Poor Mollie

[Barbara N]

Last Thursday evening, I noticed that the single mollie in my tank had damaged the top of her head and had a fungal growth on it, so took her out and put her in a goldfish bowl with some aquarium salt, as I thought the Interpet 8 treatment would be impossible to dilute for only 2 litres.

However, next day I did a water change on the tank , gave her fresh water from the tank and did dose with no 8, as I found I could measure the correct amount with a syringe.

My first worry was that as she was not in a filtered environment, so should I do an alternate day water change with water from the tank or leave the water for the treatment to work ?

I've now made things worse as, last night, I noticed that a runty plattie (never been the right shape), whom I had to a isolate few weeks ago (she had a couple of tiny white spots, but recovered after two days in salted water), had either raised scales or some tiny spots ) my eyesight wasn't good enough to tell in artificail light), so put her in with the mollie.

Today, in bright light, the plattie has just one spot, but the poor mollie looks as though she has measles. The plattie has never been over lively (it was tank born not bought in), but the mollie is very lively, as she's been all along.

The bowl water contains treatment 8 , for fungus, so I can't add white spot treatment., so what do I do ?

Leave as is until Friday, do a water change, from the tank and treat for whitespot (if she'd still alve) ?

Replace all the water,with some from the tank, today, and add whitespot treatment ?

Something else ?

All other fish in the tank, mainly platties, a couple of swordtails, one guppie and a few danios, look fine.

Some may say it's only one fish (well two with the little plattie) but I care for animals and want to do what's best for her. I've had her for nearly a year.

 

[Colin_T]

You can try changing the water in the bowl each day. Take the fish out and put them into a clean container with some clean water. Rinse the bowl out with freshwater and refill it with clean water. Then put the fish back in. Do this each day for a couple of weeks and it should clear it up.

The whitespots are a parasite that lives on the fish for a few days before dropping off and sitting on the bottom of the tank. If you wash the tank out each day you will be removing the whitespot cysts that have fallen to the bottom. This will prevent them hatching out and reinfecting the fish.

Monitor the main tank because it could appear in there too.

Whitespot is brought about by stress so make sure any water going into the tank has a similar temperature and PH to the tank/ bowl water.

If this sounds like too much hard work then put the fish back in the main tank and treat with a whitespot medication containing methylene blue. This will kill the fungus too but might knock the filter bacteria off. You can probably treat the bowl but if it doesn't have aeration you could poison or suffocate the fish.

 

[Barbara N]

Am I right in assuming that I should put the two poorly fish in another container, empty the bowl and clean out, then replace with fresh tank water (better than tap water with Stresscoat , is what I've assumed, as the tank was water changed on Friday) and no treatment ? There is fungus treatment in the bowl at the moment. Then complete water change each day (from tank, which will need topping up every few days ?)

Should I add a tiny amount of aquarium salt to the water chnges ? I don't use it in the tank.

I'm always looking at the fish to spot any oddities, but the mollie has only got whitespot today, though she's has been out of the tank since Wednesday (thought it was Thursday ). The plattie had two spots weeks ago and was taken out to 'die in peace' but was a little fighter, survived the cooler water and was put back.

 

[Colin_T]

Yep, each day take the fish out of their bowl and put in a clean container. Rinse the bowl out each day and refill with either tank water or tap water, preferably tap water that has been made up the day before with conditioner in. You can use tank water if you like, but if there is any whitespot left in the main tank you could reinfect the molly.

You can add a small amount of salt if you like but if the fish don't normally have it, don't bother with it.

 

[Barbara N]

I thought the salt would help upset the infection. So do I put whitespot treatment in the new water or just use water ? What about treating the fungus, on her head, which was the original problem ?

 

[Colin_T]

The salt doesn't do much to the whitespot. It can live in fresh, salt or brackish water.
A small amount of salt can help relax fish but it's not normally necessary. It does help with fungal infections tho. If you do want to put salt in then make sure you use the same amount each day. Any major fluctuations in the salt levels can stress the fish and cause more problems.

You don't need to use any whitespot treatment if you wash the bowl out each day and replace all of the water. The idea is you get rid of any whitespot parasites that fall off the fish and wash them out each day so they can't hatch out and reinfest the fish. By doing it every day for a couple of weeks you get rid of all the parasites and eventually end up with a healthy fish.

If she still has the fungus on her head then keep treating the bowl with the fungus medication until it has cured.

 

[Barbara N]

I'm glad about there being no need for whitespot treatments, though i have some, as i don't like using anything artificial/chemical.

The fungus treatment (Interpet) says to dose only once in 7 days then a 30% waterchange. Of course this refers to a tank setup, where you aren't doing complete water changes,so how do I use the fungicide, please ? Add the full 2 litre dose daily, for 7 days ?

 

[Colin_T]

for the fungus treatment you will have to re-dose each time you change the water. Just use the amount you have been and put it in each day with the new water until the fungus is gone.

 

[Barbara N]

Thank you. Fingers crossed, then.