Molly keeps getting sick over and over

[TO KYO]

As the title says my male molly keeps getting cloudy eye and some white spots looking like fungus. I don't think it’s fungus, but it’s definitely not ick. The thing is I’m not sure why he’s the only one getting this out of 10+ other mollies. I have a feeling it could be the temperature (78-84) or the alpha female being aggressive when there’s food around and that might be stressing him out. Which makes no sense because as I mentioned before I have over 10 mollies 1 F beta and 1 angel fish and none of them develop this.

 

[Colin_T]

What is the water quality like (pH, GH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?
Have you treated the fish for anything, (worms, gill flukes)?
Pictures and short 20 second video please.
How often are you doing water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

 

[TO KYO]

What is the water quality like (pH, GH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?
Have you treated the fish for anything, (worms, gill flukes)?
Pictures and short 20 second video please.
How often are you doing water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

I’ll give all those details once I get home, but like I mentioned above it’s always the same fish. I have treated him with melafix like 3 times already. He always heals, but then weeks after he gets sick again

 

[Colin_T]

Melafix doesn't do anything to intestinal worms, gill flukes or protozoan infections. If the fish has any of these, it will be more susceptible to stress/ bullying and getting sick. The fish itself could be weaker genetically and is simply a weak fish.

If you haven't treated them for worms, deworm all your tanks and see if that helps.

Make sure the GH is above 200ppm (preferably 250ppm) for the mollies.

Clean your filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.

Make sure you gravel clean the tank every time you do a water change.
Do big regular water changes.

Feed it a varied diet.

If worst comes to worst, put it in a brackish water tank and see how it goes.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Just a side question...are you keeping a betta and an angel fish in the same tank?

 

[seangee]

New Just a side question...are you keeping a betta and an angel fish in the same tank?

If so it is important that we know the hardness of the water as suggested by @Colin_T. Ignoring compatability issues (and these really should not be in the same tank), Mollies cannot live in water that is suitable for angel fish and betta. If the water is suitable for mollies the angel fish and betta won't live for very long.

 

[TO KYO]

Just a side question...are you keeping a betta and an angel fish in the same tank?

Yes, unfortunately I bought the angel/beta without any knowledge, but they have been doing great all along. I bought them about 2-3 months ago

 

[TO KYO]

Melafix doesn't do anything to intestinal worms, gill flukes or protozoan infections. If the fish has any of these, it will be more susceptible to stress/ bullying and getting sick. The fish itself could be weaker genetically and is simply a weak fish.

If you haven't treated them for worms, deworm all your tanks and see if that helps.

Make sure the GH is above 200ppm (preferably 250ppm) for the mollies.

Clean your filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.

Make sure you gravel clean the tank every time you do a water change.
Do big regular water changes.

Feed it a varied diet.

If worst comes to worst, put it in a brackish water tank and see how it goes.

1. Melafix has cured whatever the problem was (at least in the outside)
2. How could he be weaker genetically, but still being the alpha unless my big red sunset female molly is around.
3. Out all my mollies he’s the only one who gets cloudy eyes and white spots on his body and fins
4. I have no idea what my gh could be, but I use cichlids sand and they all have been doing alright except for this one
5. I was doing like 30% water changes a week, but I reduced to 20-25 a week because my plants aren’t doing great. I bought many things for them different feet’s, co2 booster, increased lighting time, etc., but my plants weren’t improving so my last guess was that I was taking too many nutrients from the tank from due to water changes.
6. My ammonia: 0-0.25
7. Nitrite: 0
8. Ph: 7.6-7.8

Edit: yes I feed them a bunch of different tropical food. Also, he started improving once I removed the alpha female from the tank(2 days ago). His eye healed up, but once I put the female back In, he’s gonna get sick once again within weeks

 

[Colin_T]

It looks like excess mucous. Add some salt (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres/ 5 gallons). Keep the salt in there for 2 weeks and see how it goes.

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Just because the fish is dominant, it doesn't mean he is strong. There are people that grow to 8 feet tall but they die young because their heart can't cope. They look big and strong but die from genetic problems.

Some people have poor vision and are short but have dominant personalities. Other people are big and healthy and have submissive or less dominant personalities.

Fish are the same as any animal. You get some that are just stronger, healthier and more disease resistant than others. Small animals can dominate bigger ones and vice versa. It just depends on the individual.

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He could be getting picked on by the big female you removed, or he is fighting with the other male/s more when she is there.

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The only thing I added to my tanks was Sera Florena, which is a liquid iron based plant fertiliser. I had lights on for 12-16 hours a day and kept the iron levels at 1ppm. My plants did really well.

If you add fertiliser, do it after a big water change. If you only do small water changes and the plants have not used up all the nutrients, then some of the fertiliser can build up to unsafe levels when you re-dose the tank. If you do a big water change before redosing the tank, you get rid of most of the remaining fertiliser and there is less chance of overdosing.

Big water changes (75%) are also much better at diluting disease organisms in the tank water.

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You can get the GH tested at most pet shops. Just take a glass full of tap water and a glass full of tank water to the pet shop and ask them to test it. Write the results down in numbers when they do the test. Ask what the test results are in, eg ppm, dGH or something else.

I would do bigger water changes, add salt and find out the GH.

 

[TO KYO]

this is what I use now to see if I get some good results Wednesday 2.5 ml of each on my 37g tank and then again after a 20-25 water change on Sundays 2.5ml of each

 

[Colin_T]

I haven't used any of those so can't comment.

I wouldn't add carbon dioxide in any form to an aquarium unless it is very heavily planted and only has a few fish in. The fish and filter bacteria provide a nice steady source of CO2 for the plants and you don't need to add more. There's also plenty of CO2 in the atmosphere that gets into the water.

If you dose a couple of times a week, make sure you do a big water change before retreating, just to make sure you aren't overdosing.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I’ve used flourish and love it. You mentioned Melafix earlier. Don’t use it on the betta because they have a labyrinth organ for breathing. Melafix has oil in it which can goat the labyrinth organ and suffocate the betta.

 

[Essjay]

API CO2 Booster is another product containing glutaraldehyde (from the safety data sheet on API's website). This is a powerful disinfectant and I would not use it in my tanks.
It won't directly cause the problems with the molly, but any chemical like this will stress fish which won't help.

 

[Byron]

The issue others are commenting on in the last few posts have been raised and addressed in another thread a few weeks back. You have problems from all these additives, and it is harming the fish. At the very least this weakens them, hence the problems get worse. I'm not going any further as I took the time to explain in detail and I can't keep doing that. Sorry.