Strange bubbles all over fish

[HOLLIEO]

This is the strangest thing... well, strange to me cuz' i had never seen this happen to any of my fish.
I picked up two mollies at the LFS. I did everything I was supposed to do (introducing new fish to tank) .. anyway, one of the fish immediately upon release went to the back of my tank by the bubble bar and just laid on his side... at the bottom of the tank. I figured he must have been in shock or something.. the strange thing is she had air bubbles all over her body. My question is why? What was the cause of this?
Needless to say the fish got worse and the other fish started picking at her... so I put her to sleep (bag of ice water). I took the fish bag to the store right away and they gave me a replacement but couldn't explain what happened. Anybody else???
Thanks for the info.

 

[Pacu Man]

hmm i dont know what caused the bubbles, but do you know if it was eating at all or if it was rubbing up against rocks or something like that?

 

[HOLLIEO]

I have no idea? She looked fine in the stores tank. then when I put her in my tank at home, she immediately had the bubbles. Weird????

 

[Allivymar]

Did a little research.

Its possible your tap water is supersaturated with oxygen. Do air bubbles appears if you let the water sit for a few mins? Or it may simply be, because it was laying next to the bubbler and not moving, the bubbles collected. Tis pretty wierd tho.

 

[HOLLIEO]

Is it bad to have the water super saturated with oxygen?
Don't know if bubbles appear if it sits, cuz' the water is always bubbling. I have a long flexible bubble wall that has major bubbles pumping out of it constantly.
is this bad for the fish?

 

[Allivymar]

It CAN be a problem, although not the one I think that affected your fish.

The krib had an interesting faq on it: http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/gas-bubble.html

 

[HOLLIEO]

Great info! Thanks for the Krib link.
hmmmmm, so maybe I need to turn down the bubbles on the flexible bubble bar? Here is a pic of the bubble bar... from the pic does it look like too many bubbles??

 

[Punkymom]

Doesn't look like too many bubbles to me! I have 2 airstones going and a bubble wand that produces mass amounts of bubbles. I've always had a ton of bubbles in my tanks. I like them, and the fish seems to thrive with them.

 

[HOLLIEO]

Thanks punkymom. I don't feel so bad now.
Yeah, my fish love the bubbles. They swim into them and then up them. It is pretty neat to watch.

 

[Allivymar]

My guess it had something specific to do with that fish. Maybe the slime coat was messed up and thats why the bubbles were sticking? I wouldn't worry too much about gas bubble disease as you would see the bubbles under the skin, not on top. If it hasn't happened yet you prob aren't over aerating Just thought it was a neat website and really the only one I know of that even mentions something CLOSE to your experience.

 

[reberly]

We had a pair of fish do this exact same thing once, but we figured they had suffered from ammonia shock on the ride home. It was a 90 degree day and we took my roomate's Jeep (no a/c). The fish got so hot and stressed that they both started crapping in the bag like mad(!) It's a 35 minute ride home from Cincinnati and by the time we got them in the tank, they were almost gone already. Needless to say, we now take MY car if we're getting fish... we felt pretty bad about that incident. You said you bought two mollies, how's the other one doing? Could be one was just a weak fish and couldn't handle the transition.

Ryan

 

[HOLLIEO]

Hey Reberly... I LOVE your little Raider Image!!!
Go raiders!!! But, you are in Ohio?!?!?

Anyway, I am not sure what the heck happened with that fish. She looked fine in the store, but once in my tank... not too good.
It was about 110° outside when I picked the fish up and about 30 minutes back to my house... but I had the airconditioning on all the way
Maybe it is like you said... just couldn't handle the transition.
The other molly I bought, was in a different tank in the store and he is doing great!

 

[reberly]

Yep, my favorite teams are Raiders and the Devils... never been to Cali OR jersey. Been a long-time fan though... I feel like a californian at heart.

Ryan