Mouldy Black Molly

[gyp5y5]

Hi all. I have a problem with my male Black Molly and I wondered if anyone could advise please?

I have had him for 3/4 weeks and bought him with a female and a baby black molly. They were all together in a 3ft tank with other community fish and I believe the female is now pregnant. The stats on that tank are ph 7.4, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 20. A few days ago I noticed what could only be described as mould near his tail. I had noticed that the female and baby seemed to be fussing around his back end and wonder whether it could just be "bruising" of sorts.

I moved the male into a tank on his own on Tuesday and started treating with Protozin which says it is for fungus, whitespot, velvet, Costiasis etc. I put some in the tank on Tuesday, some more yesterday, will be doing again tonight and then am supposed to put in on Sunday (as stated in the instructions). There appears to be no worsening or getting better of said "mould" and it doesn't seem to be distressing him. He is eating well but seems a little out of sorts because of the isolation. I would have left him in the other tank and treated him but I have shrimp in there so have to be careful with medication.

Any ideas what it could be, anyone?

Thanks for your time.

 

[DarthPookie]

Sounds like a fungal problem to me. I had this once with my Mollies...actually I saw the fungus on a dead tetra, and after close inspection of my other fish I saw fungus on the underside of my male black balloon molly. I used Pimafix for a week to correct the problem.

One thing you must remember, when medicating a tank, remove the activated carbon from the filter. Carbon will absorb the meds, and your treatment will have no effect. Maybe this is your problem.

Good luck!

 

[shaggbark]

I second the pimafix. Every few months my black molly will appear with a small bump or "mound" which tends to be lighter than the rest of him, not really white but more of a grey. The first time I saw this I got nervous about it and just kept a close eye on him. He's a very active fish and I think he just gets knocked around. Also what the PP wrote, make sure to pull out any carbon from your filtre or any meds you add will be wicked away before they can do any good. Keep us informed on his progress. Do you have any pictures? Michelle

 

[NeonJulie]

That true with carbon that's been in there for some time?

 

[gyp5y5]

Thanks to you both for your replies. My filter is an undergravel one so doesn't have carbon so that can't be a problem.

The "mould" is definitely more of a grey patch than pure white. I have pictures but they're not very clear but will post them anyway. Here goes:-

Thanks

 

[DarthPookie]

One other thing: do you have a heater in either tank? When my fish have something wrong like this I typically raise the temperature a few degrees while medicating. Sometimes the nasties don't like warmer water. Also fish are more prone to disease and illnesses when the water temp is not correct.

 

[gyp5y5]

Hopefully the pictures will show now, had a bit of a problem.

Heaters in both the original tank and the quarantine tanks, both set at 77 F. Didn't know whether to turn up or not because I read something somewhere that said fungus growth can be made worse by higher temperatures. Thus I just left it as it was.

 

[NeonJulie]

It's difficult to tell, but it's also a possibility that it's an "imitation fungus" but actually a bacteria called Columnaris. Warmer temperatures would assist the bacteria, probably not the fish. Just a heads up on something else it could be.

 

[DarthPookie]

Hmm...sounds like you are doing everything you can do, maybe you want to try a different treatment like Pimafix.

 

[didy]

It's difficult to tell, but it's also a possibility that it's an "imitation fungus" but actually a bacteria called Columnaris. Warmer temperatures would assist the bacteria, probably not the fish. Just a heads up on something else it could be.

Indeed, that is a very real possibility. Flex is more common than true fungus infections, particularly this time of year.