Yellow Dust Like Patches On Lyre Tail Molly

[schmuttis]

I recently cycled my 120 gallon (5' wide x 18" deep) tank with plants. During the cycling I have tested my water for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, ph, gh and kh. The only adjustment that I have had to make is to add a small amount of baking soda. I also have a homemade CO2 generator that bubbles into my sump.

Yesterday I bought my first fish - 3 lyre tail mollies and 11 neon tetras. All the fish appeared fine last night but today I notice yellow dust-like areas on the male molly. The affected fish ate fine today and is swimming all over the tank without any apparent signs of stress.

I haven't had a tank in years so I feel like I'm starting all over with this learning process. I would greatly appreciate if you would tell me what you think is wrong with my Molly and what the best course of action would be. Unfortunately, I don't have a quarantine tank set up yet.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

can you give us the following info (some of it you've already included) to help us with diagnosis

Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

-----------------------------------------------

my initial thought is a bit of fin rot/fungus... pretty common in mollies not kept in brakish conditions.

is it black molly by any chance, they're the worst!

 

[schmuttis]

I took some pictures of the molly but it was really hard since he's always moving so they aren't the greatest. I did include one tank picture.

I haven't done any water changes yet since the tank was just cycled.

 

[schmuttis]

I tried to attach pictures and even though they were below the maximum size I got an exceeded message so I put them on a webpage: http/rohland.homedns.org/aquarium/mollyProblem.asp .

water readings
12/20 5:43 AM
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
ph 7.4

 

[black angel]

Thats a lot of yellow. Youre sure its not a colour change as its hard to see?

I did think velvet but thats too yellow to be that.

 

[schmuttis]

It looks more yellow in the pictures then it really is. I got some cooper sulfate and will try that. I already have the light off and will gradually increase the temperature to 82.

 

[black angel]

I agree to treat as if its velvet, so good luck and let us know how it goes.
Raise the temperature to 82f and add extra air.

 

[schmuttis]

It looks more yellow in the pictures then it really is. I got some copper sulfate and will try that. I already have the lights off and will gradually increase the temperature to 82.

Thanks for your help.

 

[schmuttis]

It's not going well.

I first turned off the lights on my tank to stop the photosynthesis process that is aggravating the velvet. Then I purchased a bottle of copper sulfate. According to the directions I needed 30 teaspoons for the size of my tank. The bottle only contained 28 teaspoons so I figured that was close enough. By the evening one neon had died and the ammonia level was starting to rise. We did a minor water change - 10%.

This morning two more neons are dead and the ph is up to 8.0 which we totally can't understand. Our well water is very acidic. The ammonia level was also rising but not into the danger zone yet so I put the lights back on so the plants could use the ammonia in their normal cycle.

So here are my current questions. With the two teaspoons short of the copper sulfate and the water change, should I purchase another bottle of copper sulfate and add some more - and if so how much. What would cause the unusual ph change. Could that be the copper sulfate? What is a safe way to get the ph back down to normal. I've heard over and over not to use acid. I do have a diy CO2 bubbler (yeast/sugar) but I don't have anything to test the CO2 so I don't know if that is enough for the size of our tank. I haven't seen anything to test C02. Does this need to be special ordered?

 

[confusion]

For CO2 testing, you can derive CO2 levels from a PH test and a KH test. All 3 are intertwined. You can also get a "live" CO2 meter - red sea has one that works well and is cheap.

With a PH of 8, I don't know that any level of ammonia is going to be "safe", other than 0. I can't recall the chart, but it's not safe. If you have nuked your bio filter (don't recall if copper sulfate does that), then you'll need to get some ammo-lock conditioner quickly to keep from losing more fish.

Just a bit of adive after killing my bio filter multiple times with meds and losing fish because of it, I've bought a small 2.5G tank for about $9 that I put my sick fish in. I bought a $15 heater and a bubbler. I bag up the fish every day and completely dump the water, rinse the tank, and refill using ammo-lock as conditioner. It works quite well.

 

[schmuttis]

We will definitely be getting a small hospital tank. I read on one forum to keep it empty and just fill with water from your big tank when you need it and you don't have to worry about cycling and tending the extra tank.

About 11:30 AM EST we did about a 20% water change. Since our water is so acid I figured it had to help lower the pH. Right now we have the ammonia about 0.13 and the pH at 7.5 and the fish so far seem fine. I did turn the lights off again to hopefully combat the velvet. I still can't figure out what made the pH peak so high. The pH was fine the morning after we added the fish. The only other thing that changed is the addition of copper sulfate. I wish I remember a little of that high school chemistry that I had eons ago.

I do appreciate your time and help.

 

[confusion]

Most likely the PH swing is a result of your CO2 injection. because you're using a DIY unit, your CO2 production is presumably constant. The uptake of CO2 is highest during high light periods, so the amount of dissolved CO2 is going to fluctuate throughout the day. Fluctuating CO2 will give you a fluctuating PH. I don't think that a PH swing of .6 (7.4 to 8 ) is all that uncommon, and may actually swing more than that if you were to test in the middle of the day and again in the middle of the night).