Balloon molly, ICK?

[Tomie]

Hello, I’m slightly worried my balloon molly has ick and if so advice on how to cure this would be appreciated. He has a mark near his eye which you can see on the photo and tiny white dots on his body. Only 3 or 4. Is this ick?

 

[Byron]

This is more than just ich. What is the GH (general or total hardness) and pH of the water? Molly problems are usually, though not always, due to parameter issues. Treating ich with heat and salt is best, and safe for mollies but what other fish are in this tank?

 

[Chief Brody]

Start by slowly cranking the heat up over two days. Try to get up to 87-89 degrees Fahrenheit. Then treat with aquarium salt. Wait 48 hours, change the water and treat again. If after 10 days of this you still see symptoms I'd go ahead and nuke the tank with malachite green and formalin at a low dose and then 48 hours again treat with malachite green. Wait 48 hours put carbon in and wait another 48 hours and take it out followed by a major water change. If at this point you still see a fish or two with symptoms you can probably knock it out with just 1 final formalin treatment. I did this and all my Malaysian trumpet snails survived. Marbled crayfish did not.

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[Chief Brody]

Hopefully you cure it before it comes to all that just constantly monitor. Salt and heat might do it but the meds are a sure bet

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[Essjay]

In another thread, s/he gives the hardness as GH = 0 and KH = 20 using a strip tester.

It is very unusual to gave such low GH and such high KH in the same water. Can I suggest looking on your water supplier's website to see if the GH is accurate - it will be called just 'hardness'. They are unlikely to give KH (but if they do, they'll call it alkalinity). If the website doesn't give the hardness, it would be a good idea to take a sample of tap water to an LFS and ask them to test it for GH and KH.

The reason I suggest checking the GH reading is because mollies will suffer badly in such soft water. If it really is this soft.

 

[Colin_T]

If a fish develops a cream, white or gray film over its body, then that is excess mucous caused by poor water quality, a dirty environment, or external parasites (normally protozoans).

The white mouth can be fungus or a bacterial infection (Columnaris).

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If you have soft water you need to increase the hardness asap. You can use a cichlid Rift Lake Water Conditioner to increase the general hardness (GH) & carbonate hardness (KH) of the water.

Do a big (75%) water changes and complete gravel clean each day for a week. Wipe the inside of the glass down too. And clean the filter.

If the white film on the body does not go after 2 big water changes then get a broad spectrum medication to treat fungus, bacteria and protozoan infections. Try to find a medication containing Malachite Green & Methylene Blue.

 

[Tomie]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies I really appreciate. The black balloon molly looks a bit healthier today. He doesn’t seem to have as many spots as yesterday and the scab like feature near his eye is toned down more than it was. I’ve only had the 2 balloon mollys for 3 days. Although I’ve seen the spots and such on the black one they both seem happy and constantly swim around the tank.

In my tank I have

4 Harlequin Rasbora’s
4 Rosy Tetra’s
4 Lemon Tetra’s
5 Neon Tetra’s
1 Drawfs Male Gourami
2 Drawf Mini Honey Gourami’s
2 Balloon Molly’s
1 Rainbow Shark

Most of the fish I’ve had for almost a month now and had zero problems up until now with anything like this. Could the molly of already been infected when I bought? I did buy them together but they weren’t in the same tanks at store.

I’ve checked my water suppliers website and I can’t seem to find what you’re asking.

I’ve just done another test and the results are;


Nitrate -0
Nitrite - 0
PH - 6.4
KH - 20
GH - 0-10

Thanks again.

 

[Tomie]

This is him/her today.

 

[Colin_T]

the pH and gh of your water is great for tetras and gouramis but is too low for mollies. For long term success with livebearers you want a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm

yes it is possible the fish had a disease when you bought it, however without seeing photos of it when you first got it, we can't be certain.

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid that a GH of 10 is too low for mollies. They are fish which must have harder water. The best thing you can do is to rehome them. Your other fish like soft water so adding minerals to make the water harder is not an option.

Is the tank still the Lido 120? This is a tall short tank, measurements 61 cm (24 inches) wide x 58 cm (23 inches) tall x 41cm (16 inches) front to back. I'm afraid the tank is not long enough for even balloon mollies which need a tank 90 cm/36 inches long, adding to the problems for the mollies.

The Lido 120 is also too small for a rainbow shark, I'm afraid - this fish needs a tank with a footprint of 120 x 45 cm (48 x 18 inches)

To be honest, you need to rehome the mollies and the shark, then increase the numbers of harlequins and tetras. They should all be in groups of at least 6.



Can I ask, what are "dwarf mini honey gouramis"? There is only 1 species of honey gourami, though it does come in several colours, and none of them can be called dwarf or mini, only standard sized honey gouramis.

 

[Tomie]

Really? It’s so frustrating because this information was not told upon purchase. We stopped going to pets at home as we found their advice was utter garbage. We’ve started going to a garden centre and the guy who runs the aquatics claims he has had tropical fish for over 30 years and he’s an expert. But I wasn’t told about mollys needing hard water, if I was told this I most definitely wouldn’t of purchase. I recently took back one of the dwarf gouramis as it was aggressive to the other male and he only just let me return the fish. Will have to look into re homing. Just wish pet stores would inform customers instead of not mentioning crucial information! The garden centre have carried out two water tests with the liquid kit and the results have been the same as I’ve posted on here!

When I say dwarf/mini honey gourami, I only mean because they’re absolutely tiny and was unsure if their was another bigger version of the honey gourami. Apologies.

Do you think the hardness or my water is why the black balloon molly is the way he/she is?

 

[Tomie]

I know you may think I should know this information as I keep fish, but everyday I’m learning. Mostly from you guys on the forum. Can I just add also, I forgot to mention. I highly doubt the problem is with bad water quality as we do regular water changes and have 0 ammonia in the tank.

 

[Byron]

If the GH mentioned earlier in this thread is correct, you cannot keep mollies or other livebearers. I can guarantee that the issues described, from fungus to clamped fins to patches of white are all due to the soft water. Mollies will "manage" for a short period but never be healthy and slowly die.

We all learn, continually. I've been in this hobby more than 25 years and I am still learning.

 

[Essjay]

The best thing you can do is research any fish before buying it. Never rely on advice from any shopworker no matter how much experience they claim to have. Think of them the same way you think of used car salesmen
The best site for looking up a fish species' needs is http://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/ They tell you the minimum tank size; the type of water; what fish it can be kept with and which fish it can't. For example this is their profile on the rainbow shark http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-frenatum/ And mollies http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-sphenops/ (balloon mollies are just deformed standard mollies)


And you need to be aware that all shoaling fish need a minimum of 6 of the same, with more being better. So many shops sell fish at 5 for less than the price of 5 single fish, encouraging people to buy only 5 of them. [My favourite shops sells fish as "10% off if you buy 5 or more" which is much better]

 

[Tomie]

I will be sure in the future to do my reasearch before buying any fish! Just for future reference, what type of fish would you recommend for the water type I have?

Thanks guys