Sick Molly?

[Holly001]

Two black lyretail mollies....pretty sure one is a female (because it is getting really fat the past few days) and the other is a male. I am wondering if after mating do the males die or get very tired? My male (I assume he is the male) has been hanging on the bottom alot and he is being picked on by the female. She follows him and nips at him. During feeding time he tries and tries but he can't seem to catch any flakes and so he has to hunt for them in the gravel. He swims with energy but then hangs on the bottom and falls over if he is near the filter current....is this normal or what??

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Does he look pale or darker in colour.
Does he act listless and lethagic.
Does he lay to onside.
Does he look bloated or thin,
Can he maintain balance in the water.
What does it look like when your fish go to the toilet.
What do you feed your fish.

 

[Holly001]

Size of tank in gallons or litres. - 5.5 gallons
How many fish and which type. - 2 lyretail mollies (dalmation mollies)
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. - no test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are at 0 and pH is 7.5

Does he look pale or darker in colour. - the white parts of him looks a bit yellowish
Does he act listless and lethagic. - he swims normally when i put food in the tank but then he sits on the bottom and falls over and stays like that until the female nips at him
Does he lay to onside. - yes only when he is on the bottom of the tank though
Does he look bloated or thin, - he is the same size since i got him (four weeks and half or five weeks ago)
Can he maintain balance in the water. - if he swims in front of the filter where the water comes out he gets pushed right to the bottom and he swims very weakly when he is near the filter current....the female has no problems swimming in the current (side note: the filter is on low flow)
What does it look like when your fish go to the toilet. - very small bits that fall apart right away
What do you feed your fish. - nutrafin max live bearer flakes and freeze dried tubifex worms and the occasional piece of a algea wafer.

 

[WILDER]

I would add some veg to there diet.

The yellow patch on him does it look fluffy.
Turn tank lights out and get a torch and shine the torch on him to see if the yellow patch shines up a golden colour.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing or excess mucas on body or gills.
What colour is his poo.

I would take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to write the readings down for you. Need the ammonia reading.
Also what is your tap nitrate reading. Do you have live plants.
What type of test kit are you using.

 

[Holly001]

my boyfriends sister works at a fish store so I get my water tested there. I will ask them for an ammonia readin tomorrow morning when I bring the sample in.
I shut the lights off and shined a light at him and his scales dont shine golden...they are shiny but not gold. The yellow honestly almost looks like he has been covered in iodine on one side because his other side has gone back to white. There is no fizzy stuff on him but now his left eye is a little odd looking....almost cloudy. I have two live sword plants in the tank and I will have the pet place test my tap water tomorrow as well. I always dechlorinate it before I add it to the tank. He doesn't run him self at all.
What type of veggies should I feed him??

 

[WILDER]

Can you issolate. If so I would try a bacterial med.
What's iodine.

The fat fish is she pregnant.
Are scales sticking out.

 

[Holly001]

Iodine is a disinfectant but it stains your skin a yellowish colour.
I have isolated him and but some anti-fungal medicine in the tank, his eye seems to be clearing up. (isolated him monday evening)
My boyfriends sister said all of my water levels were normal. But I bought my own test kit anyways and my readings were:
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0.5
pH - 7.5
KH - 80
GH - 60
I don't know what significance KH and GH have but the test strip tests all of those things at the same time.
Yes I think the female is pregnant, there are no scales sticking out and I have seen other pregnant mollies and she looks the same as them. If she wasn't nipping at the male, he was chasing her around and twisting around her body and nipping her anal fins.....I think that is their courtship??? Anyways, he seems to be clearing up.
What veggies should I feed them? I tried poping a pea in there yesterday with no shell on it, the female attacked it and the male would have none of it.

 

[WILDER]

The anti fungal med does it say it treat columnaris.
Columnaris is bacterial.

Did you mush the pea up into small peices.
They don't always eat veg the first time. Just keeping trying.
Remove the uneaten peas from the tank.

 

[Holly001]

Yes the medication I have does state that it treats columnaris bacterial infections.
I did remove the uneaten food....male is still not interested in them but the female is in love with them. I will update in a day or two and see how the medication works. Thanks for all the help.

 

[WILDER]

Good Luck.