Big Mama has the stuff.

[Sneekiepee]

I have a 38 gallon planted tank with approximately 10 mollies, Dalmatian and Lyretail. About a month ago the oldest of them all, a female Dalmatian molly started showing fuzz. I immediately treated the whole tank with salt and melafix. She showed signs of improvement (the fuzz retreated, she's always acted the same) after 2 weeks but I stopped the salt treatment because the other inhabitant is a pictus catfish. Continued treatment with Stressguard and Paraguard for 3 weeks with every other day 5 gal water changes. During the last month n half her behavior hasn't changed and the Pictus(kittyfish) and other mollies show no symptoms. Today the same molly has popeye. She's now in a hospital tank with salt and melafix.
38gal parameters have been 7.2ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5 to 10 nitrate readings. My other tank is a discus tank so water changes happen every other day, since I'm already doing one I do the other. My question is: Is it possible for one molly to get a fungal infection (i think it's that) due to age or disposition? Everyone in what was previously her community tank seems fine.

 

[Colin_T]

My question is: Is it possible for one molly to get a fungal infection (i think it's that) due to age or disposition? Everyone in what was previously her community tank seems fine.

Fungus can infect any fish that has an open wound or sore. If one fish is injured, then one fish might get fungus.

Are you sure it's fungus?
Fungus normally goes after a few days with salt.

Pictures could help confirm fungus or something else.

Popeye can be from poor water quality or an infection (bacteria, viral, protozoan) in the head or eye if only one eye is concerned. Clean water and salt usually fix it, however, if the fish is old and has a weakened immune system, it might be an indication there is an underlying problem.

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How much salt did you use?

What is the GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Mollies need a GH of 250ppm or higher. They can also live in sea water so adding lots of salt can sometimes help. But post pictures and stop adding medications. if they haven't fixed the problem in a week, they aren't going too.

 

[Sneekiepee]

Thank you for your response. I use the API water testing kit, it gives me PH but not KH or GH. This particular tank has been going for slightly less than a year and this is the only issue that has arisen and it's been with the one, oldest female. I underdosed salt because of the pictus, the instructions called for 1 tbsp per 5 gallons and I used half that amount. The first symptoms were a fuzz on her sides. The popeye appeared yesterday and that's when I pulled her out and put her in a 20 gallon hospital tank. Currently using the full amt of salt and melafix.
I will find the GH and KH parameters asap.
Happy New Year's!

 

[Colin_T]

can you post some pictures of the fish?

check your water company's website for GH and KH

 

[Sneekiepee]

can you post some pictures of the fish?

check your water company's website for GH and KH

 

[Sneekiepee]

What had initially appeared as fuzz is now these almost ringworm looking circles. There's one on each side. She's on day 3 in the hospital tank. Her eye is looking better.

 

[JuiceBox52]

What had initially appeared as fuzz is now these almost ringworm looking circles. There's one on each side. She's on day 3 in the hospital tank. Her eye is looking better.

Pics?

 

[Colin_T]

Is the water cloudy or is the fish in a semi transparent container?

It doesn't seem to have anything wrong that I can see, but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I would just do big (75%) daily water changes for a week, and keep adding salt for another 2 weeks.

You might also want to do 75% water changes and gravel clean the main tank every day for a week too. this will reduce any disease organisms that might be in the tank and reduce the chance of other fish getting sick. Clean the filter too.

 

[Sneekiepee]

Is the water cloudy or is the fish in a semi transparent container?

It doesn't seem to have anything wrong that I can see, but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I would just do big (75%) daily water changes for a week, and keep adding salt for another 2 weeks.

You might also want to do 75% water changes and gravel clean the main tank every day for a week too. this will reduce any disease organisms that might be in the tank and reduce the chance of other fish getting sick. Clean the filter too.

Thanks. Getting ready to do water changes on all 3 tanks currently. The water is a little cloudy, I believe due to the nitrate pad I stuffed in there. Planning on treating her as you described, along with cleaning out the filter and biosponge in the tank she came from. This appeared on her over a month ago. I've kept a close eye on her main tank and everyone seems fine. She seems fine, but it's obviously not something I want spread around.