Hi and welcome to the forum
If the water is going a milky cloudy colour then it is a bacterial bloom normally caused by uneaten food rotting in the gravel. Reduce feeding and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week and it should clear up.
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What is the general hardness (GH) and pH of the water?
Mollies need hard alkaline water with a GH above 250pm and a pH above 7.0.
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has she had the white lips for?
Have you added any new fish, plants or anything else in the last 2 weeks?
The white lips can be bruising caused by the fish bumping into something. It can be a bacterial infection that will kill the fish. It could be fungus that could kill the fish.
If you have had the fish for a month or more, and you have not introduced any new fish in the last 2 weeks, then it is unlikely to be a bacterial infection.
If you do a big daily water change & gravel clean each day for a week, it should heal by itself. If it doesn't then it could be fungal or bacterial.
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Yes she is pregnant.
Salt won't affect the babies but chemical medications can adversely affect the babies in her.
What other fish are in the tank?
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
If you only have guppies or livebearers in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and increase it after 48 hours if there is no improvement so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.
Hi! I have been reading online and seen several suggestions and possible causes for my black Molly to have white lips. I also think she might be pregnant, but not too sure as she is completely black, but her size and shape is why i suspect she is. I first noticed the white on her lips a couple days ago, and first of all I would like to ask is this going to be contagious to other fish in my tank? Should I separate her? I already have her in a small bowl, but I’m going to return her to her tank for now, as there’s not much I can do for her until I can confirm her proper treatment. Salt and heat are two of the consistent suggestions I have read, but if I move her to just a small goldfish bowl to treat her, how do I does her salts in a much smaller scale? Secondly, if she is pregnant, will this affect her pregnancy? I have so many questions to ask related to the behaviours and such of my other fish, but this is the most important so I figured I would start with this one. I would appreciate any help or suggestions you may have for me, I will try to include a picture of her in the smaller tank before I return her to the regular one. I have done a water test With the five in one easy strips, and all levels are exactly were they should be, well within the safe range, And I tried to do at least a 25% water change once a week, although I am still combatting a strange haze in my water, Which I have not been able to clear up, even though I have used easy clear and a couple other solutions and applied properly.
