Sick Molly

Question
one yr old 30 gal tank, clean good once a month, I use a whisper, total of 7 fish, all aggressive but have calmed down and become friends now.  My golddust molly is not using her backend. She is only using side fins, and stays at the top of the water and will float around the top. What is wrong with her?  She is eating, the other fish do leave her alone. I do not see ick on her, no fuzzies growing, nothing out of the ordinary.

Answer
Hi Lisa;

It's hard to say what could be wrong if there aren't any physical symptoms other than some kind of paralysis. We can't see inside the fish to know. It may even have been injured somehow. Fish can be injured from being startled and bang into objects or even the side or lid of the tank. Fish can also suffer the same types of diseases and maladies that other animals and humans do. They can have cancer for instance. Cancer can be the cause of such a symptom if it has affected the spine. Or, blood clots and organ failure can cause weakness of certain parts of the body. Bottom line, I'm afraid there's not much you can do except to keep her comfortable. She will need to be isolated though if you have aggressive fish. They will pick on her because she's weak. It's just what animals, especially fish, have a tendency to do.

Sorry I can't help...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins