dead mollie

Question
Hello, I recently had bought two new mollies about two weeks ago and kept them in a one gallon tank. I know, I know, people told me it was bad so I gave in and bought a ten gallon tank for them about five days later. They seemed really happy in their new tank and I was happy to have bought the tank. But a few days ago one of my bolloon mollies stayed next to the heater in the tank and stuck his nose on it. He did this for about a day and barely ate. The next day though he seemed to be fine except every once and a while he would flick the top of his nose/head, on one of the plants or the side of the tank. The top of his nose (i'm not sure if its normal or not) looked kind of flaky like the dry skin on a humans legs. I was wondering if he might have died from something that cause any of these symptoms. Could I have over fed him? He had a large belly. Could it have been from the stress of being in the small tank? I have three other fish and they seem to be fine. Are they in any danger do you think? Thankyou.

Answer
Hello,

If your fish had a large belly, then it could be caused by an internal infection. There is a symptom called dropsy which is indicative of an internal infection. It will cause your fish to appear bloated with slightly raised scales- almost like a pine cone. If that was what your fish looked like, it is a very finicky disease and hard to treat but Maracyn-2 is your best bet. Also, make sure you check your tank water for nitrites and ammonia, as sometimes dieseases can be your fish's way of telling you that their water is toxic.

Internal infections aren't contagious, so your other fish aren't in any danger unless it was a water quality problem that caused the disease.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Stephanie