Problem With My Mollie

[arranl1985]

Hi all, Ive been keeping tropical fish now for about 3 months so far with no porblems until now. I have a 65 litre tank with heater filter etc, I have 3 mollies 4 guppies and 5 tetras, was six tetras. Tank has a regular 40% water change every week and I do regular testing on the water using the 6 in 1 test and its all around about the right area. I lost one of my tetras about 3 weeks in, as it had a bloated stomache then died during the night. Since then ive had no other problems but now one of my mollies has a sort of arched back and fin which is almost now like an L shape and his body seems to be changing colour (white). He still eats and swims around okay allthough doesnt look like he is using his fin. I have searched the internet for problems but with no look, hopefully one of you guys will be able to help. Thx in advance

 

[HayzH]

Hi all, Ive been keeping tropical fish now for about 3 months so far with no porblems until now. I have a 65 litre tank with heater filter etc, I have 3 mollies 4 guppies and 5 tetras, was six tetras. Tank has a regular 40% water change every week and I do regular testing on the water using the 6 in 1 test and its all around about the right area. I lost one of my tetras about 3 weeks in, as it had a bloated stomache then died during the night. Since then ive had no other problems but now one of my mollies has a sort of arched back and fin which is almost now like an L shape and his body seems to be changing colour (white). He still eats and swims around okay allthough doesnt look like he is using his fin. I have searched the internet for problems but with no look, hopefully one of you guys will be able to help. Thx in advance

First thing is a bigger w/c, to ensure the water is healthy..second thing is to throw out the strips and buy liquid testing kit. The strips are useless as the chemicals run into each other, making it give inaccurate results. (i know..been there too)
alsorts can cause deformaties. Let's start with the correct water parameters.

 

[the_lock_man]

its all around about the right area.

That's what worries me, that quote right there. There isn't a "right area" for ammonia and nitrite, the only acceptable level for these chemicals is 0ppm.

When you set up the tank, did you run it empty for a while, and then introduce fish, or did you dose with household ammonia for some weeks prior to getting the fish?

And I would also agree with Hayz, that the test strips can be rather inaccurate, at a time when you need a reasonably high level of accuracy, so buyiong yourself liquid tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH would be a good move.