Molly With Problems

[kadkins20]

ok, to make a long story short, i had been having major problems with mollies. my brother insisted that mollies are simply "bad fish" but i knew there had to be a reason why they weren't living past 72 hours. After losing a lot of them, i finally swore off mollies... but somehow, two of them survived and have been going strong for a couple weeks now (both are pregnant ). Anyway, i later learned that the lfs had been losing fish from that tank for what appeared to be no reason >.> like they couldnt have told me to wait or get some different kinds >.>

but one of them has been acting strangely lately, she's been a bit lethargic and has started eating a lot less, and she's kinda swimming like she's got the shimmies. I was thinking maybe she was just constipated and i was gonna cook up some peas for them, but today i noticed a strange symptom: instead of normal feces, she has a long white strand coming out of her body. I guess it might be a worm, but i wanted some advice before i medicated my fish

anyway, thanks for any advice ill be back to check on this in an hour or so.

 

[cutiestarangie]

ok, to make a long story short, i had been having major problems with mollies. my brother insisted that mollies are simply "bad fish" but i knew there had to be a reason why they weren't living past 72 hours. After losing a lot of them, i finally swore off mollies... but somehow, two of them survived and have been going strong for a couple weeks now (both are pregnant ). Anyway, i later learned that the lfs had been losing fish from that tank for what appeared to be no reason >.> like they couldnt have told me to wait or get some different kinds >.>

but one of them has been acting strangely lately, she's been a bit lethargic and has started eating a lot less, and she's kinda swimming like she's got the shimmies. I was thinking maybe she was just constipated and i was gonna cook up some peas for them, but today i noticed a strange symptom: instead of normal feces, she has a long white strand coming out of her body. I guess it might be a worm, but i wanted some advice before i medicated my fish

anyway, thanks for any advice ill be back to check on this in an hour or so.

i had that with my molly 2 weeks or so ago if you see the worm kill it and try to treat your fish if youve got another tank treat them, while sorting out the other tank then in a week stick them in there i did that then done a full clean with the tank they were in before then stuck them back in

by any chance was the worm really thin and white because thats what i had, if it is, melafix and pimafix together will not get rid of it, try something else

hope that was useful

the shimmies would be a normal disease treat it before it gets bad mollies are quite weak when they have diseases its hard to get rid of them

 

[kadkins20]

the wom is very long (longer than my fish) and extremely thin, almost transparent

its still attached to my fish

 

[squeakytoy]

Are you sure that it is not fish poo? Sounds like it could be an internal parasite or infection that is making the poo long and stringy. I lost all my dwarf gouramis to this kind of stuff. I didnt know much about treatment then, but the faster you can treat the better the odds. treat with an anti bacterial / anti parasite??? Sorry, not an expert...

 

[kadkins20]

the thing that concerns me most is that it was nearly clear

im not sure it was a worm... it finally detached and i kinda examined it, and it didnt appear to be alive, but it was definitely not normal poo in any way at all

 

[kadkins20]

alright, i have determined it is likely not worms, and is most likely something else, since i know it isnt normal

what causes long stringy poos - and in one case loss of appetite/general unhealthiness?

and how do i treat it?

 

[cutiestarangie]

alright, i have determined it is likely not worms, and is most likely something else, since i know it isnt normal

what causes long stringy poos - and in one case loss of appetite/general unhealthiness?

and how do i treat it?

well i saw a thing like that but it moved it wasnt attached to my molly well i dont think so it might have been the one i had was long thin white stringy ish but it moved it climbed up the glass then i killed it so i now keep an eye out but im looking for treatmentsor wat it was

 

[LauraFrog]

Long stringy clear poo, pooing mucus or pooing bits of poo connected by mucus or clear strands IS parasites. They are not the acutal parasites you are seeing, these are the symptoms. They can cause shimmying. Treat the whole tank with pyrantel, praziquantel, trichlorforon or levimasole (sp?) These are the best meds, there are some others. Use a specific anti-parasitic medication. Adding melafix and pimafix does nothing, it won't help with parasites. You also need to add salt to the water, AT LEAST 2tsp/gallon for keeping mollies is the minimum. If the other fish in the tank will not tolerate tis much salt I recommend you rehome the mollies. They are brackish fish and not suitable for the general FW aquarium. Maybe it's a good idea to swear off mollies - I've had to, I can't keep them alive either.

 

[kadkins20]

could you tell me what the active ingredients in those are? the medications might be different here in the states, and i will definitely go pick some up tomorrow

and i have added a fair amount of salt to my tank, against the advice of my brother and most of the people on these forums cuz i also have a couple catfish. My lfs uses a tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons in all their tanks, so at any rate at least the catfish i buy dont have to live in as much salt.

and if they dont make it i doubt ill buy any more... still though, i finally have a reason for why theyve all died - clearly there was something wrong in the tank they had them in at my lfs