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Urgent Help For A Newby Please -

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Higgyleiko

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May 25, 2008
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Location
Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Hi Guys

Tank size: 180litres
pH: 7.5
ammonia: 0.125
nitrite: 0.25
nitrate: 20
tank temp: 77/25 degrees

Fluval 205 & 4Plus filters running
12 real plants and 1 piece of bogwood - sand substrate
2 x 30 watt lighting

Tank only set up 2 weeks ago - no fishless cycling done (we didn't know till we found you guys!)

PROBLEM:

Initially bought 3 black mollies. All fine. Saturday we bought 2 white mollies and a siamese fighter. Monday morning - 1 white mollie missing, tuesday- fighter went missing and the other mollie died overnight. Still haven't found the fighter despite thoroughly searching the tank. I found the first dead mollies body yesterday covered in like white fluffy stuff.

Hubby today bought 6 harlequins - but when i got home and studied the mollies 1 has a large white patch of something behind its gill on its right side. Hard to get a close up look cos its still active and eating happily - at first it looked shiny but trying to look closer it could be fluffy. 1 very tiny little white spot appearing one of the other mollies. Probably didn't see it on the white mollies because they are white. Didn't see anything on the fighter however.

So now we've got sick fish and hubby has inrtoduced the harlequins without quarantine. There should be a photo attached - does it look like columnaris?

HELP PLEASE! (we're in yorkshire)
 

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Wow! You have way too much in a new tank. When you're properly cycled you should have No ammonia and nitrite, (a little nitrate happens from dirty water) If in doubt, do a water change 25-50%! You need it. What type of filter do you have? Any time you see your ammonia and nitrite spike that isn't good. You need to be able to build good bacteria and that takes time. You should start with only a couple of fish in an uncycled tank or you will have a bunch of dead ones. Also, you shouldn't add more than one or two at a time, you can over load the biological system. Plattys, mollys and guppies are great starter fish and come in great colors too! I think you added too much too soon. Don't add anymore, do the water change first and check out the section on cycling your tank. Check out all the pinned topics at the top of the "new to the hobby" section. They were a great help for me when I first started. It's hard to tell from the picture what is going on. Is that fish the only one that looks like that? I hope this helps some and welcome to the wonderful world of fish! (Don't feel too bad! I killed plenty of fish before I found this site! There is a lot involved in taking care of fish that many people don't know about!) Just look around, there's lots to learn here! Have a great day! Lisa
 
Hi there, thanks for your reply. I'm aware of the fishless cycling now - we have had 3 mollies in a 180l tank for 2 weeks - is that too much fish? We only just bought the white mollies and fighter and they died straight away from whatever it is our black mollies have now got. Should we have stuck with 3 mollies for 6 weeks?

What do i do about this white stuff - do i need to treat with bacterial meds?
 
First off :hi: to the forum.


I really cant make out the mollies illness from the pictures....

is it fluffy whiteness?? If it would be possible could you get some more pictures?

Have you got a liquid test kit? this will test your water for ammonia, nitrITe and NitrATe at the very least. These will help you find out when you tank has cycled...my tank took over a month to settle down and get cycled.

There is no set time to start adding more fish...it all depends on your tank and how long it takes to cycle. Siamese fighters really need to be put in a tank that is cycled and mature and mollies usually need salt in the tank but dont do this as you will probably lose them from the stress.

I would not add any more fish until the illness is sorted and your tank has cycled.

You have got alot of fish in the tank which means that you are getting ammonia building up and the tank is not old enough for the bacteria in you filters to start breaking that down so you are getting build up all of these chemicals which are stressing your fish and probably causing them to die..basically.

As LRPRESTO said have alook around the forum and use the search engine at the top of the page.

Good luck!
 
I do have a test kit - my results are in my first post at the top..? The ammonia levels and nitITe levels were higher but have reduced back down to 0.125 and 0.25 - thats why we added some more fish.

This particular molly did not appear at feeding time this morning, i've had a quick scout round for him but no luck - i was desperately late for work so will have to find him when i get home tonight.

:sad:


ETA: The white bit did look fluffy, kind of wispy. And the dead white one looked like it was covered in white mould. that fluffy kind of stuff. What should i treat the tank with?
 
sorry....me not looking at your post! duh! :shifty:

Sound like a fungal infection but dont quote me on it...maybe someone with more experience that me can help...
 
Did you have the fighter in with all the others?

If you read a thread I made called "Butchered Platy" I think you will find some simalarities.

Quick run down...

Had fighter and pregnant platy in a double breeding net with a divider. Only for a few hours because I was setting up my fighters own tank.

Came home, divider gone, platy all messed up.




My platys scales were all weird looking and she had a weird white thing/stuff on her mouth. One of my other mollies got it too.

My LFS said by the sounds of it, it is fungus. The others in my thread reckon that's it too.


My advice...

Seperate the fighter ASAP if you haven't done so already and treat the tank with a fungus med ASAP.

Hope that helps :good:
 
aahhh - that could be it! Unfortunately, the fighter disappeared completely (and thats another thread in the betta section too!) so he's not in the tank any more. I wonder if he jumped out and 1 of my cats got him because i've searched the tank high and low and cant find him.

Will definitely treat for fungas and hope that helps. Its very demoralising this fish keeping malarky. -_-
 
LOL I agree!

Mine only happened not long ago, so I'm still treating my tank.

The white stuff doesn't seem to be going any further (it was on their mouths) and they are still swimming and eating like the fat pigs they are lol.


Well if you buy another fighter...put him in his own tank! :D
 
I'm not sure. My LFS told me to just use the fungus stuff. I think he said it's because it's an external disease and not internal?

Don't quote me on that though because I'm not sure.
 
Right well as soon as i can knock off work i'm going to go and get some and fingers crossed i dont get home to a tank full of dead fish.

Good luck with yours too - keep me posted!
 
Have found this - and think is what it is..........

FUNGUS (Saprolegnia):

This is often confused with Columnaris and for good reasons, they can often be similar in appearance. Close inspection though will reveal that a fish with Saprolegnia (often classified as a mold, are from the Genus “Saprolegnia”) will have hair like growth structures similar to what you might find outside growing on a decaying piece of wood in the forest. This is what differentiates Saprolegnia (fungus) from Columnaris as you will not see the thin hair like structures upon fish with Columnaris.
(Please click picture to enlarge)


Saprolegnia is not a true fungus (fungus are from the Kingdom “Fungi”), while Saprolegnia are from the Kingdom “Protoctista” which is a catch all Kingdom for the multicellular organisms which don't fit into the Animal, Plant, or Fungus Kingdom. This includes molds, green algae, red algae and more.
These organisms, considered to be saprophytic "water molds," are a normal, ubiquitous component of aquatic ecosystems. Saprophytes live off of decaying organic material.
If you have ever seen a piece of fish food left in the aquarium and was covered in what looks like cotton, those are all fungus filaments doing their job of breaking down organics, and although they are a natural part of the aquatic environment, an overabundance of Saprolegnia (Fungus) caused by decaying matter (especially in new aquariums) can result with the Saprolegnia to start trying to break down your living fish and can also appear as cottony growths on the fish as well.

Saprolegnia will often get started if there is a large amount of decomposition of nitrogenous organic material such as dead fish left in the aquarium or large amounts of high protein fish food such as krill/shrimp. Injured fish with open sores will amplify this potential problem. This is why I strongly disagree with cycling method popularized on the internet by a few websites, Wikipedia, and some forums such as Yahoo answers and that is to use raw shrimp to seed the nitrogen cycle as this can result (as per my own studies) in Saprolegnia getting to strong a hold in anew aquarium

Treatment
Luckily treatment is somewhat related, although Saprolegnia responds well to Acriflavin, Malachite Green based treatments such as Medicated Wonder Shells or Quick Cure . Pimafix and Triple Sulfa also works well for Saprolegnia (fish fungus).
Click to expand...
 
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