Something Is Going Around My Molly Tank

[rarefish]

I have encountered many fish diseases in my life, and have never seen anything like this .... I had 50+ sailfin molly fry, 2 sailfin molly juviniles, and 2 black mollies die . One of the black mollies I had tried to put to sleep, and it is breaking my heart . I just hope that he'll die quickly, not slowly. After I thought he was dead, as I was flushing the toilet, he moved ! I feel so bad! He was "dead" for a while. And please don't nag at me about this, everybody makes mistakes, and I'm already bashing myself over it... But here are the horrid symptoms: severely crooked spine(didn't look like Fish TB), scales falling off, and extreme bloating(it didn't look like dropsy ). They live in a well filtered and heated tank, with clean water. Stats are normal except for the pH being very slightly raised. I'm worried, has anyone had this happen before? I've quarintined the remaining fish out of it. Help!

rarefish

 

[SkiFletch]

Severely crooked spine but it doesnt look like fish TB? How are you sure it isnt fish TB? Can you take a picture of any of the effected fish and post it here?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Well 2 deseases come to mind;

a. NTD(neon tetra desease), symtoms= sluggishness, erratic swimming, separating from the school, weight loss, occasionally in advanced stages ends in a secondary bacterial infection that causes bloating and pop-eye.

b. Fish TB, Includes: wasting away, shrunken stomachs, occasionally skin infections, spinal curvature deformity in advanced cases, anorexia/refusal to eat, lethargy, hiding behavior, "hanging", clamped fins, loss of appetite, general constitutional signs.

Sound familiar to any of your fish?

 

[WILDER]

Most of those symtoms can be fish tb, with crooked spine, scales falling off and dropsy

http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

 

[sylvia]

But fish TB is rare in livebearers. Still, it would be wise to euthanise all suspected fish as it's unlikely (judging by thse symptoms) that they could recover - even if it's just dropsy or some other internal bacterial infection. Alternatively, isolate all suspected fish. They probably won't survive but you can try treating them with strong anti-biotics while not fearing that the infection will spread to healthy tankmates. Be very careful not to cross-contaminate by using the same equipment in both tanks! Even nets and syphons are a risk. Also keep in mind that TB can be caught by humans in rare cases. Luckily, it isn't as dangerous to us but it can cause some nasty infections (usualy if you have open wounds). In severe cases you may even be in a position where amputation is necessary so make sure you go to your doctor the moment you see any signs of swelling or infection and remember to mention you have fish (if it's caught early it's harmless - painful, but harmless). It may be a good idea to wear elbow-length gloves . To make sure you are euthanising correctly, use clove oil. Put the fish in a small bowl of tank water and start adding drops of clove oil until you are sure the gills have stopped moving. Make sure the volume is minimal to reduce the amount of clove oil necessary. Then leave the fish in the bowl for an hour, more is fine if you are not certain. Once this is done, DO NOT flush the fish! This is extremely dangerous for the environment as you can introduce diseases into the wild which captive fish are relatively resistant to but wild fish cannot handle. Just rap the fish up in some paper towels and throw it in your garbage.