Mollie Fish

[feefeefreckles21]

hi i am a beginner to tropical fish i have had my mollies for 2 months and one of them has red marks on its lips and one side of the gill on her cheak for approx 2 weeks. there is no changes in behaviour she is eating well and is still very active should i be worried about these marks not sure what they are if anyone could help me that would be great thanks

 

[fishyfeet]

sounds like ammonia poisening, what are your tank specs, do you test your water, what type of filter, did you cycle the tank before adding fish, ?

 

[feefeefreckles21]

i have a 60l tank i tested my water before i put my fish in and havent done one since i need some testers i cycled the tank for 4 weeks before putting the fish in my filter is medium size i done a water change about a month ago.

 

[KittyKat]

+1 sounds like ammonia poisoning.

i have a 60l tank

A bit on the small side for mollies.

i tested my water before i put my fish in and havent done one since i need some testers

Make sure you get liquid test kits, in the meantime, can you take some water to an LFS to test?

i cycled the tank for 4 weeks before putting the fish in my filter is medium size i done a water change about a month ago.

How did you cycle? Describe all the details. Did you add a source of ammonia? Did you do a qualifying week?

 

[feefeefreckles21]

+1 sounds like ammonia poisoning.

i have a 60l tank

A bit on the small side for mollies.

i tested my water before i put my fish in and havent done one since i need some testers

Make sure you get liquid test kits, in the meantime, can you take some water to an LFS to test?

i cycled the tank for 4 weeks before putting the fish in my filter is medium size i done a water change about a month ago.

How did you cycle? Describe all the details. Did you add a source of ammonia? Did you do a qualifying week?

i added stress coat solution biological filteration booster and tap water conditioner. whats a qualifying week? it says on instructions for the filteration booster to add 10ml per 10 gallons on the 1st 7th and 14th day and then 5ml per 10 gallons weekly the other only add when doing water changes and when a fish is injured or has diseaes p.s i am finding it hard to work out how to use this forum and will get a bigger tank if needed?

 

[the_lock_man]

i have a 60l tank i tested my water before i put my fish in and havent done one since i need some testers i cycled the tank for 4 weeks before putting the fish in my filter is medium size i done a water change about a month ago.

WOuld I be right in assuming that you just left the filter switched on for 4 weeks, and that you didn't add any form of ammonia during that time? So many people do that, unfortunately that does nothing to help grow bacteria in your filter, and it does sound like you've done the same thing.

Ordinarily, water changes need to be a weekly maintenance task, rather than monthly. I say ordinarily, because I also suspect that these red marks are a sign of ammonia poisoning. THe fish produce ammonia as a waste product and this poisons them. If we're all correct in our assumption, you need to be changing water daily, until your filter has enough bacteria in it to deal with ammonia (and consequent nitrite). And you won't know that until you get yourself a liquid-based test kit.

If you answer the questions that various people have asked you, it will clarify things, and you'll get a stack of top-notch advice on the best way forward.

 

[feefeefreckles21]

yes u are correct although i have used chemical aswell the stess coat stuff when doing the water chages shall i carry on using the chemicals?

 

[ripil]

when you clean your filter, use the tank water and pick bits off it food, waste etc. that will help out. i really thought it was best to wash it under a tap lol

 

[KittyKat]

yes u are correct although i have used chemical aswell the stess coat stuff when doing the water chages shall i carry on using the chemicals?

What you did was not a cycle, unfortunately. At the end of the 4 weeks, your tank was probably in the same state as at the start. "Biological filteration booster" either does not do anything or sometimes contains a mild ammonia solution.

Stress coat is a dechlorinator. You're in luck because it temporarily converts very harmful ammonia to less harmful ammonium.

Bascially, you are in a fish-in cycle situation. I recommend you read about cycling: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ and try to seed your filter: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/150631-list-of-members-willing-to-donate-mature-filter-media-to-newbies/

For the moment, don't worry about the tank size, concentrate on sorting out your filter. Since you don't have test kits (and it is quite important that you get a set as soon as possible), I recommend that you start doing small, 10% water changes on an hourly basis and gradually increase them to 95% water changes a few times per day over the next few days. This is to reduce the risk of "pH shock" which is what happens if the pH/water hardness changes quickly. I recommend that you use a double dose of dechlorinator and warm water for the water changes, and continue using a dechlorinator which "deals" with ammonia.

Your aim should be to make sure ammonia and nitrite never reach 0.25 ppm and remain as close to 0 ppm as possible. You should only feed every 3rd day until the filter is cycled.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Go to the link under my sig "New to Fishkeeping?" and look for the fish-in cycling steps and follow them. Using "chemical" as well as StressCoat doesn't do anything to cycle the tank, even if it says on the bottle that it will.

The BEST thing to use for cycling a tank is to find someone with an established tank, and ask them for some of their mature filter media, which you could then put in your filter. It will cycle you tank almost immediately.

If you can't do this, then first off do a massive water change with water that's very close in temperature to the tank water and has StressCoat added to it. Get a liquid test kit (API or Nutrafin or others) and test your water every day until the tank is cycled. Change the water every day as well. Once the tank is cycled, then do a good-sized water change once a week, using a gravel vac to get the junk out of the gravel, and rinse the filter media in the old tank water to take care of some of the mulm that forms. Do NOT rinse in tap water.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. Glad you joined us!

 

[the_lock_man]

yes u are correct although i have used chemical aswell the stess coat stuff when doing the water chages shall i carry on using the chemicals?

Stress Coat is a water conditioner. Stress Zyme is the "filtration booster", I use inverted commas, as most people doubt the effectiveness of this stuff.

I'm now even more sure that the red marks are a sign of ammonia poisoning.

Edit: I see KittyKat has given you advice on what to do next - take that advice.

 

[feefeefreckles21]

thankyou so much everyone for your replys i shall start doing water changes and clean my filter with the tank water p.s shall i stop using the filteration booster chemical?

 

[fishyfeet]

so there is your answer you didnt cycle your tank, and the ammonia build up had burnt your fish, a way to keep it down is to do small water changes daily until youve tested and no ammonia is present which has to be the day after a water change not just after a water change. di

 

[HayzH]

def Ammonia poisioning...i bought 3x mollies (as recommended by the LFS ...local fish shop)and they all died in 2days...
these LFS .. all they want to do is sell their stock...they dont care if they dont make it.
I am currently cycling my 3 tanks..its a long process...but totally worth the effort, when i can finally have happy healthy fish.
As you are now in a fish-in cycle i strongly suggest you do a VERY big water-change and get those ammonia levels down ASAP
secondly get liquid water testing kits and test that water. You are now a water change machine!!!

EDIT...keep the stresscoat..but dump the zyme in the BIN!!

 

[feefeefreckles21]

ok thanks i will do a water cahange straight away afer work tonight i will throw the zyme stuff thanks