alkaline levels, white spot

Question
I'm new at this.  My tank is 30 days old, 30 gallon.  I have 3 Black Mollies, 3 Marigold Guppies, 3 Tetra's, 3 Micky Mouse Platties, and 2 dwarf frogs.  PH is 7.2, Nitrite is .5 (I don't get an ammonia level on the strips I am using).  The Alkaline level is 80.  One of the Mollies has a white spot on it's side and is lethargic.  Everyone else seems to be happy. I add a couple of tsps of salt to the tank once a week and do a 10% water change weekly.  My question is, how to I  increase the alkaline levels to 120-200, which, according to the test strips is "ideal", and what can I do for the Mollie?  

Answer
Hi Sue;

This will be really easy for you......don't worry about the pH and hardness! If you make regular water changes they will correct themselves. The fish we keep now are bred in water that is usually not the pH and hardness listed on fish profile charts anyway. The wild varieties may have needed that a long time ago, but our pet ones are now adapted to a rather neutral pH and hardness after many, many generations of captive breeding. Besides, if we follow the old pH and hardness suggestions for the mollies, the tetras won't like it. The wild tetras preferred a low pH and hardness. So, just don't worry about it. Water chemistry is much less important than water quality. Replace 20% of the water weekly instead of 10%. 10% is really not enough to keep things in order. All your fish should be happy and healthy that way.

The tank is still very new so ammonia and nitrite will rise and fall. At a month old the ammonia has probably already gone down and nitrites are probably on their way down. That's a good thing. Just keep up with those water changes and the molly should feel better. It is probably being affected by the nitrite. It weakens the fish and stresses them.

Your fish really don't need salt. Even mollies are fine in fresh water. The water just needs to be kept very clean if they are to be healthy. Mollies are pretty finicky about their water quality, but not the salinity. The tetras and frogs don't like much of it anyway. If you feel better adding salt, do it very sparingly. The salt that is in there now will always be there unless the water is removed, so add salt according to the gallon amount of water replaced at water changes. The proper dosage for preventive care is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of tank water. So, for every gallon of water you replace add back a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. You might want to wait to add more until you have made a couple more weekly changes. I suspect there is a little higher concentration in there after adding 2 full teaspoons every time and only replacing 10% of the water. Unless you never added a full tank's dose at the beginning. If you have only added 2 teaspoons every week and no starting dose, it is safe to continue doing that for awile.  

Mollies also need greens in their diet. Offer them cooked grean beans, romaine lettuce pieces, cucumber slices, peeled peas and squash. The other fish will probably eat some too but it is good for all of them. 2 or 3 times a week is good, along with their regular food. They will nibble the green stuff over a day or two.

It is also important to keep at least 2 female mollies per male. Those little fellas want to breed all the time and females can get pretty worn out. They can even die after getting sick from the stress of being chased constantly. Giving the males 2 or more to 'play with' will help the females get a time of rest. Provide plenty of places for them to hide in order to get away and rest. Live plants are good for that and the fish will eat them which is also very healthy.

Have fun with your new tank!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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