Sick Black Molly!!

[Hels]

Hi Guys

Really hope somebody could help me....

I've got a black molly which has white patches on his body....its not spots so pretty sure its not white spot....I did think fungus but there doesn’t look to be any growths, just whiteness on the body....

Anyway he's been isolated, I have treated him for fungus about a week ago but if anything it seems to be worse, also I wondered whether adding extra aquarium salt would be helpful but wasn’t sure (as they are brackish) what level of specific gravity (i do have a hydrometer) I could go up to....

Any help or suggestions of a different diagnosis would be great!!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Sounds like somthing is wrong with his protective slime coat- black mollys have very sensitive skin in comparison to other variations of mollys and are prone to these things, What are your recent water quality stats like ammonia, nitrate and nitrite in the main tank where he came from and the ones in his hospital tank? How much med and salt have you been adding?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Oh, and are you using dechlorinator and are positive its the correct dose ?

 

[3fsh]

Sounds like columnaris to me... This is a very agressive bacterial disease and is hard to treat as well. I would definitely start him on either Maracyn or Tetracycline. Adding salt *might* help a little, but meds are your best bet at this point. Make sure that the temperature is turned down to the lower seventies because this will slow the disease down.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

These are the symtoms of columnaris;

White spots on mouth, edges of scales, and fins

Cottony growth that eats away at the mouth

Fins disintegrate beginning at the edges

'Saddleback' lesion near the dorsal fin

Fungus often invades the affected skin

Rapid gilling in cases where gills are infected

Its a fairly desease, slime coat problems are far more likely...

 

[WILDER]

http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[Hels]

thanks for the help!!

if it is a problem with the slime coat .... whats the best way to treat??

 

[WILDER]

We need some info on water quality in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what size tank how many fish and which type, do you use declorinator, try some salt baths on the fish for now.

 

[Hels]

everythings fine with the main tank...(ie where i isoloted him from) nitrite - 0, ammonia - 0, ph -7, cant give exact hardness reading right now but i know that its fairly high cos around here the waters especially hard, but then that should be okay for mollies???

the tank a 96l, community, clown loaches, guppies, platys, gouramis etc... (will write more detail in tag soon!!)

the only thing i can think of that might of been some type of cause is that i have 6 mollies all together (3 black, 1 m, 2 f - 3 silver, 1 m, 2 f) the sick one has always been the least strong... i didnt notice anything serious but maybe the other male was stressing him???

also... i wondered could it be velvet??? or how would i know its not???

thanks!!!

 

[Hels]

plus....

I always treat the water before adding..... pretty sure I’m doing it right... following the instructions...

the hospital tank he's in right now...is temporary, just setting up the newly acquired one now (going to use some old tank water from my other two tanks to speed things up)….but until I’m happy that its okay I’m going to have to carry on doing daily water changes in the temporary tank to keep the nitrites down…which screws up the salt and meds a bit….if anybody knows any thing about what level I can keep the specific gravity at for him that would be great so I can control the salt better?