Patchy Molly

[Elecktricka]

Just had another look at him and he looks like he is dusted with gold around his face and gills

 

[XeroTolerance]

I don't know what that is. Sorry...

 

[Elecktricka]

Hi, thanks for the help but Fonz was dead this morning Bit concerned because majority of the other fish are now scratching and my two black lyre tails also have white patches and a small amount of gold dusting, so preparing that I may lose more if not all of them. Will try and get some of the salt tonight and see if that will help.

Instead of salt bathing the fish, is it possible to add salt direct to the aquarium?

 

[Louiseness]

You can definitely add salt to a molly tank, in fact some people keep them as brackish fish all the time anyway. I'd possibly ask on either the livebearer or brackish sections for info on how much to add etc.

As far as I'ma ware Melafix is just a tea tree oil product and from what I can find Pimafix doesn't sound much more effective. I'd keep up frequent water changes and try a more specific med, either for bacterial infections or fungus, dependant on what you think it is.

 

[loraxchick]

With the description of "gold dust" on the fish Im thinking it is velvet. It is an external parasite. The flashing you mention off the filter is a symptom of external parasites. He turned "bluish" becasue the slimecoat was being overproduced due to the irritation from the parasite.
luckily velvet is generally easily treatable. ditch the melafix/pimafix. They are more of a tonic anyway and not actual medicine. If you have no inverts in the tank get some copper based meds to use for treatment. Also, velvet needs light to complete its life-cycle. do a large waterchange and complete tank black-out for 3-5 days. Dont worry about feeding the fish in this time as they will be fine without. After the blackout do another large waterchange and keep a watchful eye for any further symptoms. Sometimes you need to blackout twice.
as for the nitrates in the tank, 40 ppm is MORE than acceptable for just about any species of fish we keep. That reading in NO way is "high" as mentioned. It especially would not be the cause of a molly going south. They are hardy fish (ie not sensitive). People put too much emphisis on nitrates. Most fish can go into the 100s of ppm and still not be affected. It is not the same as ammonia or nitrites.
best of luck.
cheers

 

[Elecktricka]

Hi, thank you so much for your help. I have looked up what information you provided and I too think that Velvet is most likely to be the cause. Would the interpet Anti-Slime and Velvet be the right meds to use? Link: http/www.petsathome.com/shop/interpet-slime-velvet-100ml-25607

Would the treatment be safe for fry, we have 3 fry in the tank about an inch long each, roughly 2.5 months old?
I tried looking up just the copper sulphate but could not find any links to specific medications. We did have two shrimp, but these died Tuesday/Wednesday last week, guess that should have been a sign really that the tank was not hunky dory. The tank is in a decent level of darkness today, no lights on (they never are during the day anyway) and the front room curtains are shut. Guessing I will need to completely cover the tank, not just during the day to stop any daylight but also in the evening to avoid light from the TV and front room penetrating the tank too. Will the fish be ok with no light?

 

[squeeky_jane]

With the description of "gold dust" on the fish Im thinking it is velvet. It is an external parasite. The flashing you mention off the filter is a symptom of external parasites. He turned "bluish" becasue the slimecoat was being overproduced due to the irritation from the parasite.
luckily velvet is generally easily treatable. ditch the melafix/pimafix. They are more of a tonic anyway and not actual medicine. If you have no inverts in the tank get some copper based meds to use for treatment. Also, velvet needs light to complete its life-cycle. do a large waterchange and complete tank black-out for 3-5 days. Dont worry about feeding the fish in this time as they will be fine without. After the blackout do another large waterchange and keep a watchful eye for any further symptoms. Sometimes you need to blackout twice.
as for the nitrates in the tank, 40 ppm is MORE than acceptable for just about any species of fish we keep. That reading in NO way is "high" as mentioned. It especially would not be the cause of a molly going south. They are hardy fish (ie not sensitive). People put too much emphisis on nitrates. Most fish can go into the 100s of ppm and still not be affected. It is not the same as ammonia or nitrites.
best of luck.
cheers

I agree it is VELVET, only clicked when gold was mentioned! The fry should be ok but you would need to treat them anyway with the parasite being throughout the tank!

 

[Elecktricka]

I picked up the anti-slime and velvet yesterday along with aquarium salts, my partner did a 75% water change, in order to remove any free floating parasite plus the majority of the melafix/pimafix combo we had used the night.before. There was also a full gravel clean and the plants have been removed. We removed the fish into a bucket of their own water and put the tank heater in it during this operation (prior to water/gravel clean). He then refilled the tank, replaced the heater and waited till both tank and fish bucket were at same temp and for water to have cleared a fair bit, then he swapped fish from bucket to tank, allowed them to re-adjust, added a litre of water plus the anti slime and velvet treatment. They have been in complete darkness since.

Is it ok to check on them at all during the next 4 days (i.e. Putting the light on to check for any deaths, and to remove any bodies) or should they just remain in the blackout completely till the 4 days have passed? The tank has a dark bed sheet over it to block light out. Also, when would it be ok to add the aquarium salt? Just seeking extra advice as I dont want to overload them and I just want to say thankyou for all the help. This site has been very informative and helpful and I am extremely grateful

 

[loraxchick]

you can add the salt now if youd like. dose at 1 tablespoon/5 gal in the tank. Ideally, you shouldnt peek at the tank in blackout...if you do, do so at night with the lights off in the room and be quick about it.
the fry should be ok. more of a risk with the velvet in the tank. you could always remove the fry into a separate container for the time being and treat them separately with smaller dose of meds if you are worried. just change the water every day until they go back into the tank with the big fish.
fingers crossed for you. luckily velvet is fairly easy to control once you pin-point the cause.
cheers

 

[Elecktricka]

Quick question to ask regarding Velvet, just want an opinion more than anything. Sorry to keep asking questions, but never dealt with disease or anything before and am a bit of an amateur with fishes.

Sunday we added two new fish, the male lyre tail and a male platy. The store we bought them from put both fish in the same bag. Therefore initially the platy was in our molly tank for about half an hour before he was moved into the platy tank. I have checked for any signs of velvet in the platy tank and as yet have not seen any, however the male platy does have a few grey scales each side (he is dark red in colour and these are scales that are grey not patches), should we treat the platy tank as a precaution or wait and see what develops, if anything?

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[Elecktricka]

We treated the platy's. We did the torch check and they seem to all glimmer with gold dust so even if it is precaution, we have emptied the tank as before with our mollies and treated them too. Fingers crossed, but will keep you posted.

Thanks for the all the help, your advice and knowledge on this site is invaluable.

 

[XeroTolerance]

That's good news. Now let's hope for the best.