It started with ich.....Need help fast

[lilmolly]

I bought four female black mollies about a month ago. A week after a bought them two came down with ich. I went to the store and bought some rid ich+ and used them in the 10gal, not removing the not sick fish. It seemed to improve the condition of the sick fish but it didn't cure it. I moved the two sick fish to a 2gal removed the carbon, did a 20% water change, and added fish. Their are no other fish in that tank just them. Putting them in the 2gal was my last resort because it had only been cycling for 2 weeks when I put them in there. The directions on the rid ick bottle say to add a teaspoon for every 10 gal. Since this is a 2 gal I had to just guess and put a little bit in. Oh, before I put the fish in the tank I had forgot to tell you I have bought another black molly (male) before they broke out with ich and he bred with them so he got it. After 3 or4 days the condition didn't get and better, I think it got worse. The bottle said if the condition doesn't get better to decrease the length inbetween doses and keep the same amount of serving, so I did. It has been 3 or 4 more days of doing that when one night I come home to find them having no ich but instead cateracts on their eyes. I discontinued the treatement and have been observing them closely. I don't know what to do with them and I don't know what this is on their eyes. I went away over the weekend and I come back and one of them has gotten better. Eyes are clearer, maybe almost normal. The other has gotten worse. And the last one has stayed the same, none of them have their fins up though. They seem to swin around the tank like zombees. I don't think it is popeye because I read they only get that when you don't treat them for ich and the condition get worse. What can I do for them?

 

[William]

If the itch has completely gone? Then do a large water change in the two gallon tank but making sure not to upset the filter and make sure to use dechlorinator! I've never had a problem such as the one you describe and it does sound serious, I'm not sure realistically you can do other than keep the water conditions perfect and hope that nature will allow it to heal. Hopefully they shall not get infected and will recover, keep us posted and keep the conditions perfect!!

 

[semper fi]

are you sure that you had ich in the tank? ich looks like someone sprinkled salt on your fish. sounds like you had more of a fungus in the tank. was it a white cottony fluffy growth on the fish? this if left untreated will cover the eyes of the fish and consume the head area.

if you had a fungus and used rid ich then the treatment was incorrect and the problem went further.

maggie

 

[lilmolly]

One fish had a fungus and the other two had ich. I used rid ich+ which cures ich and a wide range of external protozoan and fungal dieases of aquarium fish. As of today the fungal and ich have gone away and their eyes are starting to clear. I think I just put to much in and it shocked them and hurt their eyes. I added the carbon back into the filter and the male fishes eyes are all clear so last night I put him back in the 10gal. As soon as I did that his fin went back up. The only thing I'm worried about is he still, like the other fish, hangs out by the top water surface of the tank all the time. Is there not enough oxgyen in the tank? the other fish, in that tank, don't do that. Do you think that he just needs more time to get back to his old self ?

 

[semper fi]

how long have you been treating the tank for ich? if a fish is showing signs of ich, the parasite is in the host fish. when the signs of ich are not showing in the fish, the parasite can still be in the tank but not on a host fish. the parasite cannot be killed while it is attached to the host. i think that you added the carbon too fast and did not let the treatment get rid of the parasite.

is he hanging out near the top or gasping at the top? aerators do not add oxygen to the tank. they stir up the water which allows for the exchange of gasses and more oxygen to be present in the water column.

maggie

 

[lilmolly]

So your saying that ich is still in the tank but not on my fish, right? Does this mean I should remove the fish before the ich gets to them again? or treat them again? They look to worn out from the last treatment and the bottle says if fish show signs of stress discontinue treatment.

 

[lilmolly]

Oh, I forgot to say I've been treating the ich for 3 weeks now

 

[semper fi]

what i am saying is that most beginners are under the misconception that if the fish is showing signs of ich and they treat for ich and the signs disappear they believe the parasite to be gone. which is not true. you should treat for ich for a week after the fish stop showing the signs. while the fish is displaying the white spots the parasite is attached to the host fish and cannot be destroyed. when the parasite leaves the host fish, the symptons disappear. the parasite is still present in the tank, just not attached to a host fish. you should treat for atleast a week to destroy the parasite.

are the fish showing signs of ich now? if so, i would stop with the rid ich. raise the temp slowly, about a degree every other day to the max allowable for the inhabitants by doing water changes of about 10%. when the fish stop showing the signs of ich i would treat the tank with meds for 7 - 10 days. raising the temp while the fish are showing signs of ich will destroy any of the parasites not attached to a host. since mollies prefer higher temps around 80 degrees, i would raise the temp to that slowly if your tank is not already there.

since mollies are tolerant of salt and it is advised to add salt to a mollies tank, i would add some aquarium salt to the tank if you are not using it already. salt helps the fish with their gill function and will stop the fish from gasping. when a fish is infected or disease they cannot expel the harmful elements from their bodies. salt helps to maintain proper gill function. one well rounded tablespoon of salt for every five gallons of water is the usual dosage. when doing water changes, only add salt to the amount of replacement water.

how often are you doing water changes and what percentage? mollies require good water quality. you should be doing water changes of about 25 % weekly.

hth

maggie