mollies with bulging eyes

Question
Hi Nicole, I'm so glad I have an expert to ask! My beautiful black molly has developed bloated eyes. Two days ago her eyes were clear and resting flush against her head. Now her eyes are not visible, this layer looks like a nearly amorphous blister. I feel so sorry for her. She has become sluggish and I think senitive to light, not at all her outgoing self, that would nip me during feeding. This is a relativly new tank (2wks). I got her from petsmart, I don't think they had her in brakish water, so I haven't put full salt content to make my aquarium brackish. Are platties brakish? They are co-habing with my mollies. The male seems to also be getting this problem, thier fry hasn't as yet. Thanks for your help, Athena

Answer
Good afternoon Athena,

Mollies can be kept in brackish or even full marine conditions, as long as they are given a proper acclimation. Petsmart loads up their tanks with salt as Walmart does, it "hardens" them a little and makes them less susceptible to nitrite poisoning. I doubt they were actually keeping them in brackish conditions since I believe they share the same water and I've seen mollies in with other livebearers.

Mollies are often touted as hardy fish, but they aren't really. In fact, I am of the opinion (as many other folks are coming to be) that livebearers in general are not the best beginner fishes. Mollies need extremely clean water to thrive, if they are kept in less than perfect conditions it is better to salt their water. Here's what I suggest:

Using a water test kit, check your water parameters. Popeye is a symptom of water quality issues, something is probably amiss - since your tank is new, especially. Ammonia and nitrite levels must be 0 ppm, in a healthy cycled tank this is alwyas so. Nitrates should be under 20 ppm. Petsmart will test your water for you, but it is recommended that you have your own test kit. Liquid test kits provide better value and accuracy over strips, but either is OK.

Fry need very clean water to thrive, so I recommend you perform water changes every other day of 20-30%. Right now, you should change 50% of the water and add 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt to the new water. You can also add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt. Keep both Epsom salt at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons for now, until you see the popeye symptoms subsiding. Aquarium or kosher salt at 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is fine for both your mollies and platies.

Have a look at this website for lots on aquarium startup if you haven't already: http://freshaquarium.about.com

Also, for more information on livebearers, go to Google.com and type livebearer - you'll be able to read lots about these kinds of fishes and their specialized needs. Did you know that livebearers are primarily vegetarian and should be fed their own livebearer flakes, or spirulina flakes?

Let me know if you need any further advice or clarification. Take care, thanks for writing in!

Nicole