mollies swimming virtical

Question
I have the same problem as another reader, one of my Mollies is now swimming vertically and has a slitly pot belly. He spends most time at the top of the tank with his tail on the surface this way it can almost right itself. the other molly often swims very close.
Any ideas?

tanks is a month old.
water is pH 7, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate
tanks is 2' x 1' x 1'
tankmates 2 dwarf gouramis, 3 clown loaches,a bristel nose catfish, a betta and 8 phantom tetra.
plants: amazon sword leaf, Hygrophila polysperma, Hydrocotyle verticillata, Limnophila sessilifora.
thanks Gary

Answer
Hi Gary;

It could be as simple as constipation or could be as serious as dropsy. Hopefully it's just a digestive problem so try a diet change first. Offer cooked and peeled peas, romaine lettuce, cucumber slices, cooked green beans, thawed frozed brine shrimp and spirulina algae flakes. The other fish may like them too. Especially the other molly and the bristlenose.

If the sick one is a female and the other molly is a male, you might consider adding more females. Males can stress them out because they want to breed constantly. More females allows the male's amorous attention to be distributed a bit.

If the scales are sticking out like a pinecone, it's dropsy and there isn't a lot you can do. Here is a web page about it;

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article24.html

Make water changes every week to keep everybody as healthy as you can and vacuum the gravel too. Fresh clean water is esssential for fish health, especially livebearers such as mollies. It was thought that mollies must have salt in their water. They really don't if proper maintenance is practiced. Fresh clean water is much more important and adds the same benefits by restoring electrolytes and trace minerals.

I hope she feels better soon......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins