Nervy Mollies

[Lockhaart]

A fair few months ago I bought some new mollies, I have three, two mostly black ones and one mostly white one. Everything was fine, and they were very happy swimming all around the tank, eating everything they could find and generally being mollies. But in the last month something seems to have spooked them. Nothing has changed, I haven't added anything since them, the water is fine and has been changed frequently. But now all they do is hang at the bottom, hidden under the filter or behind the slate in the dark sections of the tank. The hiding isn't the bit that gets me, I don't mind them hiding, it's not the best thing they could do, but I don't mind it.
 
What I mind is the jumping. In the middle of the night, or even if you make a noise in the room one of them jumps, I've seen one of the black ones do it, and saw the white one do it a little. They fly around the tank, running into the edges, the decorations, the filter and will jump continually out of the water - I've heard them hit the lid! They've done it when i accidentally caught the tank and gave it a bump,which I can understand, but in the middle of the night when nothing is near them or happening they do it and wake me up.
 
I don't know what to do with them or why they've changed to do this / just wondered if anyone has any help or ideas?

 

[the_lock_man]

What are the current ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, and the pH?
How did you cycle the tank?
When was the tank set up?

 

[bodge99]

Hello,
 
In my experience, mollies jumping is fairly normal.... but mollies hiding and being very easily "spooked" is not.
 
I've seen this behaviour a few times... a couple of times was down to rising ammonia levels in the tanks (filter problems) but the most marked was in a 200L full of liberty mollies. This behaviour preceded an outbreak of columnaris.. I assume that the mollies were sensitised by the encroaching infection.
 
I'm specifically "into" mollies and I keep them in slightly brackish water.. (I use 1 tsp. of marine salt per 10L of water).This is enough to keep columnaris away (so far, for me anyway).
 
Good luck!
 
Bodge99.

 

[the_lock_man]

The above approach may not be appropriate for you, depending on what else is in your tank.

 

[Lockhaart]

What are the current ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, and the pH?
How did you cycle the tank?
When was the tank set up?

 
Not sure at the moment, need a new testing kit. They are due a full clean again I will do that and see if it helps, it's been set up for two and a half years, cant think what you mean by cycle it at the moment so can't answer that lol
 
They didn't even come out for food today /