Dalmatian Molly - Clamped Fin?

[dealshanna]

Hi! I am new here, and I hope I can get some help for my fish! I am still fairly new in caring for fish.

My problem is our dalmatian molly that I believe has clamped fin. It is sitting at the bottom of the tank in a U shape. It is still breathing & it will still eat if a flake of food floats over to it. It has been this way for 2 - 3 days now.

A little about the tank...

We got this 20 gallon tank at the end of February this year. We've had this dalmatian molly for maybe a couple of months. Its tankmates for the past couple of months have been a couple red wag platys, a mickey mouse platy, a black molly, and a plecostomus. I do monthly 25% water changes & gravel vacuum. This past Sunday I did one of these changes & scrubbed the sides of the glass because there was a lot of brown algae. Later that day we realized the pleco was dead I suspect it was already dead before I was doing the cleaning because I don't think he moved much when I was cleaning. (The movement of the water may have moved him the little I saw.) I also added aquarium salt after the cleaning. At the same time I noticed that the dalmatian molly looked lethargic & just not acting right.

Monday morning we went to PetSmart & got a new pleco, and I also took some of our tank water & had them test it. Everything was OK.

When we returned with the pleco, I noticed the dalmatian molly looked worse. It was at the bottom in this U shape. We thought it was already dead! I've been trying to keep an eye on him & he's still hanging in there. I also added Melafix yesterday (removed carbon filter).

Is there any more I can do? I've been searching for more information & it seams the water change, aquarium salt, and melafix were good ideas.

We are going out of town tomorrow afternoon & will be gone until Monday evening. I feel bad for my fishy

Thanks for any help!
Sandy

 

[Louiseness]

I know you say your water was 'ok', but can you tell us the actual results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Also, 25% water change monthly is far too little IMO. 25% WEEKLY is probably a better amount.

 

[dealshanna]

I know you say your water was 'ok', but can you tell us the actual results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Also, 25% water change monthly is far too little IMO. 25% WEEKLY is probably a better amount.

Sorry, I don't have the actual results. All the guy told me was it was OK.

I'll try to do more water changes!


Sandy

 

[Louiseness]

Sorry, I don't have the actual results. All the guy told me was it was OK.

I'll try to do more water changes!


Sandy

No need to be sorry! It's just the majority of fish illnesses are contributed to by poor water quality, so if we knew we might be able to help you out better.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd suspect poor water caused by too many fish in a new, probably uncycled, tank.

OP; how are you maintaining yout filter? Are you changing the media (sponges or ceramc rings or whatever is in the filter) or cleaning it in tap water?

If you cut back on your feeding (fish need only an amount of food the size of their eye; their stomachs are very small, and they don't need food to use to keep warm) and increase your water changes (50% a week is what my tanks get) you should see some improvement.

Do get the actual figures next time you get your water tested; even better buy your own test kits so you don't have to drag all the way down to the shop if you think something might be wrong. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero at all times; if they're not, big water changes are called for.

I'm afraid it might be too late for your molly; once fish have gone to that U shape there's not normally anything that can be done, but you never know; fish are remarkably resiliant once the water quality improves.

Don't get anyone in to feed the fish while you're away; it will do them no harm to go without, and the risk of having the water polluted by excess food whaikle your not there is too great.

You really don't need to be adding salt to freshwater tanks; it's not neccessary; all you need to use is a dechlorinator.

 

[dealshanna]

Ahh forgot to mention I change the filter cartridge every month too.

I assumed it was probably too late for the fishy. Poor guy I'm about to go home from work to finish my shift there. Who knows, maybe my fish found a miracle this morning & will be swimming around! haha

I'll do the water changing more often. Does that include vacuuming the gravel as well?

Thanks for everyone's help!

Sandy

 

[fluttermoth]

As I thought; you don't need to change the filter cartridge, ever. You're doing is giving the manufacturers more money, and throwing away all the good bacteria you need to process the ammonia! All you need to do is give it a gentle wash in old tank water

Yes, vacuum the gravel evry time you do a water change; you want to make sure there's no bits of left-over food rotting away down there