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If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

Original poster

Molly has cloudy eye and swimming on the spot?

22 replies

Marne · 23/02/2013 17:30

One of my new Mollies (bought last weekend from PAH) has been acting odd, at first i thought it was because the male molly keeps chasing her around but now she seems to have a cloudy slightly raised eye, her tail fin is clamped and shes swimming on the spot. What could it be? i googled 'molly with cloudy eye' and it suggests low ph in the tank but my ph is fine, all the other fish seem fine.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 23/02/2013 17:51

No, it won't have been low pH that caused it. Cloudy eye can have a few causes, the most likely being either a fungal or bacterial infection. Either the molly was ill when you got it, or if you didn't quarantine it (please tell me you did!!) then there was something already present in your tank and the stress of the move has made the molly more susceptible to illness.

What are the water readings in your tank at the moment?

Original poster
Marne · 23/02/2013 17:59

I didn't quarantine as i dont have another tank (got rid of them all), tested the water before i got them and all was ok, will test it again tonite and see if its ok, the other female that i got seems fine.

Could she be stressed by the male, he has been chasing her non stop (though now he has stoped), i'm not sure why he's picking on her as he has other females to hastle, or maybe he knows she's poorly?

OP posts:
EauRouge · 23/02/2013 18:23

Yes, she could be getting stressed by the male although I doubt that on its own will have caused the cloudy eye. You should always quarantine (especially if you buy from a non-specialist place like P@H), bit late now but you could set up a storage box temporary tank next time. Water tests wouldn't have told you anything about what diseases they might be carrying.

Original poster
Marne · 24/02/2013 06:59

Thank you Eau, she seems a bit better this morning but the male is still pestering her, wish i could seperate them but i have nowhere to put her and i cant really remove the male as he's my only male (are all males this anoying?) he is quite rough with her and keeps nipping her all over as he chases her around the tank Sad.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 24/02/2013 08:41

I would separate the male if he's that bad. Most fish keepers keep a spare tank for this kind of situation, also helpful for treating sick fish and quarantining new ones.

Original poster
Marne · 24/02/2013 18:45

I have a fry tank which is in use, i should be able to move the fry soon so can put him in there. Would he be better in a bigger tank with a lot more mollies? i have a friend who might be able to have him (she has taken fish for me before). I will feel guilty getting rid of him as he was given to me as a tiny fry when i first started out, i was given 5 fry but the others died or got eaten, he's such a handsom molly too (and he knows it).

My nitrates are high (again) not sure what has caused it but have done a big water change and all the fish seem ok.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 24/02/2013 19:15

How high is the nitrate? Unless your tap water nitrate is high then it'll probably be due to too much ammonia- this could be too many fish, too much food or not enough cleaning (or a combination of all three).

Original poster
Marne · 24/02/2013 21:48

Can't remember the reading now but it was quite high but ammonia was only a trace, I do a 25% change every week and sometimes a small vacuumed in between if the gravel is looking grubby, I do the water change by vacuuming the gravel ( guppies seem to poo a lot ), I have quite a few fish in there but more than half are fry. It could be the tap water as it was last time, I will test it in the morning, ph is also high due to the tap water, 2 mollies are now acting odd, hanging out near the top but the rest of the fish seem fine.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 25/02/2013 07:52

How high is the nitrAte? You can change more water if you need to, or do another water change in the week.

Original poster
Marne · 25/02/2013 11:43

I think it was around 40 Sad, i have change 50% (last night) and will test it again today, the 2 mollies look a bit better this morning.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 25/02/2013 12:03

That's not so high, I wouldn't expect it to make fish ill. What about the other readings?

Original poster
Marne · 25/02/2013 12:10

It might have been higher (cant remember), maybe closer to 80, i think nitrite was 0.25, Ammonia 0.25, ph 8.2.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 25/02/2013 12:40

Tell you what, next time you test post the results straight on here and then we'll decipher them :) What test kit are you using?

Original poster
Marne · 25/02/2013 12:45

Will try and do it when the kids are in bed this time Smile, i have the freshwater testing kit (the one with individual tests that looks like a chemestry kit) Smile.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 25/02/2013 12:55

The API one? That's a good one, results should be pretty accurate.

Original poster
Marne · 25/02/2013 13:15

Thats the one Smile, i think you may have been the person who reccomended it to me? i used to use th estrips but they cost me a fortune and were not great, i like the API one as it has a higher PH test too.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 25/02/2013 13:42

Could have been me, yes. I know what you mean about the strip tests. Thing is they are packaged in small numbers so cheaper to buy than a liquid kit, but then they don't last as long. I've always hated them anyway, it's annoying having to use a whole strip if you only want to test for one thing and if you do it wrong all the colours run into each other and you have to start again.

Original poster
Marne · 25/02/2013 19:59

nitrate now 10ppm
ph 8.8 (is this too high?)
nitrite 0
ammonia 0.25

I think the molly must have been poorly when i got her, shes not looking good now Sad but all the others seem ok.

OP posts:
EauRouge · 26/02/2013 14:40

Nitrate is fine, nitrite is fine, ammonia is nothing to worry about. Wow, the pH is quite high- is it coming out of your tap like that? How long did you spend acclimatising the new fish when you got it?

Original poster
Marne · 26/02/2013 16:11

Our tap water is high ph but the man in PAH told me there water was high PH too. Whats the best way to lower it? i have heard that the ph down treatment is more hastle than its worth? are there any plants that would help?

OP posts:
EauRouge · 26/02/2013 16:21

What is the pH coming out of your tap? If you leave a glass to settle for 24 hrs and then test it it will be more accurate. 8.8 seems pretty high for tap water, there might be something in your tank that's pushing up the pH. What sort of sand/gravel do you have? Any ornaments or rocks in there?

Original poster
Marne · 26/02/2013 18:31

I have one large rock which came with the tank, a couple plants (not sure what they are, they have roundish leaves), mainly gravel and some sand in the middle (which came out my old tank, think its called platnum sand?), oh and a couple plastic plants, nothing new in there. Will test the PH in my fry tank and see if thats high too.

OP posts:
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