Returned from vacation, 2 aquairum fish dea and 1 sick.

[Rollxr]

Hi there i had Returned from a 26 day vacation, and i return to my 20 gallon with 2 dea platies and I have 3 mollies, 1 molly is skinny and has a bit of hunched back And 2 other of my mollies seem fine at the moment, i am not really sure what to do now, need some help. My tank is also extremely evaporated with water halfway remaning and the hang on back filter not even being fully submerged.

 

[outofwater]

Test your water, post parameters to better assess damage. Picture of fish in bad shape would also help to better understand the issue.
As to what to do right now, gravel clean and refill with treated (dechlorinated) water, ASAP

 

[Rollxr]

Test your water, post parameters to better assess damage. Picture of fish in bad shape would also help to better understand the issue.
As to what to do right now, gravel clean and refill with treated (dechlorinated) water, ASAP

Sorry for replying late Did a big water change and gravel vaccum and tank has been refilled with water, water params have zero ammonia and nitrite. and low nitrate. pH is 7.8 and i have yet to test the general hardness of the tank. Also let me know if you need more pictures of the molly, if the ones aren’t clear enough then i will send more photos if u want.

 

[outofwater]

I don't keep mollies, and from what I can see on the pictures I can't tell much. What temperature so you knee this tank at? And the room where it's at? You were gone a month, but losing half the water in that time seems a bit extreme to me. I too have been gone for that long time a whole back and I probably lost less than a quarter of water volume.

How are the 3 fish behaving now? The one that was skinny and hunched over, is it eating and swimming with the others?

 

[Rollxr]

I don't keep mollies, and from what I can see on the pictures I can't tell much. What temperature so you knee this tank at? And the room where it's at? You were gone a month, but losing half the water in that time seems a bit extreme to me. I too have been gone for that long time a whole back and I probably lost less than a quarter of water volume.

How are the 3 fish behaving now? The one that was skinny and hunched over, is it eating and swimming with the others?

I don't keep mollies, and from what I can see on the pictures I can't tell much. What temperature so you knee this tank at? And the room where it's at? You were gone a month, but losing half the water in that time seems a bit extreme to me. I too have been gone for that long time a whole back and I probably lost less than a quarter of water volume.

How are the 3 fish behaving now? The one that was skinny and hunched over, is it eating and swimming with the others?

Heres a clear photo of the fish that has a hunched back and is skinny. Temperature is 78 degrees and the tank is in the basement.

 

[Ram419]

Looks like a young gold dust lyretail molly. I've had several in my main tank but currently now only have two left. They are adults and very active swimmers. I'm not sure I see anything wrong with yours in the pics you provided. Are they acting weird, not eating?

Here's a pic of my two mollys.

 

[Rollxr]

Looks like a young gold dust lyretail molly. I've had several in my main tank but currently now only have two left. They are adults and very active swimmers. I'm not sure I see anything wrong with yours in the pics you provided. Are they acting weird, not eating?

Here's a pic of my two mollys.

View attachment 335243

My molly is skinny and has a hunched back

 

[outofwater]

Can't tell anything from the pic, again though, last time I kept mollies was over 20 years ago so I don't know much about them.
If the fish is eating and socializing, he might just be a little runt and that (being skinny and hunched over) is just his nature. Keep that water as clean as you can make it. Are those plants real? As far as I've learned, nitrates over 10 ppm is technically low, but not good in the long term.

 

[emeraldking]

If I look at those pics of those mollies, they look quite good to me. Yes, the other one has a slight hunched back but not that skinny at all. But still, it doesn't look bad.

But just a question out here: Did someone take care of those fish during your absence? If I read your story, I get the feeling that no one has taken care of them during your vacation.

 

[Rollxr]

If I look at those pics of those mollies, they look quite good to me. Yes, the other one has a slight hunched back but not that skinny at all. But still, it doesn't look bad.

But just a question out here: Did someone take care of those fish during your absence? If I read your story, I get the feeling that no one has taken care of them during your vacation.

Yeah no one did take care of them in my absence

 

[emeraldking]

Yeah no one did take care of them in my absence

Then it's not weird that some water has evaporated. Well, fish still do well for a reasonable time without being fed. Most of the time, there's still food in the tank that wasn't eaten before. So, those fish can show their natural behavior and look for food themselves.

About the hunched back molly, I wouldn't be too worried about her.