sick mollie?

Question
Hi Christy,

with as question with as few words as possible,
what does it mean when my black mollie is laying in my plants looking like hes having a hard time breathing?

my tanks is 20 gallon, 1 1/2 months set up 12 fish added over 2 weeks, all good levels, the last 6 fish added 2 days ago.

the mollie (stud i call him, hes the only male, 4 females)
just started to act odd today?

anyways i know that kinda vague so if you need more info no prob.

thanks,
jay

Answer
Hi Jay
Well, there's a number of possibilities.  Your tank is fairly new, so my first question is...you said the levels are all good but what exactly is the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?
Any amount of ammonia or nitrites is toxic to fish, some can handle it better then others though.  But both of those readings should be 0 ppm, and your nitrates you want to keep under 20 ppm.

If your ammonia and nitrites are at 0 ppm, and you're sure the one is a male, I would suspect possibly gill flukes.  You can't see gill flukes, but one of the classic signs is them laying at the bottom and breathing rapidly.  Usually before hand they may gasp at the surface-which is also a sign of water quality issues.  

So, check the water quality first, then I would go with a treatment for the gill flukes.  

Christy