Lethargic Platy and white spots on Mollie fin?

[(GTV)Chris]

Hi

In breif,

Mickey mouse Platy has become very lethargic and hangs around in the plant, only eating occaisionally...he used to be so lively
Silver Mollies developing little wjite spots on the tail fin, they are still quite lively tho.
I do a water change every other weekend 30%.
Recently did a 50% change..It is a 10 gallon tank.
Recent filter change
No recent additions apart from little baby Mollies (9 of em)
I use a stress coat and zyme each change.

What should I be looking for and is it treatable.

Please help...I thought I had done everything right. Not easy this is it

Any help really appreciated,.

Chris

 

[BobK]

White spots could be Ich. What are your water readings for Ammonia/Nitirite/Nitrate?? When you do pwc's, do you use aged water or add a dechlorinator? I'm not sure if the stress coat and stress zyme have a dechlorinator in it. How is the temperature in the tank and is it constant? What other sources of stress might your fish be suffering from? What do you mean by filter change exactly? Is there any other information you could provide? Sorry to hear about your fishies.

 

[(GTV)Chris]

Hi,

I add a stress coat which is supposed to de chlorinate the water. I use tap water add the dechlorinator and leave it for a day before.
I have had the fish for 3 months or so.
Temperature is constant - But I don't know whether the colder weather and central heating have an impact? Is about 24 degrees C ok?
There is a sponge in the filter which was changed.
Cant think they may be stressed?
There was a degree of algea in the tank so I treated it recently along with a wc. That seemed to work fine.
I recently changed food from pelets to flakes.. Might I be over feeding?, they all seem to chomp it up with minimal waste.
I think that is about it...I am new to this so you have to forgive my innocence, i checked the water not that long ago with my local aquarium shop and it was ok, but it may have changed since then and I am not sure how to test it.

best

Chris

 

[BobK]

Hi Chris,

It's usually better to rinse the media (sponge) in tank water than put in a new one, as long as it is not so clogged water won't go through it. The filter manufacturors tell you to change it monthly so they can sell you more. The problem is when you change it you lose a lot of your bio-filter (beneficial bacteria). A healthy tank should be able to handle it w/o a problem.

I'd test for Ammonia and Nitrite for starters. Both should be zero in a completely cycled tank. If you're showing anything above zero for either one, the lethargy could be a symptom of ammonia or nitrite poisoning. That would require daily testing and partial water changes until the readings are zero for several days. This puts stress on the fish which can lead to disease and Ich is very common. They say it is present in every tank in an inactive state just waiting for a stressed out fish with a weakened immune system.

I'm not too familiar with temperatures in Celcius so I used a calculator. There is a link to a calculator under Tropical Chit Chat. 24C is around 75F. I like to keep my tanks at 78F or about 25.6C. Low water temp or fluctuating temperatures can cause stress too.

It's hard to tell w/o seeing a picture of your mollies but it sounds like Ich. Can you post a pic? Does it look like small grains of salt? Are the fish flashing, rubbing or scratching against a rock or gravel? This is a sign of Ich. I hope this helps. Let us know how things are coming along. Don't get discouraged. I wish I found this site when I was first beginning. I had a terrible bout of Ich in one of my tanks. The good thing is there are so many people on this site that have a wealth of knowledge. Hopefully it's something easily fixed that I'm overlooking.

Bob

 

[Def]

To add, there's no problems keeping your platy in 24 degree water, that's the usual temp for my platys too.

 

[(GTV)Chris]

Thank you for replies. Good advice.
The white spots look an uneaven shape and are mainly on the tail, larger thatn grains of salt.
I have noticed a volume of what appears to be a sort of transparant fungus on the ceramic rocks at the bottom of the tank....
I have no Idea what this is...I try to keep the tank as clean as possible
I am rubbish at this it seems.
Does anyone know what this could be and is it an emergency to get my fish out of there and give the tank a service?

Best wishes

Chris

 

[BobK]

Chris, it could be some algae which is nothing to worry about. Don't get down on yourself. This happens to everbody at some point. Look at it as a learning experience. Would you be able to post some pics of this "transparent fungus" and the white spots? I still think it could be Ich. It's a very common and persistent pest.

 

[(GTV)Chris]

Ok, I will get my digital camera out.
Just for my info...I am assuming that using a flash at close quaters could cause the fish a lot of trouble..
I will try with the lights turned on.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Def]

FYI Ich spots can be varying sizes, and often bigger than you'd expect. So don't rule out ich especially if it's on the fins. For some reason I've never understood ich will attach to fins rather than the body most of the time.

 

[(GTV)Chris]

One of my little Mollies Died last night
I felt very guilty more than sad that I had let her die. I tried the Ich formula but to no avail.
I am convinced this is what it was. But I didn't think it would kill so swiftly..could it be that she may have been old?
I bought a test kit and I am very worried about the results..
Amonia 0.8
Nitrite 0.1
Ph 6.5
Nitrate 75mg ( this is the one...I am sure the test was done properly)

Does this sould worrying???

I am just doing another 30% water change and I will see how it goes. My water is always very murky no matter what i try...any advice?

I have a Java Fern...Is this ok to have?

Cheers

Chris