Weird aquarium disease - if it isn't ich, what is it?

mentaluproar said:

I introduced some gold dust mollies into my aquarium without isolating the first and they introduced some weird disease into my tank. I don't know what it is or how to treat it.

One by one, the mollies got thin and weak and died. Then my platty got a fungal of infection, became weak, and died. Then a Cory died with no symptoms at all. Then I noticed ALL of my tetras were covered in white spots. I raised the temperature, added an air stone, cleaned the tank out more, removed the carbon from the filter and added ich medication.

I'm on my second round of treatment. No improvement. The one remaining tetra is still covered in white dots, looks like it has its slime sloughing off, and threads hanging from its otherwise intact fins.

The betta and last Cory are just fine though. Both are very active and happy. Eating well, etc. the two remaining Molly's are very thin and weak, and that tetra is very active, but looks like hell and is thin.

Click to expand...

Hold down 'Command + R' it should reset the fish.

MacBoobsPro said:

Hold down 'Command + R' it should reset the fish.

Click to expand...

LOL, that was mean, but funny

mentaluproar said:

I introduced some gold dust mollies into my aquarium without isolating the first and they introduced some weird disease into my tank. I don't know what it is or how to treat it.

One by one, the mollies got thin and weak and died. Then my platty got a fungal of infection, became weak, and died. Then a Cory died with no symptoms at all. Then I noticed ALL of my tetras were covered in white spots. I raised the temperature, added an air stone, cleaned the tank out more, removed the carbon from the filter and added ich medication.

I'm on my second round of treatment. No improvement. The one remaining tetra is still covered in white dots, looks like it has its slime sloughing off, and threads hanging from its otherwise intact fins.

The betta and last Cory are just fine though. Both are very active and happy. Eating well, etc. the two remaining Molly's are very thin and weak, and that tetra is very active, but looks like hell and is thin.

Click to expand...

I was recently given an aquarium, and after a week or two, two of my fish died suddenly the one that was left got those white dots, i bought a treatment done it for 3 days, and it seems to be recovering quite well.

Make sure the treatment you got is the correct one

Ugh. I know the feeling all too well. We introduced an angel and 2 black phantom tetras without quarantine first. Within 3 hours the angel was dead and the 2 black phantoms were gone within 2 days. It also killed one of our existing black phantom tetras and 2 peppered cory catfish.

We stripped the tank of everything and ran it bare for 2 weeks while dosing with pima/melafix (Snake oil?) the other existing fish survived and we started redecorating the tank. Ran out and bought stuff to setup a 20 gallon quarantine the next day. We have introduced 4 batches of fish that have passed through the quarantine and onto the main tank since and have no issues. Lost a few in quarantine but nothing major.

it sounds like your fish got what is known as ick. it is fungal infection I believe.

Whats the temp on your tank? Ich has a hard time thriving over 78 degrees, in fact its rarely found at those temps. Set your heater to 78 for a bit and watch the fish.

If its fungal you will see it in their fins, or what sometimes is called fin rot. It might look like fins were nipped at (they could be if the tank is stressed so watch out). Fungal could also be small brownish spots on the skin.

Look a the gills they should be a pale pink, if you see anything that resembles blood or that color in its gills or around its eyes what you are dosing the tank with is too strong and its burning their gills. Dose less and do a 50% water change if thats the case. The gill scenario could also be a parasite like gil flukes, but it doesn't sound like you're dealing with that.

For fin damage and fungus a couple great medicines are Melafix and pimafix, both are introduced in the water channel so any active carbon will need to be removed before you put it in or the carbon will take away the effectiveness if not nullify it completely.

Good luck, aquariums can be a lot of fun I love mine, but they can also be a handful to maintain.

poor fish

Ich is common with Mollies and Loaches.

I'm going to take a guess that it is Ich. Medication doesn't work right away. Had the same problems when I introduced a clown loach to my aquarium years back. Was really depressing watching fish get it one by one although I was doing all the right things.

Turn the temps up to 80-82 and do your best. Good luck.

Sorry about my first post but I thought it was funny

Up the temperature and keep your tank in the dark for at least two weeks (wrap in bin bags if need be) to stop ambient light getting in. This should help break the cycle if its Ich. It needs light to perpetuate and doesnt do too well in warmer temperatures.

Continue using the Ich treatment.

FYI In future buy from a reputable fish stockist, check for any signs of illness before you buy. Pick out the EXACT fish you want from the tank (watch them for a few minutes at least) and make sure the guy gets the right one.

Always acclimatise.