Cassidy ball
New Member
What is this and how do I treat it? None of my other fish have anything like it
and it’s just appeared in the last nine hours while I was at work. She’s still moving fine and eatingHelp! White spots on my black molly
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What is this and how do I treat it? None of my other fish have anything like it
and it’s just appeared in the last nine hours while I was at work. She’s still moving fine and eating
Hi and welcome to the forum
The fish is covered in excess mucous. It is caused by something in the water irritating the fish and the fish responds by producing more mucous that appears as a cream, white or grey film over their body and fins.
The most common cause is poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, wrong pH), followed by external protozoan parasites.
The water in the picture looks milky cloudy and that is usually caused by a new tank and filter and rotting fish food in the tank.
------------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and see how the fish goes during that time. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce any disease organisms or water quality issues in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
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 them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.
The fish is covered in excess mucous. It is caused by something in the water irritating the fish and the fish responds by producing more mucous that appears as a cream, white or grey film over their body and fins.
The most common cause is poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, wrong pH), followed by external protozoan parasites.
The water in the picture looks milky cloudy and that is usually caused by a new tank and filter and rotting fish food in the tank.
------------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and see how the fish goes during that time. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce any disease organisms or water quality issues in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
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 them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.
Cassidy ball
New Member
Thank you so much !Hi and welcome to the forum
The fish is covered in excess mucous. It is caused by something in the water irritating the fish and the fish responds by producing more mucous that appears as a cream, white or grey film over their body and fins.
The most common cause is poor water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, wrong pH), followed by external protozoan parasites.
The water in the picture looks milky cloudy and that is usually caused by a new tank and filter and rotting fish food in the tank.
------------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and see how the fish goes during that time. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce any disease organisms or water quality issues in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
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 them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.
I went away for two weeks and came back with my tank in pretty rough condition as my flat mate was very careless with the feeding, I just didn’t know what had happened to my fish (this was why the water was a bit cloudy as I had just done a 75% change). I know next time to buy one of the dissolving food cubes instead of letting her feed them.
If you go away for a week or two, just leave the fish without food. They will be fine.
The holiday/ weekend feeders are not worth using. They require the pH of the water to be on 7.0 otherwise they don't dissolve at the correct rate. If the pH is acid (below 7.0), they can dissolve overnight and release all the food in a short period of time.
If the pH is above 7.0, they might not dissolve at all.
--------------------
The best thing to do if going away for a week or two is feed the fish more often before you go, do more tank cleaning, and add some live plants.
Feed the fish 3-5 times a day for a couple of weeks before you go away. This will let the fish gain some weight and they can live off the fat reserves while you're away. The fish won't starve because unlike mammals and birds that use most of the food they eat to stay warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. So any food they eat is used for growth and movement. This allows fish to go for weeks or even months without food and not die from starvation.
Do big (75%) water changes and gravel clean the substrate every day or every couple of days while feeding more often. This keeps the water and tank clean and helps to limit or stop diseases from occurring due to a dirty tank.
Do the same water change the day before you go and give the fish a feed before you walk out the door, then leave them alone.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Add some live plants a few weeks before. The plants will have micro-organisms on them and the fish can feed on them while you are away.
Have the light on a timer.
Increase the lighting times to 15-16 hours a day while you are away. This will encourage algae and plant growth and the fish can eat that while you're on holiday. When you get back, simply reduce the lighting time to 10-12 hours or whatever it normally is.
Clean the filter a couple of days before you go so it is clean and won't block up or overflow while you're away. Wash the filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.
--------------------
If you are going for more than 2 weeks (eg: a month), then do the above and get someone to feed the fish once or twice a week. Measure out a single portion of food and put it into small plastic containers or ziplock bags. Put a date on each bag for when it should be used and get the person to add the contents of one bag on each of those dates. No other food should be offered and don't add extra food to the bags. Just put in a single feeding per bag.
The holiday/ weekend feeders are not worth using. They require the pH of the water to be on 7.0 otherwise they don't dissolve at the correct rate. If the pH is acid (below 7.0), they can dissolve overnight and release all the food in a short period of time.
If the pH is above 7.0, they might not dissolve at all.
--------------------
The best thing to do if going away for a week or two is feed the fish more often before you go, do more tank cleaning, and add some live plants.
Feed the fish 3-5 times a day for a couple of weeks before you go away. This will let the fish gain some weight and they can live off the fat reserves while you're away. The fish won't starve because unlike mammals and birds that use most of the food they eat to stay warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. So any food they eat is used for growth and movement. This allows fish to go for weeks or even months without food and not die from starvation.
Do big (75%) water changes and gravel clean the substrate every day or every couple of days while feeding more often. This keeps the water and tank clean and helps to limit or stop diseases from occurring due to a dirty tank.
Do the same water change the day before you go and give the fish a feed before you walk out the door, then leave them alone.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Add some live plants a few weeks before. The plants will have micro-organisms on them and the fish can feed on them while you are away.
Have the light on a timer.
Increase the lighting times to 15-16 hours a day while you are away. This will encourage algae and plant growth and the fish can eat that while you're on holiday. When you get back, simply reduce the lighting time to 10-12 hours or whatever it normally is.
Clean the filter a couple of days before you go so it is clean and won't block up or overflow while you're away. Wash the filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.
--------------------
If you are going for more than 2 weeks (eg: a month), then do the above and get someone to feed the fish once or twice a week. Measure out a single portion of food and put it into small plastic containers or ziplock bags. Put a date on each bag for when it should be used and get the person to add the contents of one bag on each of those dates. No other food should be offered and don't add extra food to the bags. Just put in a single feeding per bag.
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