Scales falling off?! Please help

[Cammie]

Hi,

My molly has been poorly for a while since she dropped a lot of fry. I thought she was getting better but now she has scales falling off and is going white. Please see attached pics.

I have been adding salt and doing water changes but to no avail.

Please help

Thank you x x x

 

[Newman]

no pics showing up.
are the scales literally falling off on their own or is she scratching them off on something in the tank? observe her.

 

[Cammie]

Sorry, I knew I forgot something!

A couple have just fallen off but she has been scratching on the sand, not all the time though. She's eating okay and swimming around fine but she looks awful. She has been sick for soooo long now, I just want to make her better

 

[Newman]

darn, poor girl. she is looking shabby. I hope she is eating well, then again who wants to eat when they are sick
try a few drops of Melafix as a relaxant for the fish. make sure you are adding your salt properly too. is sounds like youre doing everything well.

 

[littletankbigworld]

Sometimes when fish give birth at a young age, they die shortly afterward. I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. I really hope she improves.

 

[Cammie]

Well this morning she is very subdued......I'm not sure if she is going to last the day
She did come up and get some food but then went back down to the bottom.

I'm disolving the salt in a cup of water and then adding it to the tank, is that right?

One of my other Mollies (Borris) had fry in the night which is cool, I managed to save 6 How long should I keep them in the breeder's net before I move them into my 10g, It's been running for 2 weeks now, 0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite and 10ppm Nitrate. Is it still yet to spike?

Thank you for all your help, it's amazing how I can speak to people on the other side of the world all about fish x x x x

 

[littletankbigworld]

What I do with the salt is add it to an empty film canister or baby food jar that has holes in the lid. I sit the jar in the tank.
When it looks like the babies are too big to fit in the mouths of the other fish, move them into the tank.

 

[Doomhed]

that white spot on her head looks like an ulcer to me.

I would say melafix, turn the heat up a little and add an airstone to the tank.

 

[Cammie]

Unfortunatley, Molly went to fishy heaven

I put the melafix in but within a couple of hours she couldn't hold on.

I have cloudy water which I understand is normal when medicating?

Just did a quick water test which was perfect yesterday but today:

0ppm Ammonia
20ppm Nitrate
0.25 Nitrite

I'm going to do a 30% water change but I thought Melafix wouldn't upset my parameters?

x x x x x x x

 

[Doomhed]

it won't. how long was the fish floating in the tank? dead fish can foul up the water something fierce.

I would still turn up the heat to 82ish if you can and add the airstone. It is my standard treatment for, well, every thing short of.....well....wait I do that for everything.

I always run my heat a little high in all my tanks. my wife got a little freaked when the 5 gallon betta tank was at about 88 degrees but my little buddy seemed to be happy as a clam for those 2 days.

 

[Cammie]

She wasn't in there that long dead, I would say max 1 hour.

I've just tested the water and all good *twirlysmi

Thank you for the advice I bought an airator today, lots of bubbles! It doesn't have to be on all the time does it?

x x x x

 

[littletankbigworld]

You can buy a timer and hook it up to your bubbler so that the bubbler only runs when you want it to. Timers are very cheap. $5 or less.

 

[Newman]

It should be on all the time while the melafix is acting in the water. how much did you dose the tank with? I suggested only a few drops to act as a relaxant, not a full treatment dose as written on the bottle >_<

it matters not though, it was not the meds that killed the molly. may she R.I.P.

 

[nanu156]

Run the bubbler all the time, when you crank the heat you pull o2 out of the water, in a tank that size i would be running 1 power head with air, and a bubbler. ALL the time, plus your over the back.

Medaflex has clove oil in it, they use clove oil to sedate fish. So it can make your fish a little dopey

salt + heat + clean water + heavy O2 makes for healthy fish. Although with as much salt as you are using you risk killing off that pleco

 

[Doomhed]

Medaflex has clove oil in it, they use clove oil to sedate fish. So it can make your fish a little dopey

No, Melafix. It is Japanese Tea Tree Oil. Totally different stuff.