Black molly dead

[Alec18]

So last night my black Molly was lying on the bottom and his gills were moving really fast and he was falling over. I spent the night somewhere and figured that when I got home he was going to be dead and sure enough he was I treated the tank with tetra ick guard a little more than two weeks ago because I got a Molly that had it and took her back for a different one and treated the tank. Does anyone think it could have been ick? It seems a long time for it to affect my fish. Here's a picture too he looks weird. His eyes are bulging and all his color is gone

 

[Old Scales]

Mollies can be pretty fragile if there is no salt, Ph below 6.8 and KH below 4. They also need a good bit of vegetable matter in their diet. Perfect Molly tank is 1 tsp aquarium salt per 5 gal, pH above 7.0, KH above 10, and temp 78-82F. With those conditions they are very hardy and prolific. Serious Molly keepers keep molly-only tanks. OS.

 

[wildroseofky]

I keep hearing that mollies need salt but I and many others do not use it and have healthy mollies. My mollies are in a tank with a PH of 7.6, KH off the charts and GH high too. They are breeding like crazy. My first mollies I tried to do the salt thing and they did not live past a year and a half. I still have two of my original fry, now adults, and a new orange female. No salt and they are doing great. I do feed them a varied diet with plant wafers, meaty foods, and tropical flakes and granules. I even feed them spinach and other fresh greens. I think that has made them more healthy. My local fish store likes to get my extra ones because she says they are way more healthy than what she gets from a breeder. I also try to do twice a week water changes because I found that it seems to keep my tank inhabitants healthier. I usually do a 10 gallon or so one with a larger one every week.