Molly w/ a droopy tail

[Fish_are_friends]

My female dalmatian Molly is starting to swim around with a droopy tail. She seems very unbalanced and is swimming awkwardly. My tank is new and still cycling. I did a pwc earlier today and my ammonia tested at .25

 

[jlk]

Hi! How new is your tank? Do you have an API test kit that tests for amm/nitrite/nitrate/ph? Can you post these results? I suspect your newly cycling tank & water parameters may be at the root of your fish's behavior but lets see how your numbers look & we will go from there!

 

[Fish_are_friends]

My tank is about a week and a half old. I don't have a test yet for the nitrites/nitrates. I bought one but it only tests for ammonia which is still a .25

 

[jlk]

You should look into investing a good test kit or purchasing the seperate tests (more expensive). This is very important with a newly cycling tank & keeping aquariums in general. Do you have a decent water conditioner/dechlorinator? I would start by doing daily 50% water changes with temperature-matched, conditioned water. Wait 1/2hr after doing the water change & check your ammonia level. If its .25ppm (or higher), do another 50% water change. You will need to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels below .25ppm- this can only be accomplished through water changes. Please do not hesitate to ask questions!

 

[Fish_are_friends]

I've been using the water conditioner that came with my tank kit. I believe it's called aqueon or something like that. I'm planning on getting those testing kits as soon as I get paid but I'll do a big water change today after work.

 

[jlk]

You can find the API kits for @$10 cheaper on amazon/ebay than purchasing them in a big chain store. You may also want to consider a water conditioner such as Prime or Amquel Plus that help to bind ammonia & nitrites. Keep us posted!

 

[librarygirl]

Good advice from Jlk. Just out of curiosity what size tank do you have? Mollys are fairly large fish with large bioloads (e.g. they produce a lot of waste) and in a smaller uncycled tank the toxins are going to buildup quickly. Theres' a link in my signature: "new tank with fish;" it'll guide you through the process of fish-in cycling.

 

[Fish_are_friends]

I have a 10g right now, people have been telling me it's a bit small for 2 mollies. I'm planning on getting a 20g soon.