in a log on the gravel. They both switch off doing this, one will be up towards the top of the tank swimming around and the other will be at the bottom staying in one spot. I’ve also noticed it looks like my older molly might be shrinking. All the other fish seem perfectly normal and healthy.
Any help/advice would be appreciated!!

Forgot to add that I tested the water and this is what I got..
Nitrite-0ppm
Ammonia- between 0ppm-0.25ppm
pH- about 7.6
High range pH- between 7.8-8.0
Nitrate- about 40ppm

 

[Slaphppy7]

What kind of test kit do you use?

The tank is not cycled if there's ANY ammonia, and the nitrAtes are very high, that is why the fish are suffering, and acting strangely

 

[msnow09]

What kind of test kit do you use?

The tank is not cycled if there's ANY ammonia, and the nitrAtes are very high, that is why the fish are suffering, and acting strangely

I use the API freshwater master test kit.. I thought the nitrates might be kinda high when I tested it, but the instruction book that comes with the test kit said 0ppm-40ppm is okay.
If they are high, what should I do to bring them down?

 

[Slaphppy7]

I use the API freshwater master test kit.. I thought the nitrates might be kinda high when I tested it, but the instruction book that comes with the test kit said 0ppm-40ppm is okay.
If they are high, what should I do to bring them down?

Main thing is to get that ammonia to 0, but trAtes should NEVER be over 20 PPM

Large water change, with a good water conditioner, either Seachem Prime or API Tap Conditioner, daily, until ammonia is 0 and trAtes below 20

You are more than likely doing a fish-in cycle, so be sure to read this: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i.433769/

Live plants will help keep trAtes in check, as well...

 

[Essjay]

Can you test your tap water for nitrate, please. If that is a lot lower than the tank nitrate, water changes will get the tank nitrate down.
But if tap nitrate is also 40 ppm, there are other ways to reduce nitrate.

 

[msnow09]

Main thing is to get that ammonia to 0, but trAtes should NEVER be over 20 PPM

Large water change, with a good water conditioner, either Seachem Prime or API Tap Conditioner, daily, until ammonia is 0 and trAtes below 20

You are more than likely doing a fish-in cycle, so be sure to read this: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i.433769/

Live plants will help keep trAtes in check, as well...

Thank you!!

 

[msnow09]

Can you test your tap water for nitrate, please. If that is a lot lower than the tank nitrate, water changes will get the tank nitrate down.
But if tap nitrate is also 40 ppm, there are other ways to reduce nitrate.

The tap water is about 5ppm

 

[Essjay]

In that case you should be able to get the tank nitrate down to about 5 ppm by doing water changes. Then do enough water changes to stop it getting high again.
With low tap nitrate, any level higher than tap level is made in the tank. Possible reasons for high tank nitrate include:
Too many fish - a lot of fish make a lot of ammonia which is turned into a lot of nitrate
Over feeding the fish - uneaten food decomposes to make ammonia, which is turned into a lot of nitrate.
Not frequent enough or not large enough water changes - most of the nitrate stays in the tank, then more is made.
Not cleaning the filter - the brown goo in there is decaying fish poop, uneaten food etc which is turned into ammonia them nitrate.


Live plants help keep nitrate low as they take up ammonia as fertiliser and they turn it into protein rather than nitrite and nitrate. A lot of fast growing plants can take up all the ammonia made by a tankful of fish.

 

[Colin_T]

What kind of test kit do you use?

The tank is not cycled if there's ANY ammonia, and the nitrAtes are very high, that is why the fish are suffering, and acting strangely

Some test kits read 0ppm ammonia as 0ppm-0.25ppm

You can have a cycled tank that has some ammonia and nitrite or nitrate if the fish were fed just before the water test was done, or if a fish, shrimp or snail has died in the tank.

The test kit will pick up residual ammonia from fish food that was recently put into the tank, and dead organisms produce constant levels of ammonia that can be broken down by filters. Sometimes the filters keep the ammonia low enough while the dead fish rots (this is common with a single small dead organism) and other times the filter can't deal with it and you get an ammonia and or nitrite reading.

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For the OP, can we get some clear pictures and video of the fish and tank?

What is the GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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The easiest way to reduce ammonia, nitrite or nitrate in an aquarium is by doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate every day until the levels are back to 0ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

You will never get your nitrate to 0ppm because you have 5ppm nitrate in the tap water. However, you should be able to keep the nitrate under 10ppm by doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate once a week.

You want the ammonia and nitrite levels on 0ppm at all times. And the nitrate under 20ppm at all times.