Help! Sick Dalmation Mollie

[Bonbini05]

One of our new dalmatian mollies is sick. From what I've been reading about fish diseases it seems to have cotton mouth but I'm not sure. It's barely swimming around and when he's ready he shoots up to the surface then drops slowly down onto the gravel and just lays there or hides in the plants by the gravel. What should I do?

 

[fort384]

Can you tell us a bit more about the tank?

How old is it? What else is in the tank? What are your water parameters?

Also, a picture of the fish in question might help with a diagnosis.

 

[Bonbini05]

Thanks but...

I just checked on him and he didn't make it...

The tank and the fish are new, We've had the tank for 2 weeks and the fish for 3 days. There are 3 platys, another dalmatian molly, a cory catfish, 5 dwarf gourami. There are 2 big coral ornaments that they could hide in and fake plants all over so there were sufficient hiding places. pH 7.6, high range pH 7.4, ammonia 1.0 ppm, nitrite 0, nitrate 0. I used the API Master Test Kit.

When I took him out of the tank he still had some white fuzzy stuff on his mouth and a few white spots on his fins but it looks like it could be part of him since he was a dalmatian.

 

[fort384]

It sounds as if your tank is not cycled. 1.0ppm ammonia is definitely an issue. You might have had a case of ich or fungus as well, which would be exacerbated by ammonia that high. Check out this article, it will explain the way ahead:

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[Bonbini05]

I didn't know that could happen so fast in a new tank or with the new fish. Some of the dwarf gourami were aggressive, do you think they would attack the other fish - I have seen them chasing the others.

 

[fort384]

They can potentially be aggressive. If a tank is not cycled, it can happen within hours of adding new fish to a tank. The article I linked will set you up for success, and once the tank is cycled, things get much, much easier.