"panting" stardust molly

peachyqui

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I can't post a video, i still can't figure out how, but I have this stardust lyre tail molly who looks like he's panting. His mouth is always open and he's breathing really hard. He usually sits in the same spot in the tank and he's been doing this for quite a few days now. He seems fine when I feed them though, he always swims right up to the top with the other fish, but I want to make sure nothing's wrong. Thanks!

Chesherca

It sounds like he's not doing very well over there! Can you test your water and post the readings for Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite? Also, when was your last water change?

Until we can clear up the possibility of toxins in the water, it's going to be really difficult to pinpoint what the problem could be. . . how many fish are in what sized tank, and what types of fish?

For right now, if it were my tank, I'd do a water change and turn the tank lights off. Cleaning the water is never a bad idea, and turning the tank lights off calms the fish. . .

:(

peachyqui

Okay, so I'm getting my water tested today and I'll post everything as soon as I get that. My last water change was about a week ago and it was about a 20% change. The tank is a 55 gallons, and right now I have 4 neon tetras, 3 dalmatian mollies, 3 gold dust mollies (sorry, I said stardust! ;) 3 platys, and about 12 Platy and molly babies that are separated from the other fish by a divider. By the way, the molly that seems to be having trouble is a male, if that could help.
I have no idea if this has any bearing on anything, but my snail just died - are there certain things that could have killed the snail and affected the other fish?
Thanks!

peachyqui

Okay, so my water quality looks good - I'm going to do a 20% water change today. THe fish still looks the same. :(

Chesherca

Is it possible for you to give a bit more detail than 'looks good' to your water test results? I've found that oftentimes what *seems* okay can actually show a world of trouble when the actual numbers are presented. I hope the water change helps. Hopefully someone more experienced will pop in with more complete advice. Good luck!

peachyqui

Well he died today, but thanks for helping! :(

Chesherca

:(