Something Definately Going On With My Mollies.

[Ft fisher]

Hello all, I have a baffling problem regarding my mollies. Originally I had 5 mollies (2 Males and 3 females), I made the mistake of adding to many fish one week and one of the males died along with a cherry barb i had in my tank also.
Here's the part that's driving me insane! The first female to die had parts missin on her fins an a missing eye, looked like she'd been beaten up, i got told it was because of the fact i added so many fish a few days before, and to be honest i thought it was that. The tank has been fine for a few days now and all fish seemed ok. But i came downstairs this morning and one of my remaining females looks beaten up, her dorsal fin, caudal fin and a pectoral fin are all chewed up and bits missing. She's alive, just moping around the tank and just gerneally looks fed up. Will she survive? and what can i do to help make sure she recovers? In my tank i have 3 cherry barbs, 3 balloon mollies, 5 guppies, 4 shrimp and 2 FW clams. Help me please! Anything you guys can suggest?

 

[helterskelter]

Sorry to hear of your problems Ft.

Yes it dose sounds like to many fish to soon, what's happening is the ammonia in the system is eating away at the fins and slowly poisoning the fish.
Mollies do not take to this at all and will always be one of the first fish to suffer.

For now the best thing is to do several water changes every 1-2 days changing 30-40% of the water. Makeing sure that the new water matches temperature of the tank to reduce any other stress.

What size is the tank?
How long has it been running?
Have you got any test kits? your need ammonia, nitrite and nitrate's to at least understand when the tank is fully cycled.
Also only add a couple of fish at a time, to stop the system from being over loaded and causing this again.

 

[Ft fisher]

Thanks for the information!
Size is 64 litres
It's been running a little over 5 weeks.
I have test strips but i heard they're not very good so i'm gna get a liquid tester first chance i get.
Would it be a good idea to do a 40% water change now? If i did it now would she have a better chance of surviving?

 

[helterskelter]

Yes do the water changes now.

Ok at least it's not a new tank and has been running for a while with no fish, this means it's as you said just simply adding to many fish at once which over loaded the filter.
It will tank 5-10 days to settle down so daily water changes until the ammonia and nitrites are gone.

You could add active carbon to remove the toxins, but this will starve the filter if left in to long, so if u use it do so for 24 hours and check the ammonia and nitrite levela again, once their gone remove it asap.

 

[Ft fisher]

thank you very much!
Just this minute finished a 40% water change (replaced around 26 liters), I'll do another 40% in 2 days time, does that sound okay? Will she have a better chance of surving now? is there anything i can do but wait? I feel sorry for her!! Poor thing

 

[helterskelter]

Yes treat her with either melifix or myxazin this will help to reduce the chance of secondary infection from setting in. Such as fungus which mollies are very prone too.

As for the water changes I'll start with daily water changes and then from day 4 goto every other day. Checking the ammonia and nitrites are key though as you can go back to weekly water changes once it's settled down.

 

[Ft fisher]

Where would i get melifix or myxazin from? would my local pet store sell it? And do a 40% water change everyday? or a smaller water change?

 

[helterskelter]

LFS are best but larger per stores may have it.

yes 30-40%.

Then once setteling down cut back to 25-30%

 

[Ft fisher]

Thank you so much, i'll let you know if she survives if you'd like to know?!
And will testing the water with thest strips be an effective way to know when the water levels are acceptable again?

+++++Edit++++

When the water levels become okay will her fins grow back to how they was?

 

[helterskelter]

Strips ok ok generaly as they will let you know if you have to much toxins in the water, but liquid is far better.

Once they fish have recovered from this problem they should recover in time. but if it gets to the base of the fin regrowing it is very difficualt.

 

[Ft fisher]

Thanks alot for the advice it's helped so much.

It's not got to the base of the fin yet so i hope she'll be okay. I'll let u know how she does, thanks to your help