mollie is pregnant and laying on the bottom of the tank...

Question
QUESTION: i bought 5 Mollies about a month ago, 2 males (one black, one silver) and 3 females(2 silver and one black) since i have bought them 2 of them have died. But now one of my Silver Mollies' pregnant, but she is laying on the bottom of the tank, away from the others. she comes to the surface to eat, but once she is done she goes to the bottom again? is there something wrong with her, or is she going to be giving birth soon and should i put her in a breeding net? the others seem to be doing fine but are less active since the 2 died(they died the same day, one male one female), i have called it Mollies depression, are they ok? everything seems good in the tank staying at the right temp and the pH seems fine?!?!?
Please help!!!!
I don't want more to die....

Thanks so much!!

ANSWER: Hi Liz.  Tell me.....does your Molly's scales look fanned out or sticking out, kind of like a pine-cone?  I need to know this in order to try to give you an idea of what might be going on.  She COULD be laying at the bottom readying herself to have her fry, BUT, if she is fanned out looking like a pine-cone, she most-likely has dropsy and is not pregnant. So please do a follow up to this and let me know what is going on if you would.  Also, if you know your water parameters, please let me know that.

Again, many times they will "rest" toward the bottom when ready to give birth, so it may just be what is happening.  BUT, since I cannot see them, and you've already had fish die, I'm not able to say with 100% certainty what is going on. No one would be able to without seeing them.

Keep me posted what is happening and what she looks like, and i will be happy to help you along.

Good luck!!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey! thanks for your help, no her scales were not out like you described, and the pH was a little high and so was the ammonia levels, sadly she passed away this afternoon,and one passed away last nigh :( so i just have the one male and it looks like he is doing ok... i put a neutralizer in it, and i changed the water again! so hopefully he will make it, I'm going to stabilize the water and get some more, any ideas of how to make sure he lives?!?!

Answer
Hi Liz.  What I believe your problems is (your tank's problem) is that you didn't take the time to properly "cycle" your tank.  If a tank has not established the necessary bacterial colonies that makes life in the tank sustainable, the fish have a hard time surviving if you don't take spectacular care of the tank while it's going through the process.  To further explain this, you need to research cycling a tank, which explains the process.  I've given you a link about cycling a tank WITH a fish since you have one in the tank, so if you are careful and follow the instructions, hopefully the fish will make it.  DO NOT put any more fish in to the tank until you are SURE it is cycled.  You need to purchase a freshwater master test kit in order to get the readings you need (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates).

Here's the link:  http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

Good luck Liz.  And please don't "rush" the process. If you do, you will only keep ending up with dead fish.  You never want to put more then 2-3 new fish in at a time, because you may shock your system with the additional waste.  And NEVER pour the water in the tank that the fish are in from the pet store. It can be BAD NEWS.  Make sure you "acclimate" your fish prior to putting them in the water.

GOOD LUCK!!