Molly sickness

Hi everyone all help is appreciated!
We have had our tank set up and running for nearly a year, we have mollies platies and a couple of plecs,

Recently we got a couple more mollies and brought with them some sickness, We've now had about 7 die in just over a week

From looking at forums the general concensus was to try melafix and water changes
We done this and followed the guidelines and more died

The advice from the aquarium was to try primafix - on day 2 of using that and a couple of our fish have what looks like sort of dry scales? Picture attached - not the best sorry!

Its like at the minute every day another is dying, please help!!

Our water levels are okay in everything but no3, which was fine and now is high

Is that one in a breeding box? Those things are extremely stressful, and will not be helping. They should be banned.

How hard/soft is your water, and how high are the nitrates?

I tested Melafix and Pimafix when they first came out and concluded that they’re not very good. I’ll never use them. There are much, much more effective treatments for all fish problems available.

Looks like ich. Get it out that breeder box as that won't be helping matters...I'm assuming you just popped it in there to grab a photo?

CaptainBarnicles said:

Looks like ich. Get it out that breeder box as that won't be helping matters...I'm assuming you just popped it in there to grab a photo?

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Hi, i did haha too quick to take a photo!!

Ichthys said:

Is that one in a breeding box? Those things are extremely stressful, and will not be helping. They should be banned.

How hard/soft is your water, and how high are the nitrates?

I tested Melafix and Pimafix when they first came out and concluded that they’re not very good. I’ll never use them. There are much, much more effective treatments for all fish problems available.

Click to expand...

Hi, only in there to take a photo quick, hes not now
Nitrates are reading at around 200
PH is 7.6 so moderately soft?

What medicine would you suggest to use instead?

CaptainBarnicles said:

Looks like ich. Get it out that breeder box as that won't be helping matters...I'm assuming you just popped it in there to grab a photo?

Click to expand...

What do we do to get them better?

Maddie.terry24 said:

Hi, only in there to take a photo quick, hes not now
Nitrates are reading at around 200
PH is 7.6 so moderately soft?

What medicine would you suggest to use instead?

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Why are the nitrates at 200? That’s dangerously high and may well be the cause all on its own. You need to keep nitrates as low as possible.

pH doesn’t tell you the hardness. Your water supplier’s website should tell you, if you don’t have test kits. Mollies won’t live in soft water.

That looks like ich for sure...

It looks like Ich and it’s caused by stress, so you probably won’t cure it until you get rid of the cause of the stress. Bring the nitrates down and make sure the water is hard.
Then I would use Protozin, but other off-the-shelf white spot/protozoan treatments should work. Even Melafix or Pimafix might work once the stress is gone.

Your first job is to do a massive water change, and again tomorrow and again the next day and so forth until your Nitrates are reading below 20. To keep them low you need to make sure you're making 50% water changes every single week.
I recommend turning the temperature up to help with the ich, no point treating the tank with meds until you've got the Nitrates under control as you'll be removing the meds with your daily water changes.

I think it's 30°c that is the appropriate temperature, someone else will confirm/rectify...increase the heat slowly over a few hours

In addition to the water changes and temperature increase Captain recommends, you should thoroughly gravel vac the substrate to remove the cause of high nitrates, which is likely organic matter and over feeding, and use salt (instead of meds) to start treating the ich now rather than waiting several days. Start with 1 heaping tablespoon to 20 liters/5 gallons. When you do the water change, just add 1 heaping tablespoon to every 20 liters/5 gallons you replace. You can double the amount of salt if there is no improvement after the first day (just add the same amount again). Here is the article for more helpful info.

Post pictures of the other mollies so we can confirm white spot or excess mucous.

If your nitrate is 200ppm, do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate now. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Check the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Test the pH on the water today and again tomorrow, use the same sample for testing 24 hours apart.

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TREATING WHITE SPOT (Ichthyophthirius)
If they do have white spot, raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone.

Before raising the temperature, do a huge 80-90% water change and gravel clean the substrate. You should do this anyway to get the nitrates down. This removes a lot of the parasites and means there will be fewer to infect the fish.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever treating fish. This maximises the oxygen in the water and helps them breathe easier. This is especially important when raising the temperature or using chemical medications because both reduce the oxygen in the water.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

If possible, try to insulate the base, back and sides of the tank with 1-2 inch thick sheets of polystyrene foam so the heater doesn't have to work as hard to get the temperature up. Having a coverglass on the tank will also help trap heat. use 4, 5, or 6mm thick glass because it is less likely to chip compared to 2 or 3mm thick glass that is commonly sold at pet shops.

I was trying to get you started until Colin came along but I defer to what Colin said. I know you’ve gotten different messages but he really knows his stuff. You can use temperature instead of salt. Raising the temp is a better option for the pleco. If you already used salt, when you do the 90% water change he recommended just don’t add it again.

Ichthys said:

Your water supplier’s website should tell you, if you don’t have test kits. Mollies won’t live in soft water.

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You give location as Isle of Wight, so if you enter your postcode in the box here, it should give your hardness
It will give a number in the unit "Cal mg/l" but there is a drop down arrow which gives the hardness in other units - look for the number in "CaCO3 mg/l" and "deg German".
Post those two numbers here.