Molly Fish

[sosgal721]

:help:I have one black molly (out of the 4 that I have in my tank) that seems to have a white film or fading, sorta like dry skin but without anything flaking off, it is on the back half of her body, and I have read about 'ich' and I don't think it is that, because there are no spots. (shown in first picture, hard to see but i am hoping that my description helps)
The molly isn't lethargic or anything, but she is shaking left to right, kind of like wobbling when she swims, and she is also making her tail fin straight (it is hard to explain but it is in the second picture) it is normally shaped like a beaker or martini glass...
Water temp is at 78-79, ammonia: .25ppm, nitrite: .5 ppm, nitrate: 40ppm and PH 7.0-7.2.
Any idea of what it might be?
Thanks in advance!!:)

[ThePBM]

try adding stress coat supplements to the tank. i had 3 swordtails that showed the same thing. 2 of them recovered, the other died (but it was never that healthy anyway)

[sosgal721]

ya I tried that a few days ago, didn't work....

Edit: The stuff that I put in before was actually StressZyme, I just put in some StressCoat to see if that helps.

[sosgal721]

Any other ideas? I want to catch this early if it is something that could spread to the other fish.

[jm1212]

your ammoina, nitrite, and nitrate are all to high.
you need to get your ammoina and nitrite to 0 and your nitrate under 20.

[rich311k]

Your tank is not cycled. Start changing 50% of your water for the next few days and then keep a close eye on your parameters and change water as needed.

[sosgal721]

I have been cycling the tank properly (Im not a total newbie).. and I was just concerned that it was a parasite...because I have never seen that on one of my fish before

[amanda_]

It looks and sounds like a fungal infection. Treat it with medication, not salt.

[jonnyfry]

ammonia: .25ppm, nitrite: .5 ppm, nitrate: 40ppm


thats your problem , are you sure those white markings werent there when you got it ?

[silentskream]

I have been cycling the tank properly

not to be critical, but if your ammonia is that high and there's fish in the tank, then you have not been cycling the tank properly. readings that high are fatal if not taken care of immediately, and cause long term damage even if taken care of immediately.

that being said, the fish is likely suffering from a very weak immune system, once the fish is in clean water, turn the temp up and add some salt... i've seen this same kind of thing on our black mollies before, temp and salt seems to help.

[jm1212]

not to be critical, but if your ammonia is that high and there's fish in the tank, then you have not been cycling the tank properly. readings that high are fatal if not taken care of immediately, and cause long term damage even if taken care of immediately.
if they are doing a fishy cycle, then 0.25 ammoina is the max ammount.

now that i think about it, it could be nitrite burn.

dont add any salt. adding any will just stress the fish by changing around the water chemistry.

what is this tank stocked with and how big is it?

[Marinemom]

Your fish is reacting poorly to the water conditions. You should have ammonia and nitrites sitting at 0 and your nitrates should be between 5-20. I would recommend several water changes over the next few days and keep testing the water.

Marinemom

[sosgal721]

if they are doing a fishy cycle, then 0.25 ammoina is the max ammount.

now that i think about it, it could be nitrite burn.

dont add any salt. adding any will just stress the fish by changing around the water chemistry.

what is this tank stocked with and how big is it?

I have to agree with your interpretation since .25 is the next reading above 0 on the test kit. To be more accurate it is between 0 and .25, but saying I had zero is wrong and anything else is just guessing. The nitrite is between .25 and .5.

The tank is a 55 and all of the inhabitants from our previous 20 gallon tank were transfered along with the water, rocks, filter media, and plants. There were 24 fish in the 20 gallon, 15 small mollys, 4 baby platys, 2 adult mollys, one small pleco, and one guppy. The fish fit fine in the 20 since they were all small except 3, but we wanted to give them more room to grow. Since setting up the 55 Gallon a couple more fish were added(mollys, swordtails, and guppys)

Only 2 of the baby black mollys have this issue, with the only other problems being a guppy that didn't like the temperature of the aquarium that has since been lowered to 78.5 and another guppy that rubs itself against the gravel every once in a while.

[sosgal721]

ammonia: .25ppm, nitrite: .5 ppm, nitrate: 40ppm


thats your problem , are you sure those white markings werent there when you got it ?

We have had the 2 black mollys in question since they were born a couple of months ago.

[Espada]

I have been cycling the tank properly (Im not a total newbie)...

He's just trying to help and no offense, but if you weren't a newbie you would know that results like ammonia 0.25ppm, nitrite: .5 ppm, nitrate: 40ppm are probably the reason why your molly is in such a bad shape and why more fish will likely follow. I wouldn't be surprised if he was exposed to much higher values in the days before. Bring the numbers down with daily water changes and put the molly in a hospital tank with proper medication if necessary.

[Rbishop]

The poor water quality is definitely not helping the situation.