Sick dalmatian molly

[carls]

Hi! I have 2 dalmatian mollies in a 5 gallon tank. One of them seems to be very sick. It's having trouble swimming and is often in a vertical position (head up). It also rarely uses its tail when it swims and seems to have a little orange on the tip of its top fin. I thought maybe it was swim bladder? Ive been trying to feed it peas but it wont eat any (so the other one eats most of them haha).

I bought an all-in-one treatment because the other fish seemed to have fungus on it which looks like it cleared up but there is now a white discoloration where the fungus was (is that normal?). The one that had the white fuzzy spot also seems to be almost twitching (i'm not sure if theres a term for it) which is a new thing, it just started.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Molly

Hello Carl...

The water chemistry in a very small tank will never be pure enough for a Molly. The chemistry changes too quickly and stress on the fish causes disease. These livebearers require pure water conditions at all times, which means a tank at least 20 gallons, even a quarantine tank and weekly water changes of at least half the tank water.

Mollys are brackish water fish. They need a trace of salt in the water for them to be healthy. A teaspoon or a bit more in every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water.

They're fussy about what they eat. A combination of a little flaked, freeze dried and some frozen food is best.

B