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Can any one tell me why a Mollie out of the blue would start twitching? she was hanging out with another Mollie alot and now out of the clear blue they are seperated and one Mollie is on the bottom of my tank shaking her body like she is saying no
Roberta they are fancy tail Mollies

Sounds like shimmy. This can be brought on by stress. I have not had mollies and I don't know what their stressors are, but I do know they are e to shimmy.

The first step is to ensure water quality is good.

Is this a new tank? Has it gone through the nitrogen cycle? Do you have parameters like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? How's the pH and temp?

Do you add salt? Mollies like to be in slightly salty water. If you have never added salt, pick up some freshwater aquarium salt, like Doc Wellstone. Predissolve it in some conditioned water (1/2 cup of hot water with dechlorinator works fast). Then add more water and just dribble in some of the solution over the next day or two. You don't want to increase salinity too fast. Follow directions on the container.

If you have been adding salt, are you adding salt to the water that goes into the tank for that which has evaporated? If so, there could be too much salt. Salt doesn't evaporate with the water and concentrations can get too high.

I may not be able to get back to you as I go to work early and am off to bed, but hopefully someone else can follow up on your answers.

I would do a partial water change at the very least. If you do a 25% water change with same temp water, it can help the situation, if it is related to water quality.

If the temp is on the low side. Notch it up so that it goes about 1-2F higher and no more. Mollies like warmer water, if I recall so hopefully, the temp is around 78F. You don't want to raise it too quickly as this can stress the fish.

If you don't have parameter readings, do the water change, then as soon as you can, take a sample of your water in a bag to the fish store and ask that they test it. GET THE NUMBERS and bring them back, not descriptions. Bag the water prior to any further water changes.

I hope this helps you for now until someone else can come along.



I don't know if this link will work, but try it anyway. It is the cached version.

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