molly breathing funny

[Kaga's Kritters]

My male dalmatian molly is breathing hard.....kind of looks like he's gasping. His mouth and gills are going a mile a minute. What would cause this? He is the only fish doing it.

[MeganL3985]

My tetra did that while he was sick with a bacterial infection (died 3 days later...sorry to mention)......however, they also do this when their water is contaminated with ammonia, etc. Do you know what your water parameters are and what are you testing with (liquid or strips?). I would do an immediate water change either way though.

[Kuli_Loach]

He is gasping, as megan said, water changes water changes. Get some detox. Is the tank cycled?

[MeganL3985]

Ps....I just read your sig....and it looks as though your overstocked. Hopefully your tank is cycled, if not, you're going to have a big problem on your hands. I know I did when I first started....

[Kaga's Kritters]

i know the 10 gal is overstocked, but im not having any problems with that one. The mollies are still small (only about 1 1/2 inches long) and their is only 2 in the 5 gal. that tank has been cycled and running for over a year. i did have other fish in it that i moved into the 10 gal when i got it. just kept all the same stuff in the 5 and added different fish. i will check the ammonia in the tank now. i only have the test strips for the ammonia but its better than nothing.

[RobbieG]

Toxins in the water and diseases will usually start to show with just one fish - the weakest or most stressed in the tank.

Whenever you see something odd like that you should check your water parameters ASAP. If you can't check them right away do a water change (if it was my 10 gallon I would do 50%)

[Kuli_Loach]

Wow man! You need another tank to house that many fish. That is way overstock to the point of being cruel to the fish! I would invest in a 29-30g for all of them fish if that tells you anything. 16 fish and 2 snails, WOW!

[Kaga's Kritters]

just checked the ammonia and its safe. i just did a water change about 3 days ago. i did buy another molly the other day and it died the same night. but i figure that was because i had been using salt in that tank and it wasnt used to the salt in the water. (which i didn't think of that until after the fish died, and i feel bad now.)

[Kaga's Kritters]

cant afford another tank cause i just lost my job. so that will have to wait.

[Kuli_Loach]

Ok, but you need one as soon as possible. I would start saving you change or something for it. That is what I did and in 2 weeks I payed off my 55g set-up.

[Kaga's Kritters]

a 55g setup would cost a few hundred dollars.......wish i had that kind of change laying around.

i have had most of those fish living in that 10 gal for over a year with no problem. so a little longer wont hurt.

[Kuli_Loach]

No but they will eventually need a bigger one to be happy. As someone said, would you be fine living only in your room forever. You could but you wouldn't be happy in there. Yes a 55g would be expensive, I am saying at least a 20 long, that would be great for them fish!

[Kaga's Kritters]

I am going to keep my eye out for a good deal on a bigger tank.

[Doug G]

I'm having this same problem with my Gold Dust Molly. I have 2 Neons, 1 Guppy, and the Molly in a 6gal. Just completed cycling last week. Funny thing is for the entire duration he was pretty lively and only in the last couple weeks began acting funny. Sits on the bottom, seems to be gasping, doesn't eat, shows no outward signs of any diseases that I can tell. A couple weeks prior to this lathargy he was chasing the guppy all over the place with his dorsal extended which I took to indicate territorial aggression or similar. No serious nipping or anything took place, just posturing I guess?

Everyone else is doing great and my water is crystal clear with ammonia and nitrites at 0. temp is 79, I'm using about 1tsp salt/gal and ph is rock steady at 7.0.

Can someone suggest what might be the problem and how I can help? I always figured it would be the Neons that didn't survive the cycle. Could this be something the Molly will snap out of now that the cycle has completed or is it doomed? Does he need another molly to keep him company?

I'll be adding a 55gal and moving this 6g to my sons room for use as the quarantine/hospital tank in the next several weeks. If the tank is too small and that's the cause, hopefully he survives long enough to move to the new one.

[*Sarah*]

check out classified ads for used tanks, they can be an awesome deal :) got my 100gal and stand for $235 :)

[MeganL3985]

A few people around here have been lucky enough to even find free larger tanks on craigslist. I've seen many cheap tanks on my areas craigslist lately. But I understand what its like to not be in the position to be spending a bunch of money....just keep an eye on your water parameters and if you doubt your strips, just keep doing frequent changes. goodluck