Slime? Fungus?? Help diagnose?

[ajhainey]

My 180 litre tank (see sig) contains a fair few fish but after a missed water change three of them have developed a problem. First, last Friday my nearly black marble mollie started to 'swim in place' - you know where they just kind of hang swimming listlessly in a shady spot and looking generally fed up with life. Finally I managed to see him at the front of the tank and saw that he also had what looked like grey edges to his scales - so instead of his usual seamless black he looks like something a kid might draw - you could see every scale....Checked the tank and noticed one other (smaller, juvy) mollie was also sick the same way - on him it seemed like there might be a slight general covering of grey also...no sticking out scales, no spots...I did a double change of water and put in a half dose of Interpret Anti-slime and velvet. The smaller molly dies overnight I think but the black one seemed to be recovering....I didn't check readings but assumed a double change would have solved the underlying water quality issue....

Saturday I noticed another marble molly with the same problem...hanging in place, swimming awkwardly and with a 'grey' tinge and very obvious grey edges to every scale....Now I can also see two or three white spots on both of them, but bigger than ich spots...fungus? Parasite??

I've done another double water change (40 litres) on Sat and nitrate is down to ~15 which is low normal for my tank but he doesn't seem to be improving.

Both fish are still eating - once they notice food is being served - they are slow to notice but able to compete reasonably once they do. And both are capable of swimming around at speed if say chased, or to get food, although they don't look quite as co-ordinated and flexible as the others...

Just wondered if anyone could help me diagnose the problem....it doesn't look like anything I've seen before so I'm not really sure what to do to help!

Any ideas? Thanks in advance,

aj xx

 

[ajhainey]

I should add the tank has been set up since about April, and has been stable (no new fish) and disease free since August...I haven't recently changed the filter (fluval 4) and am happy the tank is cycled...I have had a bit of a remodel, changed half the tank to gravel and added new plants & bogwood but that was a good three weeks before, and everything seemed to be fine afterwards.

I usually waterchange weekly, taking out ~30 litres and vaccing all the gravel I can get to (i.e not under a rock/holding down a plant). I use aquaplus and do not add anything else to my water....

The tank is fairly heavily planted (12 plants, 3 big ones) but not to the level special eqpt is needed for plants to thrive. I do not run an airstone....

Thats all I can think fo you might want to know! Anything else just ask!

aj xx

 

[WILDER]

I would do another water change and add some salt to the tank, also I would recommend doing a salt bath with the fishes that have grey around the scales.

 

[ajhainey]

I shifted both fish to a hospital tank last night and added salt and melafix, plus Interpret anti fungus and finrot as the anti slime and velvet had done nothing in the other tank.

Tha black molly was in a _very_ bad way when I found him in the main tank and moved him - basically just lying on his side doing nothing under a rock although he did manage to swim around when I tried to catch him...The marble molly was doing better but not great swimming listlessly and seeming very 'sick'.

This morning both are lying upside down in the hospital tank, I think the black one is dead, I'll see if the other one has made it when I get back from work tonight

I wouldn't be so bothered if I'd ever managed to work out what was _wrong_ with them...it now looks like it might be fungus/slime or something in their gills as there is definately white stuff around them....

Oh well, at least the other fishies seem ok, and the tank is fine: nitrate 10ppm, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, p.h 7.9

aj xx