mollie has no lip

[NuSkool]

Hey All,
My mollie has had what I thought was mouth rot for a couple of weeks now, but on reading past forum topics I'm not quite sure. Her lip just kinda started disappearing, no protrusions or cottony bits, just flesh. Now, her top lip is completely gone, but she still manages to eat blood worms, flakes and pellets after theyve softened in the water.
Anyway, when I noticed it, I went to the lfs and they told me to use triple sulfa. I removed the carbon from my filter and am now on to my third dose, and there's still no improvement.
She seems fine, still being the dominant fish in the tank, loving her food and harrassing all the other fish, but she just looks awful. Shes the biggest normal mollie I've ever seen at 8cm long and I really don't want to lose her seeing as how she's acting pretty normal.
The guy at the lfs said I should freeze her if the lip hasn't healed after the third dose, and I did the last dose on Monday night. It's been 10 days of treatment now and I'm anxious to put the carbon back in the filter and hope that the other fish in the community don't catch it. But what do I do with mollie? Her lip just keeps on disappearing! There's even a kinda hole at the side where it joins the bottom lip!
I've been doing 25% water changes each day before I've put the meds in and the parametres are fine.
Help?

Thanks Guys,
NS

 

[fishdude]

well i have no clue. do you notice any wierd behavior or anything attached to it's body?

 

[NuSkool]

Yeah, she seems to run her lip up and down the glass all the time (but she's done that since I got her). And tonight I noticed her swimming head up, tail down...


NS

 

[Angel Lady]

do you have a sick tank if not walmart sells a 2 gallon tank for around 20 bucks if it were me I would use maracyn1 and maracyn 2 sometimes they do good together if she isnt responding to the other medicine then I would try this have you gave her a salt dip mollies thrive on salt do you have any salt in the water with her now. Can you post a picture ? is they anyway possile she could be cutting her lips on something in your tank they could be a sharp edge on something in your tank that your are over looking be some odd chance. The freezer thing wouldnt even cross my mind I cant stand the thoughts of doing that to the poor thing.

 

[NuSkool]

Thank You So Much for the Reply!!!!!!
I actually did have a hospital tank fully set up with everything...until it got filled with fish
I have a spare tank, but don't have a heater or light for it. Would she be okay with just a filter, gravel and plants if I sat the tank kinda near a heater and the other tank?
I don't add salt to the tank, as I have 2 corys in it, but I'll give her a salt dip in the morning for sure! I've got aquarium salt for that.
She can't be cutting her lip on anything in the tank... i only have soft driftwood and plants in there, and I checked the wood totally before I put it in. I'll suss it out again though, just to be sure.
I'll post a pic tomorrow.
Tonight I also noticed white/clear stringy poo/mucus hanging from her... thats pretty serious from what I've read. Is maracyn still the way to go? (Have to pick some up on the weekend) Keep going with the triple sulfa till then?

Sorry for the bombarding of questions though,
NS

 

[semper fi]

white stringy poo is a sign of internal parasites. i would not use maracyn II it is used for external parasites. maracyn is what you want to use for internal. i would also use aquarium salt. the proper dosage is one rounded tablespoon for every five gallons of water. salting only replacement water. also remember to remove your carbon if you use it. carbon will remove the meds from the water making treatment ineffective.

semper fi

 

[NuSkool]

So should I put her in a tank with no heater or light for the treatment or is it cool to treat the whole community tank (for more than 2 weeks)? Considering I have cories and havent used carbon for 2 weeks.... Hmmm...

 

[Angel Lady]

it should be warmer enough outside to where a heater shouldnt matter I know it is where I live my heater hasnt run all summer you should be just fine without it How is your molly doing?

 

[Feline]

It'll be better to treat the whole tank if u found internal parasite on one fish coz it's contagious. IMO the parasite could possibly b the one that's eating up the lip as well ...

 

[Angel Lady]

i have never heard of a parasite that eats the lips off from fish before but I havent been keeping fish for just about a year I guess I just havent runn across this before I'm not saying that it cant happen I'm just saying that i've never seen it before or read about it any

 

[Feline]

Well, bcoz the parasites can attack sensory pores, so perhaps they'll attack the lips as well, but that's just a thought, hav never occured to me nor hav I ever heard of it tho

 

[Angel Lady]

salt is good for parasites mabey if you salt dip her it may kill them if that is what it is. The reason I ask about your hospital tank is because the medicine will mess up your cycle even though it says it wont I put some maracyn in with my fish in my 20 gallon and I had to start over with my cycling . But if it is parasites then the rest of your fish will more than likely get them to so it isnt going to matter anyways. You said that you already used the triple sulfa so more than likely it is already messed up. I hope that your molly gets better I cant stand to hear of anyone losing thier babies it breaks my heart. I hope she gets better for what it is worth. Please let me know what happens if she gets better or the other either one ok.

 

[Feline]

Salt treatment will help erasing those external parasites but I doubted on the effects on internal parasites.

R there any alternatives to using maracyn then? There r other kinds of antibiotics, but without prescription from the vet or someone who knows what they r doing, I won't say which one to use or wot dosage, coz either they'll get immune to the antibiotics if not added corrrectly or it'll b too strong for the fishies... all i can say is to either have a search on antibiotics options for treating internal parasites or ask opinions of a vet in ur local area. I think they won't charge u for anything just to phone up n ask a couple of questions!

 

[NuSkool]

I added another dose of triple sulfa last night, and gave molly a salt bath, but I don;t think she's long for this world... the bottom lip now has two big holes either side, so I think it's just a matter of time before that one goes too. I'll go to the lfs tomorrow and see what else can be done. I'm actually in Australia so it's our winter at the moment... so my heater has been cranking for a couple of months now, I guess I should have said that before.
One of my scissor tail rasboras has cottony white stuff around its mouth now, so a hospital tank would be ideal for them... but its probably only 20-22C in my loungeroom so I dunno. Leads me to believe it was mouth fungus after all.
Poor Molls. I noticed her poo last night was like bright green, and a couple of her scales were sticking out. Awww
Thanks for all your help guys, any more you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
NS

 

[Mogo]

Hi NuSkool...

This is what it sounds like to me. The white stringy pooh is most probably caused by internal parasites, either worms or protazoan (although there is a slight chance it could be bacterial). The mouth rot is occuring as a secondary infection as a result of fish stress, and vitamin deficiency as the worms/protozoans are stealing the nutrients from your fish. The mouth rot is caused by opportunistic bacteria that infect sick, weak, stessed fish or fish with open wounds. In this situation, I would take care of the internal problems first.