Mollie with many diseases!! Please help!

[Cys aquatics]

He just sits there all day on the edge of a rock. He looks like he has Popeye, ich, and some fungal disease in his gills. I have a dry ten gallon tank if that helps. I haven't used it as a hospital tank since i didn't know if it would be good since i would have to set it up from scratch. I have been treating him with two packets of maryacyn every other day. I have para cleanse and ich-x if that helps. He is with 9 other fish in my 37 gallon display tank the fish are: guppy's, plecos, platys.

 

Hopefully I get some good replies that will help make him better.

Edited March 17, 2021 by aquarium kid

[Fish Folk]

You can treat these three meds together: (1) API Erythromycin + (2) API General Cure + (3) Ich-X.

But you’ll spend a lot of money. Your call. 
 

Fish do die... even when we’re trying to be the best fishkeepers we can be. Don’t lose heart...

It sounds like your water may have needed a cleaning (more regular changing). Maybe you were over feeding a bit too. 
 

If it’s Ich, that will likely affect the other fish, so I’d definitely treat Ich-X. 

[Cys aquatics]

Thanks for the advice! I am probably in need of a water change.

I will try that and if it doesn't work i will try your other recommendations

[quikv6]

I think a water change would do good. Make sure to dechlorinate. Also, Mollies would respond well to aquarium salt. I think that would be a welcome addition, and should work in conjunction with the meds.

The livebearers tend to like harder water as well. Without knowing your GH/KH/PH, I think it may help to get some minerals in the water, if your GH is low.

[Cys aquatics]

Here are my water parameters:

 GH 120, KH 40, PH 7.0, NO2 0, NO3 40

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

1 hour ago, aquarium kid said:

Here are my water parameters:

 GH 120, KH 40, PH 7.0, NO2 0, NO3 40

Looks like your KH and GH may be a little low for Livebearers. Check out this article on them (which also covers pH which is affected by your water hardness). 
 

I would probably add some crushed coral for the water, and pick up the med trio to treat the current sickness  

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

What else is in the tank? 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Mitch Norton

[Cys aquatics]

31 minutes ago, Mitch Norton said:

Looks like your KH and GH may be a little low for Livebearers. Check out this article on them (which also covers pH which is affected by your water hardness). 
 

I would probably add some crushed coral for the water, and pick up the med trio to treat the current sickness  

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

What else is in the tank? 

 

 

There are 7 other Livebearers and two bristle nose plecos

[Cys aquatics]

Thanks for the link I will check it out.

[Cys aquatics]

14 hours ago, Fish Folk said:

It sounds like your water may have needed a cleaning (more regular changing).

How regular would it be

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Livebearers can be a little messy. It depends on some factors in your tank. A lot of people will do weekly 15-25% water changes to make sure they are replacing minerals and remove toxins from the water. If it has been a long time since you’ve performed a water change you should definitely consider a schedule. 
 

Do you have live plants?

 

If you do not have live plants, weekly water changes go from maybe being necessary to essential. Your fish waste is building up, and the only way to get rid of it without plants is to remove it by water changes. 40 ppm nitrates isn’t dangerous, but it isn’t exactly comfortable for the fish either. It could be causing some stress especially without hard water. It’s possible your ph could be swinging during the day as well due to the low KH. Plants or regular water changes will help with this. 

[Cys aquatics]

5 minutes ago, Mitch Norton said:

Livebearers can be a little messy. It depends on some factors in your tank. A lot of people will do weekly 15-25% water changes to make sure they are replacing minerals and remove toxins from the water. If it has been a long time since you’ve performed a water change you should definitely consider a schedule. 
 

Do you have live plants?

 

If you do not have live plants, weekly water changes go from maybe being necessary to essential. Your fish waste is building up, and the only way to get rid of it without plants is to remove it by water changes. 40 ppm nitrates isn’t dangerous, but it isn’t exactly comfortable for the fish either. It could be causing some stress especially without hard water. It’s possible your ph could be swinging during the day as well due to the low KH. Plants or regular water changes will help with this. 

Yes i have plants

[Cys aquatics]

Thank you so much for the good advice.

[Cys aquatics]

Would a good schedule be one a week water changes?

[Cys aquatics]

Here is my tank if that helps.

[Fish Folk]

30 minutes ago, aquarium kid said:

How regular would it be

First, you want to be sure you know parameters in your tank to begin with. In a well-cycled tank, only Nitrates should gradually increase.
 

It is typical to change out 25-50% of your water every 2 weeks. [NOTE: ALWAYS TREAT TAP WATER WITH DECHLORINATOR / CONDITIONER WHEN YOU CHANGE WATER.] There are great aquarists who do less. The more healthy plants you have, the better your water quality will tend to be. You’ll need to know your water. Test it from the tap, and learn all parameters: pH, GH, KH, AM, NI, NA. That way you’ll know about what you’re adding.

When you change water properly, you’re removing nitrates as well as excess buildups of certain illness. You may also removing certain beneficial elements that help plants and some types of fish. This is why some of us with soft water use crushed coral and Easy Green plant fertilizer. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Fish Folk

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

It does help. 
 

Ok. So the plants help. They will be happy with nitrates around 10-20 ppm. I see some algae growing in the plants and the back glass. The water changes should help keep that at bay by removing excess nutrients that the plants aren’t using.

Here is another blog on how to determine water changes.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/how-to-change-aquarium-water-correctly

During the med treatment you will need to do water changes based on those meds. You said you have ich, I would treat that first. Do a larger water change, about 30% to lower the nitrates. Ich-x is going to instruct you to change 30% every day during treatment. This med can stain silicone blue, but in my experience it mostly faded with time. A lot of people will say to raise the temperature in your tank, but Cory from Aquarium Co-Op told me that he does not recommend that. It doesn’t treat the Ich, it just gets rid of it faster by speeding up the parasites life cycle while stressing out your fish. I have treated Ich with Ich-x in less than a week without turning up my temps. 
 

I would consider finding crushed coral (you can buy online from the co-op) to increase water hardness. I don’t think it would interact with the Ich-x, but maybe someone else can chime in. I have hard water and have never needed to use it. 
 

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Mitch Norton

[Cys aquatics]

Thank you! I am going to do a water change now.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Can you share a picture of the fish? Are you sure it is Ich? Does it look like salt on the fish? And does the fish have them in the fins?

There is such a thing as “stress Ich” and we don’t want you having to medicate something that you don’t need to. 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

5 minutes ago, aquarium kid said:

Thank you! I am going to do a water change now.

Like @Fish Folksaid, make sure to use dechlorinator to treat your water. 
 

And try to match the water temperature as perfectly as possible. With sick fish a sudden change in temp can cause issues.  

[Cys aquatics]

Ok thank you 

[Cys aquatics]

Here is the fish

 

He has fin rot on his back fin and there is a white spot on his gill.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

18 hours ago, aquarium kid said:

He just sits there all day on the edge of a rock. He looks like he has Popeye, ich, and some fungal disease in his gills. I have a dry ten gallon tank if that helps. I haven't used it as a hospital tank since i didn't know if it would be good since i would have to set it up from scratch. I have been treating him with two packets of maryacyn every other day. I have para cleanse and ich-x if that helps. He is with 9 other fish in my 37 gallon display tank the fish are: guppy's, plecos, platys.

 

Hopefully I get some good replies that will help make him better.

Maracyn and Ich-X should help with the fungal, but you said you had a QT tank. I would remove this fish from your larger tank and treat it with salt in a qt tank. I have never heard of dosing Maracyn every other day. I believe the box says one packet of Maracyn per 10g once per day for five days and then a water change. 
 

Here is what I would do. If you have the equipment for a QT tank I would set it up. Obviously with dechlorinared water. I would treat with salt 1 Tbs per 2 gallons (it’s very cheap at your local fish store $5 for a pound).

I would feed either live baby brine or frozen brine shrimp. In the qt tank either throw in a small handful of gravel from your main tank (just a little pile, not the whole bottom) or a decoration or sponge or something to help cycle the qt tank.

See if things start looking better. I really can’t tell from those pictures if it is Ich or not. Salt can take care of many hobby diseases, but it will kill your plants. 
 

if you see Ich come up on any other fish in your main tank then you will need to treat with Ich-x. If you’ve already dosed it once today that is fine. I wouldn’t put any more in the main tank and I would treat the quarantine tank with salt instead. 
 

great blog on awuarium salt: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Oh! And since your water is soft I would add the crushed coral to the QT when you get it. Livebearers prefer hard water. 

[Cys aquatics]

Thank you so much for all of your helpful advice i will try all of the things that you have recommended.

[Cys aquatics]

4 hours ago, Mitch Norton said:

I would feed either live baby brine or frozen brine shrimp.

4 hours ago, Mitch Norton said:

 

Since i don't have either of those could I use the aquarium coop easy fry food until I get frozen brine shrimp this weekend?