Pineapple Looking Mollie? Help

[danny ..]

hi guys my mollie iv had for a long time has recently got v fat and all the scales are sticking out? iv read its called dropsy but my question is it gonna effect my other fish ! i did leave it a while befor a cleaned it out last and the tank did need a clean as i found out when i done it but the water test showed it was ok but bit high on the nitrate(or nitrite) cant remember. i will do it again later.
also i did lose a few guppies the other week.they started swimming strange then died!! any help would be great thanks!

 

[scaeriefaerie666]

It sounds like dropsy to me, and there's not a lot you can do about it when it gets to this stage, other than euthanase. You will have to make sure your tank is cleaner than clean and do really regular water changes to get the nitrate/nitrite back to 0 - because its bad water parameters that kickstart dropsy in the first place normally. I'd do a big water change and add some anti-internal bacteria medication if i were you. Dropsy isn't contagious in the normal sense of the word, but if your water parameters are bad then there's a good chance that the others will contract it soon. Clean water and internal bacteria meds are the way to go as far as i'm concerned. It's always steered me right
xxx

 

[loraxchick]

any white stingy poo from the fish or flicking/ rubbing or spitting out food.
Id be tempted to think its parasitic if the guppies were swimming erratically.
try some epsom salt with the molly-1 teaspoon/ gal used as a bath up to 30 mins 2X a day.
best of luck
cheers

 

[scaeriefaerie666]

oh yes, definately try an epsom salt bath - it readjusts their electrolyte balance and lets them expel some of the excess water they're retaining.
xxx

 

[danny ..]

hi guys the fish died but i done a water test 2 days later and all is spot on ,,, 0 0 0. iv allways really looked after my tank,,water changes etc so feel bad but like i said i didnt clean my filter for a while so maybe that was the problem ! thank for the replys tho