molly has suddenly developed about 10 white dots on its skin, is this normal? Is it just stuff from the water that landed and stuck on him? Is it a skin disease? Is the fish sick? and if so how do I fix it?
2007-07-24 15:43:53 · 6 answers · asked by iluvhandsom. 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
It is ich, if there are any other fish in the tank, isolate it so the others dot get sick. I'm sure ich away medicine will work (even though its never worked for my guppies). Also, do a water change.
2007-07-24 15:50:42 · answer #1 · answered by Esty 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It might be a parasite like ich or velvet, or it might be the start of a bacterial infection called Columnaris.
If this has a fuzzy appearance, it's most likely Columnaris, which needs an antibiotic to treat. Furnace is a good medication for this.
If not fuzzy, shine a bright flashlight on the fish when all the aquarium lights have been turned off. If the spots are still white, it will be ich, if these look gold or rust colored, it's velvet. Both of these can be treated similarly using medication containing malachite green and formalin. Raise the temperature to 86-90o a few degrees each hour to speed up the life cycle of the parasites. Add the medication, but remove any carbon from your filter first. You'll need to treat for at least 10-14 days, or at least 3-5 days after you no longer see spots on the fish. If you stop earlier, you run the risk of reinfection. Following treatment, lower the temperature to the normal level, again a few degrees at a time. For Velvet, you will also need to turn off the tank lights to kill the parasite, as it has a photosynthetic pigment which allows it to make some of its own food.
Since the fish involved is a molly, you can treat ich with non-iodized salt as well, as long as there are no salt-sensitive fish in the tank. Use salt at 1 tablespoon per gallon. This will still require elevated temperature and will take about the same amount of time as using the medication.
2007-07-24 23:02:22 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your fish has ich, which is a parasite. If you can you should isolate the fish into a quaratine tank.
If you can't use a quarantine tank then you'll need to treat the whole tank with an appropriate ich treatment.
2007-07-24 22:57:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
your fish has what they call ich you can pick up a bottle of ich -out at your local wal-mart its not expensive and it usally gos away after just one treatment . It's a parasite like fish worms it is easily treated... hope this helps!!!
2007-07-24 23:06:11 · answer #4 · answered by sweet1toughy2 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes the fish has ich and since it is a freshwater aquarium they sell very many various medications for it at your local wal mart.
2007-07-24 22:47:47 · answer #5 · answered by crystal h 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This sounds like ich.
2007-07-24 22:56:20 · answer #6 · answered by fish_for_brains 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋