Black Molly swimming vertically

[TrVth]

One of my black mollies is swimming vertically, face down into the gravel. I have one other molly in the tank, along with three other Sunburst Platies and two small African frogs. Is there something I should do?

[King Tut]

Ok - Could he be foraging on the bottom? I have a few mollies that will look on the bottom for stray food bits.

Also what size tank is this? Is it cycled? And are there any other signs of problems?

[Wild Turkey]

Does it seem like he is fighting floating? Sounds like bloat. Have you feed them today? more than usual?

[TrVth]

Ok - Could he be foraging on the bottom? I have a few mollies that will look on the bottom for stray food bits.

Also what size tank is this? Is it cycled? And are there any other signs of problems?
It's a 20g, almost cycled. It's not foraging, it's starting to get very lethargic, weak, etc. No other signs of problems. I've looked around the web for some other symptoms and this fish isn't showing any of those. I'd put it in a med tank, but I don't have another aquarium. Could I use another container if it was clean?

Also, I have fed them today, but only more because I just added three new fish yesterday. I don't think this one got more food than the others. If it is a bloat, is there anything special I do for that?

[sid101]

Yes you could, do you have any invertebrates in the tank that molly is in?

[TrVth]

No invertebrates.

[King Tut]

I had a sailfin mollie that acted somewhat like that and he was constipated. If you can seperate him try some peas. Just blanch them and peel the outer hull away. If he is constipated this should help.

[Wild Turkey]

For bloat, just wait it out tonight. Generally minor bloat issues like you are describing will fix themselves in 24 hours. If after that hes still shows signs, skin some peas and attempt to feed.

However, if your tank isnt cycled it makes the possibility of it being something else more probable (though still sounds like bloat, imo), since fish are a lot more susceptible to disease and sickness when subjected to a cycle, so just keep a close eye for other signs.

[TrVth]

For bloat, just wait it out tonight. Generally minor bloat issues like you are describing will fix themselves in 24 hours. If after that hes still shows signs, skin some peas and attempt to feed.

However, if your tank isnt cycled it makes the possibility of it being something else more probable (though still sounds like bloat, imo), since fish are a lot more susceptible to disease and sickness when subjected to a cycle, so just keep a close eye.
I will do that. Thanks all for the information. This site is great!