Help sick mollies

Hello,
Sorry for dumping this so quick but I am really worried about a few fish in a 60L tank.
One molly seemed a little shy and i had a feeling he was not too well , but this evening its 3 or 4 that have white patches on their bodies. One on one side of the gills, another one on the tail, the first one to act strange has a white spot on a lip. Not sure what it is and how to treat. I have no empty tank to transfer these and this tank has about 20 fish (mollies and guppies).
Help please.
pics added
I will look up for the answers on the threads but if you know the answer please let me have it so i can try to save them.
cheers

Steven

Hi Steven
Is the white spots all over the mollies bodies also.If so then you are possibly dealing with whitespot disease, however if the actual white mark on the lip of the molly is almost fungus almost cotton like in appearance then you may have columnaris.
You might take a quick research on both of these diseases and see which matches your fish as both diseases are treated differently.
Reading from the above, the fact that your fish has whitespots all over there bodies then I suspect you have whitespot which you will be glad to know can be cured.
If it is white spot then you might quickly tell us what other fish you have in the tank and when you added them etc.
Also have you tested your water ?

If its whitespot then I would increase temperature of the tank now, (depending on what other fish you have to ensure they can cope with the slighty higher temps). Id increase it a degree or two slowly until you reach about 28 or 29 even. This will accerlate the whitespot parasite lifecyle. Remember that when higher temperatures are at play, you may need to add an airstone to assist in the O2 levels of the tank as higher temps will reduce your O2 levels.
Most fish shops will have some form of whitespot treatment medicene available. Its usually a blue type liquid, just as your local fish shop. Then follow the instructions on the medicene bottle exactly as they say. Run the full course as per the bottle instructions.
Best of luck with it, keep an eye out for any fish that may not make it through the meds, and be mindful shrimp are especially prone to treatments like this.
Usually whitespot itself is a sign that there is an underlying reason for it appearing, usually in my experience its either from a fish being introduced, water quality or stress. Eliminate all those 3 and you shouldnt get any further problems.
Just ask if you need any more help.

Gavin

Thanks Gavin. First thought it was white spot but reading about columnaris i think it looks more like it. Problem is i started increasing temperature so its the opposite of what is needed.
As far as conditions contributing to this... How can I say.... Nothing was done right: starting with girlfriend wanting to buy fish everyday and dumping it all in a 30L it took me 2 days to convince her to get the 60L going (luckily that one was bought 10 days ago , and was fully running before so no major overhaul needed. Water temp stayed up around 29-30 for a couple of days while i adjusted the heater and although i didnt see i think she went a little crazy fishing the with the net in the small tank to move them. So stress, overcrowding, all new fish (about 20) from 3 different purchases within 7 -9 days... nothing good.
will run to the shop for a treatment tomorrow. The worst looking one displayed no symptoms at all this morning its a bit crazy.

Miamiheat wrote:

Thanks Gavin. First thought it was white spot but reading about columnaris i think it looks more like it. Problem is i started increasing temperature so its the opposite of what is needed.
As far as conditions contributing to this... How can I say.... Nothing was done right: starting with girlfriend wanting to buy fish everyday and dumping it all in a 30L it took me 2 days to convince her to get the 60L going (luckily that one was bought 10 days ago , and was fully running before so no major overhaul needed. Water temp stayed up around 29-30 for a couple of days while i adjusted the heater and although i didnt see i think she went a little crazy fishing the with the net in the small tank to move them. So stress, overcrowding, all new fish (about 20) from 3 different purchases within 7 -9 days... nothing good.
will run to the shop for a treatment tomorrow. The worst looking one displayed no symptoms at all this morning its a bit crazy.

some pics of the worst looking

Thats not columnaris or whitespot.
Its more like an ulceration or internal bacteria.
Are all the fish like this ?
You really need to tackle this and learn how to boil the kettle
to avoid impulse buying.
20 mollies in a 60L is too much.
You would have been better with 3 and let them breed.

Hi,
This fish is the worst case. 2 other fish show symptoms. In my first post i added one where ou see like a white stripe on top of the tail. Another fish just has a white spot on the mouth (small). All other fish swim around and do not seem bothered so far.

I missed the first photos.
Its hard to make out,
But the lip is most likely fungus.
Possibly columnaris on the tail as its linear.
Esha 2000 or similar might treat the lot,
But long term you need to cut the numbers.

Yup those pics below my post show ulcers, so it seems to have a few problems in your tank as the first few pics appeared similar to whitespot and columnaris also. Have you done a water test, whats the results. It seems you have added too quick and too many, and the water quality and stress from overcrowding has ultimately led to your fish becoming ill. You need to fix up this illness now and then go about reducing your numbers and stock appropriately. Needless to say do not mix any fish to other tanks or nets now.

Gavin

i agree.. setting up a 240L for the discus and that will free up a 96L, i guess I am neck deep in this!

Jumping from mollies to discus is a major leap...like running before you walk...don't mean to throw cold water on your plans but it's worth researching before jumping in...best of luck with it....

I am in it i will deal with it
Already have the discus. Different tank. They seem happy. If you look at into section I posted pics.
Only testing tools I have are PH strips (all tanks at 7) an Ammonia (tank in question has tested between 0 and 0.25 mg/l on 4 or 5 occasions. (setup 2 days ago as all these fish were in 30L and i couldn't stand seeing them in there).
Will get full testing kit. BTW isn't there some type of all in one electronic probe to test all important parameters? This drop adding stuff drives me nuts.

Miamiheat wrote:

I am in it i will deal with it
Already have the discus. Different tank. They seem happy. If you look at into section I posted pics.
Only testing tools I have are PH strips (all tanks at 7) an Ammonia (tank in question has tested between 0 and 0.25 mg/l on 4 or 5 occasions. (setup 2 days ago as all these fish were in 30L and i couldn't stand seeing them in there).
Will get full testing kit. BTW isn't there some type of all in one electronic probe to test all important parameters? This drop adding stuff drives me nuts.

I doubt there is such a thing widely available and if is was I bet it'd cost a fortune

LemonJelly wrote:

Miamiheat wrote:

I am in it i will deal with it
Already have the discus. Different tank. They seem happy. If you look at into section I posted pics.
Only testing tools I have are PH strips (all tanks at 7) an Ammonia (tank in question has tested between 0 and 0.25 mg/l on 4 or 5 occasions. (setup 2 days ago as all these fish were in 30L and i couldn't stand seeing them in there).
Will get full testing kit. BTW isn't there some type of all in one electronic probe to test all important parameters? This drop adding stuff drives me nuts.

I doubt there is such a thing widely available and if is was I bet it'd cost a fortune

you are right: www.teichpoint.de/Teichtechnik/Teichpfle...r-Set_i104_851_0.htm

update: i found the fish in question dead the morning after writing this thread, it was too far gone. When to shop and was given a fungus treatment which i applied immediately, within a day or so the 2 other fish showing weakness died as well. A couple more fish were looking weak but no signs of white spots or cottony looking fungus. Did another water test and found my new problem (which was to be expected): Ammonia levels above 2PPM... After reading about it it is my major problem now. 3 days changing 50% water and i just got around the 1 PPM mark. Even the weak fish are eating and the other ones seem fine. If I have to ride it out changing water everyday then so I will, but I was wondering is there is anything else i can do to further reduce the ammonia, while the ammonia eating bacteria colony grows?

The tank is actually 72L, I had never measured it and took the seller's word for it. And in turn what i thought was a 96L tank is 108L

From the second part of pictures it looks like bacterial infection. Hard to treat especially with poor water conditions. Is the ammonia down a bit since last test and water changes? To reduce ammonia, water change will only partly help. Stop feeding your fish for 2-3 days will help. About tank sizes:
Keep in mind that when you measure external sizes, it won't give you actual volume of water in the tank. Also you are not filling it up with water to the very edge of the glass. All what's inside of a tank, like substrate, stones, ornaments and wood is decreasing water volume too. When you treating fish with any medicaments, you need to know actual water volume as under dosage of treatments may not sort out the problem and from the other hand over dosage may harm your fish (suffering already with the disease).
hope all will work out for you.

Thank you for comments. The levels have dropped from between 2 and 4ppm to less than 1 ppm before tonight's water change. I was too tired to test again but will do it first thing and tomorrow they are due for another water change. I setup 3 filters in total in this tank one of them being a cascade where i put the ceramic materials from a filter that was already cycled. Ideally the 3 filters will grow the necessary bacteria and then i will move one or two to a spare tank (that will be the nursery/emergency tank).

The fish are looking much better even the 2 weak ones, they are feeding, and all fish are active. The water has become crystal clear as well. I also added floating plants as I read somewhere they can be useful.

update:
Got the tank down to zero ammonia, I guess it has found its balance. Last 3 days no water change and 0 ppm.
Did lose a couple more fish.. I believe they were in worst shape than they appeared to be. One guppy looks bad but seems to be doing fine: feeding normally and behaving like a happy fish.
This has taught me and my girlfriend a lesson on the new tank syndrome.

Tomi wrote:

From the second part of pictures it looks like bacterial infection. Hard to treat especially with poor water conditions. Is the ammonia down a bit since last test and water changes? To reduce ammonia, water change will only partly help. Stop feeding your fish for 2-3 days will help. About tank sizes:
Keep in mind that when you measure external sizes, it won't give you actual volume of water in the tank. Also you are not filling it up with water to the very edge of the glass. All what's inside of a tank, like substrate, stones, ornaments and wood is decreasing water volume too. When you treating fish with any medicaments, you need to know actual water volume as under dosage of treatments may not sort out the problem and from the other hand over dosage may harm your fish (suffering already with the disease).
hope all will work out for you.