Black Molly and Fungus?

[ItsDinoChips]

I have this black molly and I know she is pregnant which idk if it matters much. But yesterday I noticed her eye has a weird white spot on it. I took it for an air bubble, now today it's completely covered and white. I immediately put in some fungus clear fizz tablets and removed my carbon filter. Is there anything else I can do for her?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Not sure about fungus but she appears to have Popeye terribly in one eye.

 

[Colin_T]

Is there anything else I can do for her?

You can check your water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH and post the results (in numbers) here.

Is the water cloudy?
Does the fish have a cream or white film over its body?
If yes to either of these questions, then you have a water quality issue that has caused an eye infection.

How long has the tank been set up for?
How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?

What fish do you have in the tank?
How long have you had the molly for?
Have you added anything to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

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The best thing for cloudy eyes in fish is water changes. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. This will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and fix any water quality issues you might have.

If the filter is more than 2 months old, clean it if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

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If the water is fine and there is no improvement after a big water change & gravel clean, you can add some salt.

You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

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The following link has information on what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

 

[FishGuest5123]

This is how I have treated Popeye successfully in the past. Epsom salt helps a great deal with a Popeye. It helps draw fluid out of the eye to keep pressure off. You can do Epsom salt dips. One teaspoon of Epsom salt in a gallon of water. Put fish in for 2 minutes. You can do this 3 times a day. Keep main tank water pristine. If eye doesn’t show improvement in 5 days then you will need to use Kanaplex and Furan-2 according to directions. Good luck.

 

[ItsDinoChips]

@Colin_T
PH is in the 7.0-7.5 range
Alkalinity is a mix between 80 to 120
Hardness is between 150 and 300
Nitrite is 0
Nitrate (for the first time ever) is in the 20 to 40 zone

I had just done a water change two days ago so I dont want to change the filter yet but if it will help I will. The fungus clear seems to have not done anything. I rinse off the filter with just water and every once I'm a while I'll put a new one in. Nothing new the past two weeks except a water change. No white films on any of them. I have 4 mollies and 1 gourami.
The tank has been up for since before February I dont know the exact date.
I use a gravel pump to clean the gravel and remove water in a water change I also scrub the inside glass with a stick thing with a sponge.
The water had been cloudy but it cleared up with a water change. I do water changes once every two weeks on sundays.
I use Prime and Quick Start and add that to new water before adding to tank. Prime says it detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. It also removes chlorine and chloramine. Quick Start says it limits toxic ammonia an nitrite and contains live nitrifying bacteria.
I have had the molly longer than the gourami from my last post which I cannot find the date for. I am in the process of moving so i cannot find my reciepts for anything.

Did I miss anything? I am going to try a new filter and a water change tonight. Hopefully that is not getting rid of too much of the good bacteria

 

[ItsDinoChips]

This is her now, not any better after fungus clear. I will try giving her an Epsom salt bath and changing the water tonight since I do not know how adding salt may affect my gourami. I have also change the filter out. Another bit of information is that she seems afraid of me more than normal, she usually is eating with the others but hides most of the time now. Is this because she cannot see well with that thing? I finally saw her eat a flake so I know she is not starving rn. But it seems she is eating bubbles at the surface mistaking it for food.

 

[Colin_T]

If you are replacing filter materials every few weeks or so, you will be removing the filter bacteria and could have an ammonia reading.

Some companies sell cartridges for their filters and recommend replacing the cartridge every month. This is a sales ploy to get your money. It also screws up the filter cycle and makes life difficult for the fish.

Filter materials should be cleaned in a bucket of tank water and re-used until they fall apart.

You can add sponges (from other brands of power filter) to your current filter and these will eventually house the beneficial filter bacteria. If you have a white filter pad with carbon (black granules) in, you can cut the pad open and throw the carbon away, then squeeze the pad out in a bucket of tank water and re-use it. Normal filter sponges just get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used until they fall apart in 10 years.

You can buy round/ cylindrical sponges from some brands of internal power filter. These cylindrical sponges have a hole through the centre and they fit over the intake strainer of the filter. It gives you more filtration media and can be cleaned in a bucket of tank water each week.

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The water had been cloudy but it cleared up with a water change. I do water changes once every two weeks on sundays.

Milky cloudy water is caused by bacteria (not filter bacteria) eating rotting fish food. It could be another sign you have an ammonia problem, possibly caused by the way you maintain the filter.

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I use Prime and Quick Start and add that to new water before adding to tank.

The API Quick Start is a liquid filter bacterial supplement and should be added to the tank after the water change has been done. If you add it to chlorinated water, you can kill the bacteria.

You should dechlorinate the new tap water in a bucket or large plastic container, then add the new water to the tank. then add the Quick Start.

Once the tank has cycled you should not need to add the Quick Start any more. It is only needed in new tanks to help speed up the cycling process.

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I am going to try a new filter and a water change tonight. Hopefully that is not getting rid of too much of the good bacteria

Do not change your filter.

Just let the current filter run and don't replace the filter materials. Add some new sponges to the filter to increase the filtration media, but do not turn the old filter off or replace it.

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This is her now, not any better after fungus clear. I will try giving her an Epsom salt bath and changing the water tonight since I do not know how adding salt may affect my gourami.

​

It is not a fungal infection, which is why the medication did not work.

Water changes and salt.

In post # 3 there are two different dose rates for salt. The lower dose rate is suitable for gouramis, tetras, and pretty much any fish that does not naturally encounter salt in the wild.
Use 2 Heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

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I would feed the fish a small amount once a day.
I would do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
I would add some salt to the tank if there is no improvement in the eye after the second water change.

Then monitor the ammonia levels and the fish and let the tank settle down.

 

[ItsDinoChips]

@Colin_T
I got an ammonia tester today since mine did not include it. It says there is only tiny amounts of ammonia. So I do not know what could have caused this. I added some aquarium salt after tests hoping something will help her. I had done a water change last night and one late in the day today and nothing. So that's when I added salt.

 

[Colin_T]

Ammonia is caused by anything that breaks down in the water, be it dead fish, fish food, rotting plants, even driftwood can sometimes cause it.

If you have been replacing your filter media, then you will have gotten rid of most of the beneficial filter bacteria and it will take time for the bacteria to rebuild its population to a point where it can remove all the ammonia produced by the fish.

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Keep doing big daily water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate, and add salt to the new water before its added to the tank. Just add enough salt to the bucket of water to treat that bucket of water, so you keep the salt levels in the tank stable.

See how it goes over the next few days and post another picture if it gets worse.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Methylene blue is good to treat fish who have been exposed to toxins. You may want to try dips in it. Google it and read up on it. Good luck!

 

[ItsDinoChips]

This is her today. Compared to when I found her I believe she is looking better. Thank you all for the advice. Just a few more questions. How come she is the only one who got this? Is it common to come back once they get this? And finally, could this have been fatal for her?

 

[FishGuest5123]

She may have injured her eye which developed into Popeye. It does sometimes come back if water chemistry gets off. Keep your tank clean and do weekly water changes. Best prevention you can offer. Yes, Popeye can be fatal if left untreated. She looks so much better! I would continue treatment a few more days. Good luck.

 

[ItsDinoChips]

One last post to close off this thread. She looks completely normal now. She is doing the normal amount of hiding she did before and is eating well. Current photo with the male bugging her again.
Thank you all so much for the help. <3