Can't Get Rid Of Black Molly's Fungus

Tank size:12 gallons
pH: 7.2
ammonia:high, spiked in the past week
nitrite:"caution"
nitrate:low
tank temp: 78

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): white fluff (fungus?) appears on the black molly's fins and around his eyes for a few days, disapears for a few days, then reapears. Fish very active and normal appetite.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10%-15% weekly

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: two weeks ago I did a 10 day anti fungal treatment.

Tank inhabitants: 2 black Mollys, 1 dalmation molly, 2 red wag platys, 1 sunburst platy

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):I haven't added any fish or decorations in a couple months

The black Mollys will get white fuzz around their eyes and on their fins for a few days, disapear, then return a few days later. After a few weeks of this cycle, I bought an anti fungal med. I did two 5 day cycles with a few days in between. It appeared to work for a couple weeks, but yesterday I noticed some fuzz on his fins. Today it is worse. I don't know how to make this go away. The day before I noticed the fuzz, I did a 25% water change because the ammonia was so high. I have never had a problem with the ammonia before I added the meds, so I believe that the meds may have killed the bacteria or have disrupted the nitrogen cycle in some way. I was going to add some API Stress Zyme to build up some bacteria but, since the fuzz is worse, I wasn't sure if I should try to treat the fish before I added the bacteria.

I had a cremecycle molly but he died 3 days ago. He was one of the reasons I ended up adding the meds. He had red streaks around his gills, some fuzz on his fins, and was very lethargic. I was told this might be gill disease. The meds I picked up was an anti fungal that was supposed to treat gill disease as well. After the treatments the redness went away and he became active but he was extremely thin. I separated him to feed him on his own (flakes and blood worms), but after a couple weeks he didn't bulk up and died.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

The fact that you have a reading for ammonia and nitrites is very concerning. You need to be doing huge water changes until those levels come down to 0.

Your molly`s immune system will be suffering and it will probably continue to be poorly and possibly even die unless you can get those levels down. What test kit are you using?

I believe it's a tetra brand kit. I have the API kit where you add drops to the water, but I used the other one because at the time I had to run to work and did not have time to wait 6 minutes for a reading.

I've had the tank running for a couple of years now. I started off with a pair of platys but they reproduced to quickly and the ammonia spiked so I gave everyone but 2 away and did a 75% water change. For 5 months I had the two. Then over the course of a couple months slowly added the other fish. The tank has been running with everyone for 7 months now and the ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites have been perfect every time I tested it ( 1 to 2 times a week). Everythings been perfect except for the past month with that on and off again fungus. The Ammonia didn't spike until after I added the meds.

So you believe that the meds may have cured the fungus but since the ammonia and nitrates spiked because of the lack of bacteria his immune system was down to be reinfected?

I'm a little concerned doing a huge water change (more than 50%). I don't want to stress the fish or make the levels worse...

Should I do a large water change again or add the bacteria supplement? Or both?

How do I cure this fungus and keep it from coming back?

egamdliw said:

I believe it's a tetra brand kit. I have the API kit where you add drops to the water, but I used the other one because at the time I had to run to work and did not have time to wait 6 minutes for a reading.

I've had the tank running for a couple of years now. I started off with a pair of platys but they reproduced to quickly and the ammonia spiked so I gave everyone but 2 away and did a 75% water change. For 5 months I had the two. Then over the course of a couple months slowly added the other fish. The tank has been running with everyone for 7 months now and the ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites have been perfect every time I tested it ( 1 to 2 times a week). Everythings been perfect except for the past month with that on and off again fungus. The Ammonia didn't spike until after I added the meds.

So you believe that the meds may have cured the fungus but since the ammonia and nitrates spiked because of the lack of bacteria his immune system was down to be reinfected?

I'm a little concerned doing a huge water change (more than 50%). I don't want to stress the fish or make the levels worse...

Should I do a large water change again or add the bacteria supplement? Or both?

How do I cure this fungus and keep it from coming back?

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To get more accurate readings which would really help, can you do the API test and post the results please?

How do you think the levels can get worse with a water change? By doing water changes you will be diluting those levels of ammonia and nitrite that can kill your fish.

Ammonia and nitrites can be responsible for fish getting poorly and dieing and both should be at 0 at all times, water changes of approx 40-50% weekly is a good idea.
Big water changes don`t do the fish any harm providing the water is dechlorinated and you`ve matched the temp to be as close as possible. You can drain the tank down so that there is enough water for the fish still to be covered and it won`t hurt the fish. It`s much more stressful for your fish to be constantly poorly than it is to do big water changes. Fresh clean water can do wonders for poorly fish.

Your ammonia and nitrite levels are stressing the fish a LOT more than a 100% water change using warm, dechlorinated water could. Please do large water changes to keep both of those readings well below 0.25 ppm and use your liquid kit to take the readings, as it is a lot more reliable for making sure the ammonia and nitrite are low. Test your tap water for ammonia and nitrite after dechlorinating first, of course, to check that the readings in tap are lower.

The medication you used probably killed the filter bacteria, consider yourself in a fish-in cycle. Water changes are your friend. If you can, get a media donation to seed your filter.

That molly has not got fungus, from what I can see in the photo, it has gone blind due to bad water quality. I recommend you administer a treatment of eSHa 2000, which is a generic anti-bacterial and anti-fungal medication.

Thank you guys for the help!
I did a large water change, it didn't seem to change the readings but I'll test in a few hours and continue to change the water. Should I add an ammonia detoxifier since it's so high? I normally try to stay clear of those because they can mess with the ph (which is currently perfect)...

Thankfully the API test say that the nitrites are between 0 and .25. It's not perfect but it's better than what the strips said.

The reason I was leary of large changes is because, even though I know it will have a positive short term affect, I didn't want to mess up the nitrogen cycle even more than it already was. Though I suppose at this point I really can't get too much more disrupted.

You may be right about it not being a fungus. I do know that ammonia is corrosive. He seems to be able to navigate the tank well and swim to the top if I add a few flakes but that may be because he has the layout memorized by now. He does have a white tuft on his lower lip and a fleck on his body and fins. I assume this is also from the high levels?

Now I know I should probably add something to help his eyes, though does this means I will be back where I started with no bacteria and high ammonia?

One last quick question. Before all this, when I had the fuzzy fungus; it seemed to only affect the two black mollys. At least they were the only ones with fuzz spots all over them. Is it possible for it to affect only one type of fish? Or was I just not able to see it because the rest are a little bit lighter?

egamdliw said:

I did a large water change, it didn't seem to change the readings but I'll test in a few hours and continue to change the water. Should I add an ammonia detoxifier since it's so high? I normally try to stay clear of those because they can mess with the ph (which is currently perfect)...

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A perfect pH is one which doesn't fluctuate if you use Stress Coat or Prime for dechlorinating, neither affects pH and will cause some ammonia to be ammonium (which is less toxic and the bit that plants can take up).

egamdliw said:

The reason I was leary of large changes is because, even though I know it will have a positive short term affect, I didn't want to mess up the nitrogen cycle even more than it already was. Though I suppose at this point I really can't get too much more disrupted.

Click to expand...

Water changes normally don't affect the bacteria in any way at all, unless your tap water pH is about 2 points different from your tank water pH.

egamdliw said:

You may be right about it not being a fungus. I do know that ammonia is corrosive. He seems to be able to navigate the tank well and swim to the top if I add a few flakes but that may be because he has the layout memorized by now. He does have a white tuft on his lower lip and a fleck on his body and fins. I assume this is also from the high levels?

Click to expand...

These are all diseases caused by the bad water quality.

egamdliw said:

Now I know I should probably add something to help his eyes, though does this means I will be back where I started with no bacteria and high ammonia?

Click to expand...

The medication I recommended, which is also the only one which has ever worked for me, does not affect the filter at all, in my experience, even when using a double or triple dose (although you should use a standard one). It is more expensive than most, but it is also more concentrated, so one needs to use less of it. It will make the water go luminous green for a few hours.

egamdliw said:

One last quick question. Before all this, when I had the fuzzy fungus; it seemed to only affect the two black mollys. At least they were the only ones with fuzz spots all over them. Is it possible for it to affect only one type of fish? Or was I just not able to see it because the rest are a little bit lighter?

Click to expand...

The black ones may have been inbred more to get the colour and their immune systems may be weaker, which is why they are more susceptible to it. It is already affecting all your fish, just to different degrees.

Well I will definitely look into the meds then. It sounds much better than what I was using. I'm not sure where I can get it but I will look around. Thank you for all your help! Hopefully I will be able to get everything back on track soon.