Mollie - red spot on gill

[Tiffyfish]

Some of our "teenaged" mollies have been developing little red spots on their gills, either one side or both. The spot ranges in size from 1-2 mm and may or may not disappear over time. We had lost a few fish several weeks ago, but so far the others have been ok.

We haven't added new fish/plants for the past year (though our Mommy Mollie had 2 litters of fish this past year). We've been needing to watch our Ph as it falls fairly often. Usu Ammonia/Nitrites are ok, but now and then will spike. Right now they are all almost all perfect (Ph 6.6, Ammonia .25, Nitrite .25). We still need to monitor, though. We top off with treated water almost daily, 1 gallon to a 44 gallon tank (never all at once after a water change).

Can you tell me what is happening with our fish, if they may need treatment or if we need to do something with our water? We have an African frog, loaches and a few varieties of catfish, as well as Plecs, Gouramis & Tetras, so want to be sure any antibiotic we add would not hurt or kill these other varieties.

Thank you!

 

[William]

Has anything been added to your tapwater supply that you are aware of? If your tank has been set up a year ammonia and nitrIte should both be 0... do you wash out your filter in old tank water or under a tap

Are you dechlorinating the water?

Is it just the mollies which have these red marks, did the dead fish show any signs? Do you think the red marks could be colouration of the adult mollies, are they on both male and female?

I'm not too good on my diseases but it sounds like something to do with the water quality rather than anything else, someone around here said 90% of problems are due to water quality keep that good and you don't have to worry about your fish.

You say you "top off" is this to replace evapourated water? or do you water changes and if so do you do 1 gallon water change a day? It may be more feasible to do about 20% once a week. Do you use a gravel cleaner to hoover up the waste in the gravel?

Have you noticed any other problems?

I wouldn't reccomend any meds yet because it doesn't sound like disease more like sores...
Sorry took so long to reply I was waiting for someone who's experienced this and is more knowledgable but perhaps they didn't read this yet, all the best and welcome to the forum ...

 

[Tiffyfish]

Thank you for such a detailed response. The young mollies that died didn't appear to have red spots, at least that we could see. It is only the baby mollies that are affected, adult mollie is fine, no spots. Not sure if males, females or both are being affected.

They all remain fairly active. There are two that I've noticed who are having a hard time swimming properly - seems as though their boies are not normal at the area between the stomach and tail, this area looks "bent" quite a bit of the time and am unsure what this means. This has been the case for at least a week.

With a water change, we remove about 25-30% of the water and just refill gradually with Stresscoat treated water. At first, we add about 3 gallons of fresh water. Later we add a gallon here and there gradually. We let the water sit anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days, usu at least 1/2 a day. Concerned about too much change, temp or other.

We syphon the tank at least once a month, sometimes once every couple of weeks if water quality is not hot. Change filter pieces (carbon, foam...) one at a time. Usually run pieces that have established good bacteria under treated water lightly, but have run fresh tap water over new pieces, then rinse off with treated water.

Should any of these steps change?

 

[William]

From what you describe it sounds like a genetic problem, it may be harsh but only the fittest will survive if at all. Over the years many of the livebearers which breed so readily have become extremely inbred that they have weakness's which become prevalent. Keep the water quality of the tank up and some may survive but I would suggest its poor quality parents and is not going to be a problem that goes away in the future and the young which survive will undoubtably pass on the faulty genes to their offspring too. Theres not really anything you can do to help your fish or there young I'm afriad just let nature take its course

 

[Tiffyfish]

Well, that's not so good news. We'll try to keep the water as best as possible then...

 

[William]

Good luck and keep us posted on their progress

 

[Orbitorly]

Could you find a picture of this red spot on the gills, so I can correcyly and better diognose the problem.

Healthy gills are recognized by their bright red color and by not sticking toghter.