Scales Coming Off

[jeanne-marie]

Hello!

All has been fine in my main tank for some time now but my heater broke on a Sunday evening (typical!). I stabilised the temp to 22 - 23 using my hospital tank small heater but I had a small outbreak of Ich - just my clown loaches and praecox rainbow affected but it got my Preacox rainbow in the gills and I lost him. I treated the tank with ESHA Exit, did a 4th and final dose yesterday just to be sure and all seems fine now......

Except......my four month old sunset platy baby seems to have lost some of her orange scales on her sides (leaving yellow patches) and now my chocolate molly is losing some of hers on the top in front of her dorsal fin. I noticed this on day 2 of the treatment. I noticed the scales on the molly yesterday and they look like they are drying up and flaking off (leaving white patches). No sign of dropsy as they don't look like pine cones and they are feeding and swimming fine. I was wondering if the meds might have affected their slime coating? They were fine prior to the heater problem.

Anyone got any ideas? I would be really grateful.

Tank:
10% water change and gravel vac daily for past 4 days during treatment.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate Between 5 and 10
PH 6 - 6.5
Temp 25c

Tank has been very stable since set up in early December.

2 Clown Loaches
2 Pearl Gourami
2 Smiling Acara
1 Sailfin Pleco
1 Praecox Rainbow
4 Sunset Platy
2 Chocolate Molly
1 Balloon Molly
5 Glowlight Tetra
6 Neon Tetra

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
The yellow and white patches do they look fluffy.

 

[jeanne-marie]

How many gallons is the tank.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
The yellow and white patches do they look fluffy.

Good morning!

It's a 50G tank. No signs of flicking or rubbing. The patch looks white on the albino chocolate molly and yellow on the sunset platy but it's not at all fluffy, it just looks like the white/yellow skin beneath the scales that have come off.

They don't look any worse today. I've got 2 black mollys that I rescued last week in my hospital tank at the moment being treated with ESHA 2000 for fungus. I don't really want to put the girls in there just yet until I'm sure that the meds already in there will be any good for them. If they get worse I will have to move them for the sake of the other residents of the main tank.

 

[WILDER]

Flaking skin looks like its peeling can be bad water quality, parasites, columnaris.
Columnaris can show it's self in many colour white, greyish white, yellow, brown, pink.
Shine a torch on the fish to see if the yellow patch glows up a golden colour.
Is the med improving things or are the fish getting worse.

 

[jeanne-marie]

Flaking skin looks like its peeling can be bad water quality, parasites, columnaris.
Columnaris can show it's self in many colour white, greyish white, yellow, brown, pink.
Shine a torch on the fish to see if the yellow patch glows up a golden colour.
Is the med improving things or are the fish getting worse.

I will try the torch trick later, gotta get some batteries!

I've just done a 20% WC and added carbon to the filter to clear the Ich meds. They don't look any worse today. I'm going to give it another 24hours and if they look any worse I will put them in the hospital tank with ESHA 2000.

I'm still suspicious of the WS treatment - I think it may have had an effect on them. Let's see what happens with the WC and carbon.

Thanks for your replies again!