Quarantining

[Chewyrat77]

I currently have 10 mollies and one dwarf gourami in QT. Two of the mollies aren't looking so hot right now but I just started the med trio Saturday. My question is, after the full med treatment if these two mollies still arent acting right is it still ok to move the rest out of QT into my main tank?

[Irene]

I usually restart the "quarantine clock" every time one of the fish gets sick or dies. When I had problems with new mollies before, it was because they were raised in brackish water at the fish farms and my GH or water hardness was too low. Once I increased it (using Wonder Shells or Seachem Equilibirum) to 20-30 dGH, they improved a lot.

Here is Cory's molly care video that helped me figure out the issue: 

 

[HardeepTheLondoner]

Why do you think those 2 aren’t in best shape? Is there visual clues?

Moving the others out of quarantine all depends on what could be wrong. If it’s something like ich, I’d keep everyone in quarantine. If you think they are too skinny/lethargic, I’d be ok moving the rest out.

[Chewyrat77]

I have very hard water plus salt in the tank. 

The two fish are basically lethargic and not eating. They just sit around on the bottom of the tank. 

[HardeepTheLondoner]

It’s likely they are 2 weaker fish than the rest of the batch. That’s pretty much why we quarantine-Survival of the fittest. Finish your quarantine as planned and move the others in, keep these 2 in quarantine and see how they do.

[Irene]

Ah, if you already have hard water, it may definitely be a disease. If more mollies start to die, check out Cory's video on livebearer disease. I was able to get levamisole (and the handy dosing spoon) from selectaquatics.com and it was very effective.