michelle w

Hi there,

I'm worried about my Mollies - I have three but I used to have 4. The male started swimming funny for about an hour - then seemed fine. He was dead the next day.
I did noticed he looked like he had fine gold dust on his body - but otherwise looked beautiful.
I see gold dust on the two girls now and hope they'll be ok. Is it normal? They are behaving fine - swimming and eating.

My tank details: 55 gallon. Set up in January. 80 degrees. No ammonia or nitrites. 20 Nitrates (Small). Some plants.
Tank mates. 3 Dalmations. 6 small danios, 8 neon tetras, 3 guppies, 2 angels, 1 groumie. All getting along. Water looks clear.

I'd appreciate your help.
Michelle

Lucy

Hi Michelle welcome to Fish Lore

I'm sorry you lost your fish.
You might want to look into velvet. I don't have personal experience with it, but from what I remember reading, it looks like a gold dusting on the fish.
Here's a place to start: Freshwater Fish Disease
Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Also, if you've signed up using your real name, for your safety and security you should request a new user name.
Fish Lore is a public forum and easily found through serach engines.
Here's how: How Do I: Request NEW UserName

Good luck with your fish

michelle w

Thanks very much Lucy,

My mollies aren't rubbing but I'll keep a close eye on them.

I'll try and change my user name also.

Thanks again,
Michelle

michelle w

Hi Lucy,

I decided to treat my tank - even though my mollies were acting fine. I'm glad I did - their color has definitely improved - they look much more black now. We had been periodically had been loosing fish that looked perfectly fine. As the signs are so subtle - if the fish hadn't been black we wouldn't (and didn't) see anything wrong. So velvet has probably been in the tank for a while.

Thanks very much for your advice,
Me and my healthy fish thank you!
Michelle

joy1125

Sorry about your fish Michelle!

But good decision to treat your tank -- - velvet is very serious and usually fatal. You have a good eye there, to notice the gold dust.

Hope everything will be okay now.

ABCDemily

Velvet is a possibility, I've never had any experience, just keep an eye on it.
Hopefully it'll clear up! Good luck with your Mollies-They are awsome fish!