Molly Is Looking "sad"... ?

[Pyzik]

Hello, I have yet another question for the collective mind.

I have a Molly that is just being lethargic the last couple of days. Lays close to the bottom not moving much. Her fins are always down (know what I mean?)

Something wrong with her? I think she is about to die.

All of the other fish seem to be fine.

I recently got my water tested and here are my results.

Ammonia (0.5)
Nitrite (0)
Nitrate (15)
pH (6.9)
Alkalinity (100)
Hardness (200)
Chlorine (0)
Temperature is roughly 80° F.

What I have in my tank is as fallows. (Tank is 30 US gallons by the way)

Mollies (3)
Danios (4)
Pleco (2) ( I know I need to get rid of one, I didn't know at the time so I got two because they were so small)
Cory Catfish (1)
Senegal Bichir (1)
Dwarf Gourami (2)
Snail (2)
Live plants (3)
and a bunch of fake plants (started with fake and am moving to real, wanted to only introduce a couple at a time for fear of messing up the water).

Whew, sorry that was long winded. So, tell me what I am doing wrong.

 

[-SPB-]

Ammonia reading is to high, should be 0.25 or lower, anything over 0.25 can be harmful to fish. You will need to do a 50% water change to get the levels down.

Also, are there any marks on the fish. Red fins, rapid breathing.

How long has the tank been set-up, is it cycled.

 

[Pyzik]

The tank is a little over a month old.

I figured I need to do a water change. I'll do that tomorrow.

There is no markings on the fish. Possible rapid breathing.

 

[Pyzik]

Nevermind... It died.

 

[weejen]

you still need to do another water change to reduce the amm. or you will find your other fish dying

 

[3ndl3r]

Advise you do a 50% water change and keep an eye on your levels for the next week or so.

 

[Pyzik]

Thanks. I'll do 15 gallons today.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Pyzik

I'll move your thread over to New To The Hobby. The members there will help walk you through getting your tank cycled, if you want to post your test readings.

 

[gaz gun man]

I'd advise you to take back the bichir because they get pretty big.

Depending on the plecs, they'll get too big for the tank too.

You are in a fish-in cycle at the minute, so you can either take all of the fish back and fishless cycle, or do a fish-in cycle - but expect to do multiple water changes a day.

 

[OldMan47]

I am going to go out on a limb here Pyzik because I know all the salty people will come by to disagree. Your molly will continue to degrade in soft, low pH water like that. Mollies do best in hard water, mine runs 325 ppm from the tap, and like the pH over 7.5 to have vibrant good health. Your KH is only about 5 although your GH is close to 11. The ammonia in the water dictates a 50% or more water change to get it down for all of your fish. The danios, gourami and cories would probably be fine with that soft, low pH water so don't move it just to make the molly feel better.