sick mollies

[Angel Lady]

I have three mollies and i changed thier water and one of them is starting to swell up and it looks like her scales are gone im not for sure would some one give me some advice and help me save my molly i am just crazy about all three of them,and one more question one of my mollys jumped out of the water while i was doing a water change it must have been out of the water for seven or eight minutes but when i found him he was barley moving do you think he will make it he seems to be breathing ok now but he scared the daylights out of me

 

[lilmolly]

I don't know that much about dropsy because my fish have never gotten it but that really sounds like that you have. here is an article about it.

With Dropsy, the fish take on a bloated appearance, so much so that it looks as if it will burst at any moment. The scales stand out from the body, and sometimes even the eyes will bulge.
A fish will suddenly develop dropsy for no apparent reason, but luckily, it is never an epidemic, and after the removal of the sick one, no other precautions are necessary to safeguard the others. Up until 1970, there was no cure, but if I find something in my research, I will add it as quickly as possible. If you have a fish with Dropsy, Then my recommendations are to put it out of it’s misery as soon as symptoms are spotted, because the disease will prove fatal in roughly three weeks after acquired, during which time the sick fish will undergo a great mount of suffering.
This disease is nothing more than horrible, and I hope that none of your fish get it.

 

[William]

Hi fksam! The abreviation for such a long name!

Dropsy is primarily caused by poor water conditions -do you have some test kits for your water if so what are your ammonia nitrIte and nitrAte readings like, it sounds like you could be going through a cycle, doing a water change was the right idea, keep on doing them - about 20% a time and make sure to treat the tap water to remove chlorine.

How long have you had your fish for? And when did you get the tank? What is the size of the tank?

The one which jumped out may survive, its hard to tell without seeing the fish 7-8 minutes is a long time but fish are tough and mollies are some of the toughest.

Go to your LFS and ask them for some treatment for dropsy as it is commercially available I would reccomend some but I have never had to use any.

Good luck and keep us posted on your fish's progress!

 

[William]

i am still worried but i dont think it is dropsy. I have a 20 gallon long I just got it but i didnt have any ideal that they had to be cycled first.I got some test kits the ammonia was high it was the third one down I cant seem to get it down I bought some ammonia detox it is called MarPlex it is made by Mardel. The vet gave me a antibiotic called Erythromycin it has helped one of the mollys the other one is staying in one place she is eating now but she isnt running with the other two yet and both of them are going to have babies.The one that jumped out of the water is fine now.How can I get that ammonia down it is killing my sharks off 2 of them are sick now when they stay in one place and dont chase the other fish away from thier home then i know they are something wrong.some one please help me out .I have had fish going on four months now I took the fish out of the new tank and but them back in the 10 gallon.Some one please help me, Thank you very much Diane

 

[gadazobe]

If the ammonia is causing a problem, get some ammo lock. It doesn't get rid of the ammonia - so the tank will still cycle - but even though it registers it won't harm your fish. If you've tried this and still have problems, do a water change. It will increase the time of cycling the tank, but it will keep your fish alive.