OK, there's a bunch of things we need to talk about. Number 1, maturing a tank is more than letting it sit for a few days. To become mature, a tank needs to have some ammonium (nitrogenous waste) put into it, as the ammonium (and eventually nitrite) is what feeds the filter bacteria. If there's no fish (or another source of ammonium) in a tank, the filter bacteria have no food, and won't multiply. There are two approaches to this problem. Some folks add hardy fishes (such as danios, mollies, or goldfish) to the tank to mature it, adding one or two the first week, a couple more after a week or two, and so on, until after about 6 weeks the tank will be matured. Other folks use an artificial source of ammonium and ramp up the bacteria population that way. This is called "fishless cycling" and has several advantages over the other method, not least of which is no fish are harmed in the process. Cycling a tank with fish can stress the fish, and if it isn't done properly (i.e., slowly, and with frequent water changes) the fish can die. Anyway, you need to sit down and read an aquarium book to find out how to go about setting up and maturing an aquarium safely. Alternatively, browse the pinned topics in the Beginner's Section.
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/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=26
Number 2, mollies and serpaes are, in my opinion, basically incompatible fish. The serpaes need to be kept in a group of six or more, and can be extremely nippy fish, biting chunks out of the fins of slow moving species such as mollies (especially fancy mollies such as balloon mollies). Serpaes also want soft and acidic water in the ideal situation, though they are adaptable and do fine in hard and alkaline. What they don't like is brackish water... and yes, mollies prefer brackish water. The amount of salt mollies need is always being argued. Some folks say none at all, others say they must have some. I'll simply say that when kept in freshwater a good 50% of mollies seem to get sick, whereas mollies kept in even slightly salty water are hardy and long lived.
Number 3, fish will "gasp" at the surface for all kinds of reasons, but the most frequent is polluted water. It is almost certain that your tank contains poor quality water because the filter isn't mature. This means there is lots of ammonium (which the fish excrete at the end of protein metabolism, as we excrete urine). Your first line of attack is to perform 50% water changes every 1-2 days for the next week or so. That will bring the ammonium down and help the fish immensely.
Number 4, diseases like whitespot (ick) are almost always symptoms of a problem rather than the problem itself. When fish are stressed by poor quality water, they get sick. Just as when humans eat a poor diet or are exposed to too high or too low temperatures, they get sick. So look at the big picture before rushing off to buy remedies. Of course, if your fish do have whitespot, you will need to treat the tank. This is easy and inexpensive, and all you need do is buy the appropriate potion and use as directed. However, bear in mind that so long as the water quality in the aquarium is poor, then the fish will keep getting sick. Note also that during treatment, you may be limited in doing water changes until the end of the treatment (because removing water removes medication).
Number 5, test kits are very important. At the very least, every aquarist should have a nitrite test kit and a pH test kit. Nitrite is the step between the ammonium (which comes out of the fish) and the nitrate (the harmless end product we get rid of with water changes). If a tank has measurable nitrites, it's immature or has inadequate filtration. If the tank is stable and healthy, it will have zero nitrites. A pH test kit will tell you something about the water chemistry, which is just as important. Broadly, your serpaes will want pH 6-7.5, and your mollies 7.5-8 (as you can see, you can please one or the other -- but not both). I happen to like the "dip stick" test kits which often include a whole bunch of different tests. If you slice them lengthwise, you can make two from each strip, doubling your value.
So, here's your list:
1. Do a 50% water change right now.
2. Read the pinned topics for beginners.
3. Go buy an aquarium book or borrow one from the library -- and read it!
4. Go to the aquarium shop and buy a nitrite test kit and a pH test kit.
5. Buy whitespot remedy and treat tank accordingly.
6. Once treatment is finished, do more water changes every day or two.
7. Test the nitrites every other day.
8. Find a home for the mollies or the serpaes -- you really can't keep both.
Cheers, Neale
Note to moderators: this should really be in the Beginner's Section, not Brackish.
