Lesion on side of mollies

[Notfishing]

Hi everyone,
Total newbie to the forum.
I have some poorly Mollies and came looking for advice. Someone posted a helpful template so I’ve tried to use that.

Can anyone suggest what is wrong with the Mollies and how I can help them?

Thanks!
Howard

Tank size:200l
tank age:2 years
pH: 7.8 - (usually runs a bit lower than this - about 7.2 but rested with carbon off)
ammonia: don’t know but well cycled (plus bio booster bacteria added last week
nitrite: undetectable
nitrate: 30ppm
kH: 4
gH: no test
tank temp:26c

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): both Mollies have raised red/brown lesions on the side of the ir body between the dorsal fin and the tail. One fish is normally active but the other is hiding away under a piece of bogwood looking very sorry for itself

Volume and Frequency of water changes:
40l RO water with Aquqdur today
Previously same change 2 weeks ago



Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
carbon filters
General plant food
CO2 system with lights
Air bubbles overnight

Tank inhabitants:
2 pearl Gourami
Multiple danios and tetras
2 rams
3 Siamese algae eaters
One plec
2 shrimp
+ 2 poorly Mollies*

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
3 Siamese alga eaters and 2 small Rams added last week - sadly I put the fish in and then my wife mentioned the issue so I don’t think it came from the new fish.

Exposure to chemicals: tried a malachite green and formaldehyde tonic last week when I noticed it (carbon filters removed for the week - back in now)
Digital photo (include if possible): see attached

 

[Notfishing]

It sticks out from the side. I have video but can’t work out how to post that if it’s even possible

 

[Essjay]

Videos must be uploaded to YouTube or similar hosting site and the link posted on here.

 

[emeraldking]

First of all, your mollies ain't mollies but platies. Lesions like this can be caused by multiple reasons. Bad water quality, injuries, even parasites, drastic temperature change, fungi, stress, bacteria, etc... Therefore, such lesions are hard to treat if we don't know what has caused it. Some use a salt bath. But no 100% a guarantee that it will solve the problem.

 

[Notfishing]

First of all, your mollies ain't mollies but platies. Lesions like this can be caused by multiple reasons. Bad water quality, injuries, even parasites, drastic temperature change, fungi, stress, bacteria, etc... Therefore, such lesions are hard to treat if we don't know what has caused it. Some use a salt bath. But no 100% a guarantee that it will solve the problem.

Ha! I’m now not sure if I were told they were mollies and simply accepted that fact or if I was told they were platies and just misheard or miss remembered. Anyway I didn’t know but now I do; thank you!

I’m pretty confident about the water quality and temperature consistency. I know nothing was introduced into the tank in any time scale before these lesions occurred that would suggest infection. I did treat the tank with an antifungal/anti-parasite medication as soon as I saw them but they haven’t got any better.
Trauma is a possibility I guess but they have been with their tank commits peacefully for over a year. Stress - maybe as when we were away for 2 weeks over summer the Feed regime changed and we used a slow release block instead of surface feeding like normal.

I’ve just remembered our dwarf Gourami died a few weeks back after a short illness but everyone else seemed fine until now.

A salt bath sounds like something worth looking at otherwise I guess it’s a bit of a waiting game and hoping they get better after the medication I recently used.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Check the Goliad Farms website. It's a family owned fish hatchery in Texas that apparently knows quite a bit about livebearing fish. Which Mollies are in that group. Evidently, some Cichlid lake salt may be used to bump up the minerals in the tank water. They recommend a pH of around 8.2. So, soft water with a pH less than 6.5 isn't going to work for Mollies. They use mineral salts at 3 ppt (assuming this means parts per thousand). This will keep fungi and bacteria from infecting the tank. The claim is this level of salt doesn't bother most aquarium fish. If your Molly has some sort of bacterial infection, then the mineral salt may help. Couldn't hurt using it in any fish tank with livebearing fish.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[emeraldking]

Hello. Check the Goliad Farms website. It's a family owned fish hatchery in Texas that apparently knows quite a bit about livebearing fish. Which Mollies are in that group. Evidently, some Cichlid lake salt may be used to bump up the minerals in the tank water. They recommend a pH of around 8.2. So, soft water with a pH less than 6.5 isn't going to work for Mollies. They use mineral salts at 3 ppt (assuming this means parts per thousand). This will keep fungi and bacteria from infecting the tank. The claim is this level of salt doesn't bother most aquarium fish. If your Molly has some sort of bacterial infection, then the mineral salt may help. Couldn't hurt using it in any fish tank with livebearing fish.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

It's not about mollies. For they're platies.

 

[GaryE]

Hello. Check the Goliad Farms website. It's a family owned fish hatchery in Texas that apparently knows quite a bit about livebearing fish. Which Mollies are in that group. Evidently, some Cichlid lake salt may be used to bump up the minerals in the tank water. They recommend a pH of around 8.2. So, soft water with a pH less than 6.5 isn't going to work for Mollies. They use mineral salts at 3 ppt (assuming this means parts per thousand). This will keep fungi and bacteria from infecting the tank. The claim is this level of salt doesn't bother most aquarium fish. If your Molly has some sort of bacterial infection, then the mineral salt may help. Couldn't hurt using it in any fish tank with livebearing fish.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

When a person with the expertise of @emeraldking puts a post up 6 hours before, you really should read it. He knows more about livebearers than both of us combined.
You should also look at the OP's photos before you offer help, as they do help define what the problem people are talking about is. You'd have seen they were platys too.

It's always good to read the whole thread before you offer advice. We all skip things sometimes, but we learn less when we do.

Charles at Goliad is a wonderful guy, and a great source for real mollies in the US.

 

[emeraldking]

When a person with the expertise of @emeraldking puts a post up 6 hours before, you really should read it. He knows more about livebearers than both of us combined.
You should also look at the OP's photos before you offer help, as they do help define what the problem people are talking about is. You'd have seen they were platys too.

It's always good to read the whole thread before you offer advice. We all skip things sometimes, but we learn less when we do.

Charles at Goliad is a wonderful guy, and a great source for real mollies in the US.

I know Charles Clappsaddle as well. Nice guy. But Goliad is more focusing on breeding forms than wild forms of livebearers.

 

[GaryE]

I know, but when we talked, I had tunnel vision. I don't see breeding forms when there are wild forms in the area. They just don't register!

 

[10 Tanks]

When a person with the expertise of @emeraldking puts a post up 6 hours before, you really should read it. He knows more about livebearers than both of us combined.
You should also look at the OP's photos before you offer help, as they do help define what the problem people are talking about is. You'd have seen they were platys too.

It's always good to read the whole thread before you offer advice. We all skip things sometimes, but we learn less when we do.

Charles at Goliad is a wonderful guy, and a great source for real mollies in the US.

Hello Gary. Apologies if my post was in any way misleading or inappropriate. I don't believe it was. There was no help offered other than to refer the poster to a website that might be helpful and to describe briefly the information contained in an article that could be found on that site. Thanks for scrutinizing my posts.

10 Tanks (Now 11)