NefastusAequitas

So here's what I've got:
8 gallon BiOrb
50W heater @ 79F
3 Mollies (1 Black, 1 Silver, 1 Dalmation)
I feed them flakes once a day, no more they can eat, fast them once a week, and give them a piece of vegetable once a week
I treat the water with stress coat and stress zyme
Aquarium Salt added to give the water a slight salinity
Water changes every 1.5 weeks of 20%, I boil the water, aerate it, treat it
I test the water every day and everything reports as normal, I've had it tested at a local fish store and they said all levels are normal as well.
But I've still got a sick Molly!!!!!

My black molly has suddeny developed a silver underbelly along the midline, some silver shows at his gills and some spots behind his eyes. I can't tell if any of the others have it because they are so light colored. Their appetites are still as big as ever, voraciously eating up anything I put in there within a minute. They are all still very active in swimming, plenty of hiding but rarely do they hide.

At first I thought it was ICH, as it's hard to see white versus silver on a black fish. I went to the fish store and asked what to do, was given Ich Attack by Kardon, and told to apply daily and 3-4 days after the spots disappear, he also told me to turn up the heat in my aquarium to around 79F (it was 76 before). I turned it up gradually and started the treatment after removing the activated carbon from the filter. The spots have not disappeared, they seem to be progressing.

Is this still ich or am I looking at something else here? Could it be just his scales? I've decreased the amount of salt I add to each water change in hopes that it might have been excess salt buildup or something. The filter needs to be changed in about a month but I've been rinsing it regularily. They don't act sick, but those spots worry me... I can't see any on the other fish but I don't know if that's just because of their coloring.

Any help would be appreciated!

Shawnie

im sorry your baby is sick....
what test kit are you using?
3 mollies in 8 gals is overstocked and causing stress im sure so it could be ich ..but it also could be just normal color changes as mollies do that often...especially the dalmations..but the blacks dont change as much so the color changes sound like it could be ammonia issues...trusting your fishstore is something alot of us have had a bad experience with ..they are just out to make money....most meds disrupt the cycle so id deffinately keep an good eye on that....id get some stress coat+ as that will help if the tank has ammonia..id do the daily changes at least for a few days...im not a fan of salt but there are many who are so thats your decision on that ...the stress zyme isnt hurting anything, but doesnt hold the bacteria to sustain the cycle process like tetra safestart would....I hope things get better but the 3 of them in that small tank will probably be hard to maintain good water ...but goodluck

KyWildFish

If the fish is eating normally I have to agree with Shawnie. Mollies in a matter of months will change colors. My silver lyretail male will get faint stripes on his body and iridesce an aqua blue color when he's wanting to breed. When he is in breeding mode he will develope yellow around his head and belly. The only time Ive not seen the mollies scarfing down food was with a fungal outbreak I had once. It was easily treated and they are little piggies.
Do you have pics and actual readings from the water? Also the strip tests are horribly inaccurate, so consider a liquid drop test of some kind.
Sounds like your being a good fish keeper otherwise, which is refreshing to see for a change, many people dont put the effort you have to this point.

NefastusAequitas

Thanks for the fast replies,
I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit. I know my water is brackish or slightly salinated but I tend to keep it very lightly leaning heavily towards fresh. I also have an interior testing meter for ammonia thats attached to the glass so I can quickly check it without running the full test. I just tested the water and the nitrite levels are a lot higher than they have been before so I think the meds may be reaking havoc on my cycle... I'm going to do a 25% water change and condition it with some stress coat+...
These are my readings:
nitrate ~20ppm (Safe)
Nitrite 2.0ppm (ugh that shot up almost overnight!)
Ammonia 0ppm (Safe)
Hardness ~160 (Hard)
chlorine 0ppm (Safe)
alkalinity ~130ppm (Ideal)
pH ~7.6 (A little alkaline)

I'm really not sure what to do... can I add too much stress coat+ and zyme+? If the meds clearly aren't working should I discontinue it to let the cycle get back to normal?



Pictures! The flash seemed to make the spots even more noticeable, the water color is slightly brown due to the medication (it turns the water brown then fades after a day).
Picture 1:
Pic of the side, to the naked eye you can only see spots between the gills and eye, with the flash some appeared further back.
Picture 2:
Great picture of the underside, once again the flash makes it more noticeable, to the naked eye it just looks like a faint line of silver.

Attached Images

	side.jpg (88.6 KB, 41 views)
	Belly.jpg (50.8 KB, 37 views)

Shawnie

I would just do daily water changes with your stress coat + and skip the zyme....until everythings back to normal...no one knows how long but the stress coat+ will help them thru this

Mollies forever

Hi there,
I have a few black mollies, and they do change colour, tending to go silver in areas, especially as they grow. Perhaps it was a young fish when you purchased it?
Looking at the pics it seems just like my fish, same changes, possibly just a normal thing, hopefully.
It would also be a great idea to give them a varied diet, not only flakes. I feed mine a varied diet of Dried shrimp pellets, flakes, algae discs and micro pellets ( all at once, but only small amounts - same as what they would consume in 3 minutes) , and give them frozen blood worms one a week. Feeding them once a day only.
I know there are some negative reports against Melafix, however maily for Labrynith fish, but it works wonders for Molly fish. Also I change water weekly, and when they seem abit lack lustre or I have a strange feeling some fish may be abit sickish, I then treat the water 3 days before I am due to change it with Aqaurium salts. (NO MORE than 1gram per litre however, even less, if you just suspect something - but if something is going on take it to the gram per litre.) Making your water change approx 1/3 of the water, even slightly more). Aquarium salt is great for most fish as a remedy, I feel before using chemicals anyways!!!! But I wouldn't do it every time you change the water, would be too much then.

Good luck with it all.

MaddieLynn

My black lyretail male has faint silver lining on/in his gills just like that... but i just bought him, so it could be a disease coming on. But, he is eating well and acting normal.