Silver molly with dark gills/eyes? What's wrong?

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cfd

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
15
Got 2 silver mollies and 1 black molly in a 5 gallon Hex.

The water quality was great several days ago. Checked the quality today and everything was fine except Nitrites which were up to 5.0ppm. OK no problem. I did a ~40% water change. The tank looks better and the fish look fine.

My concern is with the female silver molly. Her gills seem to turn a dark color, almost like a bruise. Her eyes also get dark. This has been coming and going for a few weeks now. For example, I fed them and she perked up and the coloration disappeared. However it is now back again.

The male silver molly is fine. The black one appears fine too. The fish in question is kind of staying away from the other two and acting like a loner. The male was chasing her everywhere today, probably trying to mate, and she had no interest.

What gives? My first thought was nitrite poisoning but the other fish appear to be A-OK.
 
Are you still cycling? Nitrite and ammonia should be 0pp, and no more than .5ppm. Keep doing water changes. Do you have an airstone for the tank? If not try adding one and see if it helps her at all.
 
I think the tank is about 4-5 weeks old. I don't remember exactly. No airstone, I should get one.

Nitrite is down to 3.0ppm now. The fish is still being a loner.
 
You need to do another water change at least 50%. Adding some aquarium salt may also help as long as there are no scaleless fish in the tank.
 
Her fins are clamped down and she seems stressed. The male has been chasing her around all day. He mates with both of them, but he usually never chases either one like this.

The last time a female avoided him was when she was close to giving birth. The silver female shouldn't be due for another 3 weeks though, so I'm quite sure pregnancy is not the case here.
 
I added salt already. Should I continue to do so with each water change?
 
Add the aquarium salt with every water change to keep it consistent. Also lower the water level a bit to increase splash until you get an airstone.
 
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