brown spot on mollies, uncycled tank

[AlissasDad]

I started up a tank that I had run before. There was a lot of crud in it when I started it and (before I found these forums) I decided the crud from the old installment of the tank would benefit the bio-system of the new installment so I didn't clean anything. I ran it for a week before adding fish, but now I realize that wasn't long enough.

Anyway, my wife noticed this morning that one of our dalmatian mollies has a yellowish-brown spot on her side and her tail fin looks like it has rot. The fish is about 2" and the spot is probably 3/16" dia. I tried to get a picture, but the fish wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good exposure. I'm hesitant to treat with medication due to the fact that I'm about 2.5 weeks into the cycle and don't want to screw with the process.

BTW, this is the same fish that had babies a few days ago. Not sure if that has any significance, but thought I should mention it.

ETA: I should mention that I've been doing daily (sometimes 2x/day) PWC of 25%-50% depending on test results. Readings from this morning are 0.5 NH, 0.5 NO2 and 15 NO3. pH is constant at 8.0. 40g tank, 2 mollies - 1.5" & 2", 1 platty - 1", 1 pleco - 2" and 1 bamboo shrimp - 2".

 

[new2betas]

Don't know what the spot could be...but I am also dealing with some sort of fungus/bacteria with my betta so my sympathies to you with that!
As far as the "crud" in the tank being beneficial, it isn't/wasn't. Once media and filter material from a tank dries it no longer harbors the beneficial bacteria. I guess it is possible that not cleaning anything could have led to the spot she has now. Also, the tank must be going through a cycle as well since it was only started up about a week...that might be part of the problem as well.

 

[AlissasDad]

Yeah, I know I screwed up, but I'm committed and aside from the spot and fin rot on this one fish, they're active and seem to be doing well with the PWCs every day.

 

[AlissasDad]

Photos and update.

Ok, I managed to get a couple decent photos so they're below.



I also have an update on her condition. I did my daily PWC (50%) about 2 hours ago and now she's now just resting on the bottom of the tank. The two mollies and the platty are breathing about 2 breaths per second. Is this fast? I can't tell what the pleco and shrimp are doing breath-wise.

I just read in another post that water temp. fluctuations cause stress and lead to finrot. Somehow I missed this piece of info before. Water out of my tap is 90 degrees (I live in Phoenix). I just measured the tank temp and it's 82. PWC was 2 hours ago, so water temp was probably 78-ish. I am sure this is what's causing the problem. I can't believe I didn't think of this....

So I need some advice pretty quick. I'm going to get a heater to warm the tank up, but is 90 degrees to hot? I know people heat them up to treat diseases, but AFAIK this is only for a few days. What are the long term effects on 90 degree water? Plus, it's a 40g tank. Seems like it will take a huge heater to keep the tank at 90 when the house is 75-80.

Maybe a better idea is to get a 2 or 3 extra buckets to store water in. I can fill them a few hours before the PWC and give them a chance to get to tank temp before adding them. Plus, it'll give the water a chance to outgas before adding it to the tank.

I feel so dumb....All this time I thought I was helping my fish by doing the daily PWCs during the cycle and I've been hurting them.

What can I do about the finrot now that it's already set in? Can I treat it with something?

 

[new2betas]

I feel so dumb....All this time I thought I was helping my fish by doing the daily PWCs during the cycle and I've been hurting them.

What can I do about the finrot now that it's already set in? Can I treat it with something?

Awww...don't feel dumb....I have had my share of feeling bad over my daughter's betta the last couple of days and not knowing what to do with him....
I keep my dechlorinated water in gallon jugs in the house at room temp and add them to the tank then. My house is a steady 78 degrees and so is the water I add.
There are quite a few medicines out there for fin rot, but I will leave it to more experience people to tell you which ones would be best for your fish.
Don't feel bad though, you obviously care a great deal about your fish or you wouldn't be on this forum.

 

[thominil]

Hi!
90 is to warm being in phoenix I doubt you'd need a heater if you get one i think 150w-200w would be good? someone else will probly have a better watt recommendation. You're fine as long as the water is 75-82 I keep mine about 78 for my mollys. Sorry to hear about the fin rot.

 

[AlissasDad]

Update

Ok, so this is an update since yesterday.
I picked up some API Triple Sulfa. As I thought about it, I realized treating a single fish in a 37 gallon tank with this stuff would get pretty expensive. I picked up a small one gal. tank complete with filter, pump and light for $15 at PetsMart to use as a QT tank.

I moved the molly over last night and started her on the Triple Sulfa. She seems pretty active today and every time I check on her, she's swimming around and not resting on the bottom anymore. She still has the spot on her side and her side and tail fin are still mangled, but I don't expect to see any changes in her fins for a few days.

I got a heater for the main tank and will be keeping it at 80. Seems that's the highest temp the tank goes on its own without the heater. I can probably drop it back to 76-78 in the winter, but for now, I'd rather go a little warmer and keep it consistent.

I'm going to go with my idea about pre-filling buckets of water for the PWCs. I've got them queued up now and as soon as they get to temp, I'll do the change.

So...wish me luck, and if there's anything else I should try, let me know.

 

[Alaris]

You could drop some ice cubes in your buckets to cool the water down faster.

 

[Zagz]

Make sure to add dechlorinator and for mollies health some aquarium salt never hurts. As long as you have no scaleless fish or inverts in the tank that is.

 

[saffikeagan]

My water straight out of the tap is quite warm too (though I haven't actually gotten a temperature reading on it). My tank right now is about 80-82 because it's just hot here and my apartment doesn't get cooler than that in the summer with the a/c on 24-7. I bought a 3 gallon water jug from the grocery store and keep my water in that. I fill it up after my PWC so it's sitting there nice and room temperature and stale for when I need it next. With the jugs, they have lids and handles etc. Makes toting them easy.

If the tripple sulfa doesn't work, I just finished using Jungle Labs Lifeguard which will treat pretty much anything. I chose that cause I wasn't sure if my one fish had a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, or both. It seems to have worked pretty good.

Depending on what your Molly has, you might end up needing to treat the entire tank if they start showing signs of the same stuff. The finrot (so others have told me) is an opportunistic thing that will affect one fish if that fish is stressed (personally, I'd consider pregnancy as slightly stressful might be why she came down with finrot and the others haven't). The brown spot would be the unknown in the equation and the thing that might be infectious to your other fish. If so, just remember what I didn't and that is to remove your filter before dosing the tank with meds or you'll kill off any bacteria that has started to accumulate.

Oh and don't feel bad about the temperature thing. I was about to drop my male betta back in his tank (he was 1/2 in 1/2 out) when I thought oh S*#$ water parameters (my home tank different from my tap water) I quickly put him back in his QT water and started a quick drip acclimatization, cleaned out my QT, filled it with tap water, added a dechlorinator, the plopped my female betta in with out a second thought. She's used to the water at work which I've never compared to my home water. She spent a good few minutes all clamped up not looking at all happy with the world.

 

[AlissasDad]

Last evening the spot on her side was looking worse and her finrot had worsened, although she was more active than ever. Her belly also started looking deflated, so decided to add some Jungle internal and external parasite treatment I had around as well as a little aquarium salt into the mix with the Triple Sulfa.

This morning the spot seems to be improving so maybe it was a parasite afterall. We'll see how she is this afternoon.

Alaris, I had thought about the ice cube trick after my last post and used that on my PWC yesterday. Seems to work pretty well so if I'm ever in a pinch where I can't wait for the water to cool on it's own, the ice is certainly a great idea.

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

So, what happened? Is your fish ok?

 

[AlissasDad]

Molly is doing great! Yesterday morning there was some dead skin or scales that was sloughing off the spot on her side and now that that's gone, the spot on her side is barely visible, her color is great, her belly is back to normal shape & size and her fins are growing back.

I think she'll be ready to join her friends tomorrow.

 

[AlissasDad]

Well, things are not good with the molly.

The spot/patch on her side was still visible so I decided to leave her in QT a couple more days. The patch got worse and her belly deflated again. Now she has Ick.

I didn't get a heater for the QT tank and tried to use the hood light to control tank temp. It was still swinging 3-5 degrees throughout the day, so I'm guessing this stressed her.

I've got a heater now so the temp is 83 and I started her on APIs Ick and fungus (for the patch on her side) meds.

So....now I wait. Molly seems listless now, but she does eat, so at least that's good, I guess.

Guess I should have learned my lesson with the need for a heater the first time, but I figured the meds in the QT tank, it would prevent any future outbreaks.

I'll post updates on the progress. After all everything else she's been through, hopefully this won't do her in.

 

[AlissasDad]

Sad news. Molly didn't make it. I went in to do her PWC last evening and she was dead.

I have no idea what was going on with her caved in belly, but I'm guessing it was some kind of internal organ failure and and I'm pretty sure whatever it was is what finally did her in.

 

[Alaris]

I'm sorry you lost your fish.