Help! What Is Wrong With My Dalmatian Mollie?

[SquishySquishFish]

What is Wrong With My Poor Dalmatian Mollie?​

Can Somebody please help me with knowing what is wrong with my Dalmatian Mollie? A month and a half ago I found her swimming like this, so I put her in a separator net. While she was in the net, I treated all the fish with clear all tablets, anti-ammonia tablets, fish water conditioner, and ick treatment. Mollies are also known to like salt in their water so I added some aquarium salt. We also bought a new filter for the fish. It is a large filter meant for a 90 gallon but mine is only a 55 gallon. We also cleaned the rocks, and did a 25% water change. 4 weeks in the net she seemed better and started moving her tail again, but still swam a tiny bit funny. I let her out. 1 and a half weeks go by and now she is swimming funny again. She is still pooping and eating every day though so I don't know what is going on with this fish. I know swim bladder cases do this but if it were swim bladder, how could she survive almost 2 months with the organ failure? All of the other fish seem fine. I took a video of the Dalmatian Mollie's behavior. I hope this helps.

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Mollie Youtube Video: 

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[nic1]

Hey, she looks like she may have a problem with her swim bladder...

 

[DanTheFishMan11]

Yeah that screams swim bladder to me, my old betta had it and I thought it was the end of him but one day I woke up and be was fine

 

[Bubbelzzz]

Looks like the swim bladder to me too. For goldfish they use garden peas sometimes to cure this.

 

[nic1]

It could be that she is eating too much or gulping in too much air, also what do you feed them?
how large is the tank and how many fish do you have in there?what is your cleaning regime?
Evidently, the tank is full of live bearers so over time the population will explode and the ammonia/nirite levels will rise causing all sorts of issues, including bacterial which is a cause of swim bladder among other things, the fact that she recovered after a tank clean may suggest that this is a water quality issue, maybe you should up your water changes, 25%-40% a week.
As only one fish is affected, This could also mean that she might have an eternal cyst somewhere most likely her kidney which is putting pressure on the swim bladder.
 
You can try feeding her a deshelled pea as others have stated, I would starve her for 3 days before doing this, and also use a broad spectrum antibiotic as well as keeping up with water changes making her environment as clean and ideal as possible.

 

[SquishySquishFish]

I have some frozen peas. I will try that for her. I also did a 20% water change 2 days in a row. After a day in a separator net the mollie is not floating about and her head is level with her tail. But she is only swimming in place.​

I'm keeping her in there for a little while.​

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I feed my fish tropical fish flakes, freeze dried bloodworms, and freeze dried baby shrimp. Sometimes I will throw a sinking carnivore pellet in for my crawfish. I randomly select what 2 foods to put in at each meal (usually a pinch of tropical fish flakes and half a pinch of the freeze dried things).​

I Have 9 mollies 1 guppy 4 giant danios, a pleco, and a crawfish. along with a few baby fish that have survived fryhood without getting eaten.​

I'm not sure how many gallons the tank is. I think it is 55-65 gallons. ​

I recently bought a new filter that can be for up to a 90 gallon tank.​

I currently have my 60 gallon filter in as well to help clear the water.​

I usually will do a 20% water change for my fish up to 3 times a week.​

I know about all the cycles. My nitrate/nitrite level is up right now so I have been having to do a 20% water change every day because I have a bacterial spike due to the rocks getting stirred up after I scooped them out to clean them.​

I have treated my tank for all ailments because I have had this bacterial spike for about 2 weeks now. Been to petco, petsmart, and a fish shop, and every product I have bought from them still has not cleared this milky water.​

 

[nic1]

I think the bacterial cloud will go soon on its own accord, its normally doesnt cause no ill effects and the best way to get rid of it is by doing what you are doing, small water changes paying attention to the substrate. Any treatment that you buy to clear this wont have any immediate effect as its down to water quality. Its not great to look at but it will go... another reason may be the added filter cycling.
 
Regarding the mollie, you can put her in her own tank and just lower the water level for her so she cant really spin out of control, individuals get sick just like us humans and I think that this may be something affecting her personally and internally like a cyst, but keeping her environment right for her will help her a great deal.
 
Others may have more advice for you, good luck

 

[the_lock_man]

I know you are fully clued up on the ammonia cycle, but can you please post up current ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH levels. If you also know your KH level, that would be good, too.
 
Nic is probably right that the bacterial bloom will go on its own, but you don't normally get these in a mature tank - how long has the tank been set up, and how did you cycle it? You also don't usually get a bacterial bloom from disturbing the substrate - an ammonia spike, maybe, but not a bacterial problem.
 
Until we know your water stats, it is very difficult to try to give you advice to sort this problem out.
 
Just a few pointers, which aren't particularly relevant to your current problem, but are worth pointing out anyway.
 
Your water change regime - assuming the tank is fully cycled, you are better off doing a single 50% water change weekly, than 3 x 20% changes in a week, and it's less work too. The three changes only change 49% of the total water, whereas, obviously a 50% change changes 50%.
 
Do you know exactly what species of plec you have? Some get exceptionally large, far too large for a 55G. Worth checking out.
 
Also, you really need to rehome the crawfish. Pincers will, sooner or later, be used on fins or indeed a fish body - and the plec is the prime target.