sbrown64

I purchase 5 mollys approx 2 weeks ago, with the first 48 hours the black sailfin was dead, he looked like he has a bit of chalk duct on him, then 48 hours later the orange one died, he looked like he has a small hole near his anal fin, now today the other black molly looks to have white marks near his lips and small little white dots, my wife said he looked like he has measles. One other thing i should mention is that this fish has a tendency of hiding away near the sand base or inside rocks. I have now moved him to my quarantine tank, which is totally empty of decorations.

main tank fish:
7 tiger barbs
5 glowlight tetras
3 mollys (one now in quarantine tank)
1 orange spot plec

All doing fine, please help with advice and any suggestions on medications to use.

Regards

Stephen Brown

Richard

The location of the white marks/dots near the mouth strongly suggests 'Mouth-Fungus' which is different to normal Fungus.. ask for Mouth-Fungus treatment at your LFS and follow the directions.. it's also strongly recommended you give the sick fish a salt bath( about 4oz salt per gallon of water although you can go up to three times that strength depending on how bad the infection is), along with the medicine as a supportive measure, since the medicine by itself is not always reliable.

Good luck.

sbrown64

Thank you for your reply. I have just gone and checked the molly, it has the little dots and chalk dust look on other parts of its body. In the quarantine tank it seems quite happy. With regards to the salt bath, is it ok to just pour the salt in to the quarantine tank? one final thing how long should it stay there before it can go back to the community tank?

Thank you in anticipation.

Regards

Stephen (from a cold Oxfordshire, UK)

Richard

Ok.. if you're seeing the white marks and dots elsewhere on his body, you may be dealing with a normal Fungus infection, in which case you may want to try the normal fungus medicine.

The salt can be added straight into the quarantine tank using the measurements I provided.. use aquarium salt( available also at your L.F.S.), and don't worry about the salt having an adverse effect, because Mollies thrive on the stuff actually.

The general rule of thumb when treating a sick fish in a quarantine tank is to return him to your community-tank only after he's better( no more white marks or dots).

The most important thing to understand is there're a host of diseases that affect fish in aquariums for a number of reasons.. some are extremely infectious and spread rapidly (like Ich..* in which case you'd have to treat the entire tank).. others affect individual fish (like Fungus.. and you'd only need to treat the sick fish).. I mentioned those two in particular, because when you're now starting to raise fish, you can sometimes mistake the two.. Ich though, resembles white sprinkles (think dandruff on someone's collar), while Fungus is more like white patches.

While medicating fish should always be a last resort if regular water-changes( 30% weekly) and vacuuming of your gravel/sand don't keep your fish healthy, you'd need to have the right medication to treat whatever the ailment might be, and so I suggest you invest in a medicine chest for your fish that contains medication for Ich, Fungus (mouth and normal), Finrot and Dropsy.. these are more common than any of the other diseases that could affect your fish and more easily treatable.. I'd also suggest you get separate nets for each tank you own, whether communal or quarantine,* and get in the habit of disinfecting them after each use.. initially you may have to spend a bit, but once you've followed those basic rules, you'll only ever spend again if a net tears or medication finishes or passes the expiry date.


Good luck

Richard (from a warm breezy Trinidad)

sbrown64

Thank you very much for your help and advice. I put the molly in the quarantine tank, yesterday i went and bought the fungus treatment, took out the carbon filter and poured in as per the dosage and this morning, i popped my head round the door and he looks alot better, most of the white has disappeared except for a bit left near his nose. i will leave him until it has gone, then swap him back to join his friends in the big tank.

Thank you again and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.


Regards

Stephen (-3 here in Oxfordshire)

Richard

Glad to hear things are taking a turn for the better with your Molly.. Merry Christmas to you and the family.

Regards,

Richard (wishing we could get snowfall at least once for Christmas in warm breezy Trinidad!).