Should I Continue Paracleanse or Rest?

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Ok, so I bought some Gold Dust Mollies this past weekend and after watching them for a day I was disappointed by what I was seeing. Two of them were thin and looking thinner. After a couple more days observation I could see white stringy poop and they didn’t look any better. I had Paracleanse on hand and I dosed the QT tank Tuesday. Yesterday the two fish were stressed to the max. They spent most of the day resting at the surface on water sprite foliage, and when they were swimming they were shimmying. 
 

They look much better today.Today is the day that I should treat them with the second dose of Paracleanse, but I’m concerned with how they did with the first round. 

So I am wondering if I should give them a break for a few days (2 maybe 3), and then start the treatment all over. I don’t know, maybe that would be worse. I thought I would source some opinions here and see what you all think. 
 

 

[Colu]

I would continue with the treatment  and put an  extra air stone in the tank   

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Everyone seemed to be doing well so I treated the tank with the second dose last night, and everyone still looks good today. 
 

I’ll probably fast them again today. Tomorrow is the water change and I’ll be ready to give them some frozen brine. 

[Mmiller2001]

Repeat the normal dosing in 3 weeks as well.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

I normally wait two. Is there a reason you wait three?

[Cory]

What are your water parameters? The most often cause of molly problems is ph and mineral content in the water not being high enough.

[Mmiller2001]

2 hours ago, Mitch Norton said:

I normally wait two. Is there a reason you wait three?

To catch any hatched eggs. 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

4 hours ago, Cory said:

What are your water parameters? The most often cause of molly problems is ph and mineral content in the water not being high enough.

QT’s parameters

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

nitrate <5

pH 8

temp 76

I know the store that I bought them from uses RO water and I’m not sure if they re-mineralize their freshwater tanks. I have a hard time finding good looking Mollies in my area. Petco always has the nicest. I knew a couple of these looked thin, but after a couple of days I was seeing clear and stringy poop. After dosing Paracleanse I noticed the stress. I guess I assumed it was the meds, but it could have been the tank  

My pH in this tank is always 8. As for hardness I’ve never tested it but my water is thick. I can cut it. LoL. I have a 75 gallon tank full of Mollies and fry, and rarely have any issues. 
 

I did have an ammonia spike in the QT after adding four mature Mollies. It only hit .25 when testing  I did one 50% water change and it has read 0 ammonia ever since. The ammonia reading was before I dosed the Paracleanse. There was 0 ammonia when I dosed the med. I’m currently working from home and really invested in adding these females to my male heavy display tank. So I was testing multiple times a day for a couple of days.

 

Thanks for the response Cory. I’m a huge fan of the Coop and community. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Mitch Norton

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

4 hours ago, Mmiller2001 said:

To catch any hatched eggs. 

That’s why I do it after two weeks. I have always heard two weeks between treatments to get rid of the next generation. I haven’t seen three weeks. I’ll have to do some research. 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

The night I dosed the second round of Paracleanse I lost one of the Mollies. After another week in the QT tank everyone else seems fine. 
 

I moved them over to the 75 gallon yesterday evening. Everyone still looks good this morning. Now... what to buy for the QT...