# I think my dalmatian molly is about to die!



## puppylove.sn

Last night my balloon molly died and my dalmatian molly looks like its about to go to. He is lying on the bottom of the tank. Not on his side though, like my balloon molly was. How do I tell when he's about to go? Here are some pictures. He is in the lower left corner of the tank. You may not be able to see him because of the thermometer. If you need more pictures or anything, just let me know.:sad:


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## PaulLamb

He doesn't look too good. You might be able to save him if you can figure out whats wrong in time.

1) How long have you had the fish?

2) How long has the aquarium been set up?

3) Have you recently added anything new to the aquarium?

4) Have you recently done a water change?

4.b) If so, what was the temperature of the added water?

4.c) If the water you added was from the tap, did you treat the tank to remove chlorine?

5) What is the current temperature of the water?

6) Is the aquarium water fresh or brackish?

There are plenty of other potential stresses, but these are the initial questions to answer.


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## br00tal_dude

keep an eye on your water temp (not saying that is the issue) because i had the same setup you have in this picture and about 2 weeks after we got it the heater just quit working all together.


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## puppylove.sn

1) I have had the fish for a little over 2 weeks.
2) The aquarium has been set up for about a month and a half.
3) Today I added 3 fish. My molly looked like this before they were added and one fish died last night in the tank.
4) I added some water to the tank about 5 days ago.
4.b)The water was about room temperature, about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. It was from the tap.
4.c) I did use a de-chlorination on the tap water.
5) The current temperature is about 78-80 degrees.
6) I don't know what brackish is, but I the water is fresh.

My molly did move from the spot he was in to the live plants I have in there. I put a net in the water and moved the plant a little and he moved. He is still breathing.


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## PaulLamb

Ok, we can rule out "new tank syndrome", since the aquarium has been up and running for a little while. We can probably also rule out temperature as the cause, because even though the water you added was a bit too cold, they should have recovered after it warmed up (looks like you have a working heater). You treated the water, so chlorine is probably not the problem either. Old age also seems unlikely in this case, since two fish were affected in a relatively short period of time. It's possible they had some disease when you bought them which is just now getting to a deadly advanced stage. But if they looked healthy when you added them, and then they later both suddenly got deathly ill around the same time, that would also be somewhat of a coincidence, I would think.

On the question of brackishness, mollies are originally native to brackish waters (the semi-salty areas where rivers empty into the ocean). They have been selectively bred to tolerate fresh water, so fresh water would not be the cause for them to become deathly ill. But mollies do tend to be more vulnerable in fresh water than other species of fish are. They will be the first to be affected by ich or other parasites and diseases, changes in temperature, out-of-control ammonia buildup, etc. The best way to improve molly survival rate is to add a little salt to the water to make it brackish. However, from your picture it looks like you have other fish in the aquarium, so you probably can't add any salt without hurting the other fish. A good alternative to salt is a weekly parasite preventive product called Aquarisol, which is safe for freshwater fish. I have kept mollies for years, and I have found that using this product dramatically increases their survival rate. Note: I have heard that Aquarisol will kill some plant species (I've haven't experienced this problem myself, but something to consider). It will also kill snails and shrimp, so don't use it if you have any of those you want to keep alive.

I am not really sure what is causing the illness for your mollies, so I'll leave it up to other more experienced members on here to discuss. But my guess is that there is something wrong in the aquarium (chemical imbalance or disease are the most likely candidates). The reason your mollies are the first to experience illness and death is because they are the most vulnerable, being in a fresh water environment. You might try doing some water changes (be sure to replace with lukewarm water and treat for chlorine), and treat the aquarium for parasites.


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## Buggy

Do a 30% water change. And if you don't have a test kit, you might want to buy one. At least get the Ammonia and Nitrite tests. It's possible something caused an ammonia spike in the tank and the fish are dieing of poisoning. Water changes will help. Be sure also that the water conditioner you are using removes both chlorine and chloramine. Most city water contains both but not all de-chlor products remove both. Prime is an excellent product to use.


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## FishEyes22

I Lost 7 mollies to something that looks similar to these symptoms I changed the last three living ones to a new tank and did a 5% water change daily put antibiotic drops in the filter daily also and the few survivors all made a full come back it took about a week or two for full recovery.


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