Mollies

[Robynhoods]

So update,

All of them are pretty much getting big eyes. So I guess y'all were right. I'm probably going to lose them all because of this. I tried so hard to keep them healthy.

 

[Colin_T]

have you managed to get some medication containing methylene blue, malachite green and formaldehyde? if not try to get some asap and start treating the tank.

if you can't get the medication yet, and there are only mollies in the tank, then increase the salt level, add 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water. Mollies can live in sea water so the salt will not harm them. But you need some medication asap and you need to increase the hardness asap.

If the ammonia and nitrite levels are down to 0 you can reduce how often you do the water changes. But continue to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels and do more water changes if it goes back up.

 

[Robynhoods]

Hey there,

So my fish miraculously survived. I thought they were going to die because all of their eyes were swollen and they were acting very unusual plus the other person said they would. None of the stores around me have the medicine you talked about so we had to order it but it's taking awhile to get here. I've reduced the amount of water changes I'm doing and also increased the aquarium salt.

They are all looking better and back to their usual selfs but Ryder has the raised scales on the left side of her tail. The patch is just a tad bit bigger than it has been before and the scales are cloudy but they have no growth or anything on them. She has also been glancing off of stuff and itching.

She also has been doing something I've never seen her do before. When she's sitting still, she starts like shaking. It's like small, full body tremors.

I don't know what to do for her anymore. I have been expecting them all to die and I was okay with it. I'm not sure if there is anything I can do for her.

 

[Colin_T]

add another heaped tablespoon of salt for every 20 litres of water. If you get enough salt in the water it will kill any parasites on their bodies and buy you some more time until the medications arrive.

 

[Robynhoods]

Incoming pictures

The spot that I worry about the most is under/behind her gills. You can see in the photos that they are a little raised and darker than the rest of her body/kind of greenish/cloudy. There isn't any growth on them, like fuzzy or anything, and nothing external attached to her. I've looked everywhere to see why her scales raise like this but I can't find an answer.

Another pet that worries me is her lips still being semi white-ish around. Like they were when they appeared to be bruised but the swelling has gone down. I don't know why it's still there, and I'm pretty positive that is not how her lips looked before this whole fiasco.

I got methylene blue medicine so far because I had not been able to find a medicine that contains two or all three of the ones you suggested. I'm preparing to set up the hospital tank again and have it running over night so that I can move her and treat her tomorrow. Because it says to NOT do it in the full tank. I'm supposed to be getting the malachite green medicine by tomorrow. Not quite sure what to do.

Another one of my fish is pregnant again (like insanely pregnant). I'm wondering if maybe Ryder has trouble being pregnant, because my one male in the tank is pretty... friendly with the ladies. With my other fish, she's so pregnant she's having to really work at moving around. I'll add a photo of her as well.

 

[Colin_T]

If she is eating I wouldn't worry too much about the green/ gold patches/ spots. It could be damaged scales, excess mucous or just the light reflecting off her due to the angle of the scales. It isn't normal but the only parasite that appears as gold in colour is Oodinium (velvet) and that is not velvet.
Just monitor the fish and see how they look in a few weeks. If it gets worse then we can worry about it later.
It could also be natural colouration coming through but wait a bit see how she goes.

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The white lips are probably scar tissue but could be an infection. The methylene blue will treat it if the problem is fungal or bacterial.

Methylene blue is best used in a separate tank because it kills filter bacteria and stains silicon blue.

You can set up the quarantine/ hospital tank using water from the main tank. Then move the fish straight into it. Have an air stone and the methylene blue and put a cover on it to stop them jumping out. Don't feed the fish much while they are in the hospital tank. Each day you should wipe the inside of the glass, drain the tank and replace the water with water from the main tank. Add some more methylene blue to the hospital tank after refilling it. Then just top up the main tank, and add salt to the main tank.

At this stage I don't think you need to worry about the malachite green medication. The fish are looking pretty good considering how they were 2 weeks ago.

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For pregnant mollies, just make sure there are lots of plants in the tank. Having floating and submerged plants is helpful because it gives the female a chance to hide from the males. Water Sprite is the best plant for livebearers.

 

[Robynhoods]

Her eyes are getting that white puffy again

 

[Colin_T]

are you still doing water changes and gravel cleans and adding salt to the new water?

make sure you keep doing big water changes and add salt until everything has been good for at least 1 month.

cloudy eyes are normally poor water quality. If the fish have a bacterial of fungal infection then methylene blue will fix it.

 

[Byron]

There is still the issue of the very soft water. Mollies cannot manage in this. No matter what "treatments" you do, they will not recover to good health, I can guarantee it, without harder water.

 

[Robynhoods]

Bryon you really don't help other than making me feel awful.

Yes I'm doing water changed and adding daily, the ph level, nitrite, nitrate, and GH are all where they are supposed to be. The water could be a little bit harder but I'm continuing with the water changes and stuff. I plan on doing the bath for Ryder today after I get home from class.

And I will keep up with the treatments and do everything you tell me to do, Collin. Thank you for your help and keeping me calm throughout this.

 

[Byron]

Bryon you really don't help other than making me feel awful.

Yes I'm doing water changed and adding daily, the ph level, nitrite, nitrate, and GH are all where they are supposed to be. The water could be a little bit harder but I'm continuing with the water changes and stuff. I plan on doing the bath for Ryder today after I get home from class.

And I will keep up with the treatments and do everything you tell me to do, Collin. Thank you for your help and keeping me calm throughout this.

I am trying to help save your fish, nothing more. I've seen nothing in this thread where the GH has been increased. The number indicated in post #22 was around 20 ppm, which is basically 1 dGH. If this is inaccurate, please correct me. But mollies simply cannot last in soft water. And this is likely what is behind the problem.

 

[Robynhoods]

Question, Collin,

Would Reef salt be better than Aquarium salt during the water changes? There is no rift lake salt around us so we've been doing the heaps of aquarium salt.

 

[Byron]

Let me explain about salt, as it may help you understand. Salt can refer to the salts of many different minerals, such as calcium salts, magnesium salts. The rift l;ake salts are these, and the marine salt mix also includes these (check, they probably do). Then there is common salt as most of us use the word, referring to sodium chloride, such as table salt, aquarium salt, sea salt. This can be used effectively for several disease or similar issues, but it is only sodium chloride, not the hard mineral salts like calcium and magnesium. Mollies must have these hard minerals in the water or they will be severely weakened and that means susceptible to other problems, such as what I believe is occurring here.

So the aquarium salt will help, yes, but without adding the hard minerals like calcium and magnesium, thee mollies will not be healthy and not likely recover.

The reef salt, if it contains the hard minerals as well as sea salt, will be OK and advisable. Down the road, you could switch to a calcareous substrate which would be next to permanent and avoid buying the salts.

 

[Colin_T]

Would Reef salt be better than Aquarium salt during the water changes? There is no rift lake salt around us so we've been doing the heaps of aquarium salt.

Yes reef salt is better than aquarium salt because it has calcium and other minerals in it. Whereas aquarium salt is just sodium chloride. And as Byron said, you need to increase the general hardness, so the reef salt used at 1/3 to 1/2 strength will increase the general hardness and the sodium chloride (salt) level in the water. This level of salt will kill most live aquarium plants so if you have live plants, use reef salt at 1/4 to 1/3 strength.

You need to make up marine/ reef salt 24 hours before you use it. You add the salt to a bucket of water and aerate for 24 hours, then you can use it for water changes. If you have asthma or any breathing problems, wear a paper dust mask when handling the reef salt because it is very fine and can cause you to cough if inhaled. It's not poisonous but it can irritate lungs and sinuses for a bit.

If you do add reef salt you can reduce water changes to once a week. However, if you get an ammonia or nitrite reading, then you need to keep doing big water changes and reduce feeding.

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The other thing you can do is add something calcium based (like Byron's suggestion of a calcareous substrate). You can use shells, dead coral skeletons, limestone or sandstone rocks to help raise the pH and hardness. You can buy bags of white shells for use on the bottom of bird cages and these shells can be rinsed and put into a bag that is kept in a power filter. You can do the same thing with coral rubble, available from most petshops in the gravel section.

Calcium based rocks and shells take time to increase the pH and hardness and the more of them that you have in the tank, the faster the water chemistry will change. However, you do not want the pH to change too rapidly because it can be bad for the fish. Having said all that, some shells or limestone would help make the water better for the mollies.

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If you can't find a Rift Lake conditioner at the petshop, see if they can order you some in. Make sure you get a conditioner and not a buffer. The Rift Lake conditioner has all sorts of minerals in it but mainly calcium and magnesium. The Rift Lake buffer is mainly baking soda.

If the local petshop can't order you any in, you can buy it online from numerous places. There are heaps of different brands but they are all pretty much the same. Just find one that has lots of calcium and magnesium in and use that.

 

[Robynhoods]

Question for the hospital tank,

On the directions it says for a dip to only put her in there for no more than 10 seconds... for a bath, that is different correct? How long do I put her in there for? And its roughly 5 gallons so I would add half of a teaspoon...

And okay we will get the reef salt and implement that. We will keep looking for the rift lake conditioner but it is very hard to find.