Mollies

[Robynhoods]

i have a 20 gallon tank with 7 Mollies - 1 male, 4 female, 2 babies. I have been trying for a long time to get my tank up to a better condition. For the last month or so. One of my Mollies, Ryder, has been having patches of raised scales in certain places. At first the fish store said it was ich, but when we went back, another guy said it was more likely a parasite. I've done 1 treatment with Melafix which didn't seem to help. I have been doing a treatment with Metro+ in their food. I also separated Ryder from the rest via a breeder box, so that she can remain in the water. Her scales looked awful at first but they have gotten better since then. I let her out today and I just found her with majorly swollen lips. I have no clue what is happening but for now I am going to stop the metro+ food. Also I am considering setting up a mini tank for her so that she is separated but still has tank conditions. I'll try to attach photos of her scales and her mouth. If anybody could help please do, I've been stressing for weeks over her.

My aquarium is
ammonia : 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10-20
I have been looking for a tank to upgrade, because I know I have too many fish but I am trying to keep them as healthy as possible. Some friends are going to be taking the two babies out.

 

[Robynhoods]

 

[Robynhoods]

She has begun clamping her find and her tail. She is also wiggling more to try to get around or stay in place instead of using her tail.

 

[Colin_T]

Have you checked the general hardness of the water? if yes how hard is it? if no, go and get the general hardness (GH) checked at the local petshop.

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Wipe the inside of the glass down and then do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean every day for the next 2 weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter. If you have a power filter wash the media out in several buckets of tank water.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of tank water. Add the salt to the buckets of tapwater when you do your water changes. eg: you use a 20 litre bucket, add your dechlorinator and 2 heaped tablespoons of salt, allow it to aerate for 30minutes or longer. Then add that water to the tank.
If you get a 40 or 75 litre plastic bin from the hardware, you can use that for water holding. Just make sure it is free of chemicals and nobody uses it for anything except the fish.

To work out the volume of water:
multiply the length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the gravel to the top of the water level.

Keep salt in the tank from now on.
If your general hardness is low (less than 150ppm), get some Rift Lake Conditioner (in powder form) and add that at half dose. Add the rift lake conditioner to the bucket of water when you add dechlorinator and salt.

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I can't tell anything from the first 2 pictures.
The 3rd picture the fish has puffy white lips that could be bruising from being handled recently and put in the breeding box. Or it could be columnaris. I would say bruising at this stage but monitor closely over the next few days.
If it gets worse over the next 24 hours, and the lips dissolve it is columnaris. If they don't then it is bruising.

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Do not add any medications at this stage.

The fish swimming but going nowhere is shimmying and typical of low hardness and protozoans in the water. The water changes and salt (and rift lake conditioner if needed) should fix the problems.

 

[Robynhoods]

Her eyes are huge her lips are still a little swollen but man...

 

[Robynhoods]

Also, will aquarium salt work or do I specifically need rock salt? It's okay if I do, just want to be sure.

 

[Colin_T]

any salt as long as it is not iodised table salt.
So aquarium salt is fine, or sea salt, or rock salt or swimming pool salt.

Do a big water change and gravel clean, add 2 heaped table spoons of salt per 20 litres of water.
Get some broad spectrum medication that contains Methylene Blue and Malachite Green and Formaldehyde and treat the tank with that.

 

[Robynhoods]

The other fish are starting to bother her.. should I separate her and put her in a little tubberware? Probably not the breeder box again, right?

 

[Colin_T]

if you have a spare 10litre (or bigger) container then move her into that with some tank water and an airstone.
Just tip the water out each day and replace it with some tank water, salt and more medication.

 

[Robynhoods]

Okay, I can set up the bucket I use for changing out the water to be a temp home for her, I have an extra filter as well... thank you so much for your help. Her eyes worry me a lot. I hope she isn't in pain.

 

[Colin_T]

yeah when the eyes bulge like that it's bad. If you can, use a small container to scoop her out of the tank with rather than lifting her out of the water in a net. Just try not to chase her too much and get her treated asap.

 

[Robynhoods]

Okay I got her out without any trouble, waiting for my last bucket to aerate before I set up the temp tank. Do you think I should add some aquarium salt to that as well as tank water?

 

[Colin_T]

I would add salt to the main tank and the bucket. That way when you change the bucket of water with the fish in each day, you can fill up her bucket from the main tank. And if there is anything in the main tank, the salt should help to kill that off too.

 

[Robynhoods]

 

[Byron]

I agree with the salt here as the fish are only mollies, and given the issue. But there are a couple related issues worth mentioning.

First, what are your water parameters? These are GH, KH, pH and temperature. All are critical for mollies in general, and this often impacts other issues.

The other thing is the tank size...mollies are not small fish, attaining 4-5 inches, and need more space with four adult fish. And with three females and one male, you will have fry regularly, and a lot, all of which cannot get eaten. When this one is back to good health, you should consider how to deal/prepare for this.