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White dots on mollies

Fishexpert1996

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Hi all,

I have a 120litre tank with filter and heater, setup for 2months.
My mollies (3 of them) have developed white spots and patches as shown in the photo. I use the black molly as it’s easier to see.
I have bought white spot and parasite treatment though the infection doesn’t seem to be cleared.
Any suggestions?

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Hi all,

I have a 120litre tank with filter and heater, setup for 2months.
My mollies (3 of them) have developed white spots and patches as shown in the photo. I use the black molly as it’s easier to see.
I have bought white spot and parasite treatment though the infection doesn’t seem to be cleared.
Any suggestions?

View attachment 135063View attachment 135064
It looks close to dalmatian molly markings. Anyone else think so too? Usually, when a fish feels safe and secure, they will begin to grow new markings on their body. My dalmatian molly has begun to get quite a few black spots when she used to be a majority white. My bumblebee platy did the same thing.

Thats all I can think of because it doesn't look like ich to me....
 
I don’t think the molly feels safe and secure.

it keeps breathing at the top of the tank and flaps its fins contantly
 
I don’t think the molly feels safe and secure.

it keeps breathing at the top of the tank and flaps its fins contantly
Breathing at the top of the tank indicates lack of oxygen. Add an air stone or decrease water level to allow more air bubbles to develop on the surface.

Flapping its fins is okay... clamped fins is what you should be worried about.
 
If it's not ich, then maybe a fungus? It looks sort of fuzzy in places, unless it's just the blur...
I was thinking so too but the whole picture is a bit blurry so I don't think it is fungus. If the OP got a still picture of it- that might help.
 
It could possibly be a costia infection. It would have been introduced at some point via fish or plants. Or it could be fungal, but that would be more likely if your tank maintenance hasn’t been so good. Seachem Paraguard would be a good option to try because it treats both and doesn’t harm biofilter or stress fish.
 
It's a bit hard to tell due to the blurry pictures but it looks like excess mucous, which is normally caused by poor water quality or something in the water irritating the fish.

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How long has the tank been set up for?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it looked like that?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

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Test your water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
 

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