Mollies only getting ich

[FWFishTanks]

I have a 75 gallon planted tank that has ich, but only on the mollies. I have been doing heat and salt treatment along with daily 50-80% PWCs. If I skip a few days of water changes, a few specs of ich show up, but only on the mollies, every time! My ph is at neutral, is it maybe because the lack of marine salt in the water?

 

[Fishanatic]

I only cured ich with heat so i doubt the salt would be a factor. What is your temperature at right now?

55 Gallon- Empty
125 Gallon- CKF and Tiger Oscar
220 Gallon- To come...

 

[FWFishTanks]

82, high as my heater will go

 

[Fishanatic]

82, high as my heater will go

Well theres your reason. A typical strain of ich will not die off at 82, you will need something around 86 to 88 for 2 weeks to completely kill the ich, anything under probably wont even kill them. Youre gonna have to get a second heater or something.

55 Gallon- Empty
125 Gallon- CKF and Tiger Oscar
220 Gallon- To come...

 

[FWFishTanks]

K thanks, it just keeps popping up, that's probably why.

 

[dalto]

At 82 you have made the life cycle of the Ich faster but are not doing anything to kill it.

Water changes are not a solution to Ich. You can use heat, salt or meds to treat Ich. Just to be clear, you use aquarium salt, not marine salt.

Either increase the heat to the high 80s or add salt. If your heater won't go any higher and your fish can all tolerate the salt then that might be an easier solution for you.

 

[FWFishTanks]

At 82 you have made the life cycle of the Ich faster but are not doing anything to kill it.

Water changes are not a solution to Ich. You can use heat, salt or meds to treat Ich. Just to be clear, you use aquarium salt, not marine salt.

Either increase the heat to the high 80s or add salt. If your heater won't go any higher and your fish can all tolerate the salt then that might be an easier solution for you.

The tank is planted, and I have heard some plants don't tolerate salt.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Mollies

I have a 75 gallon planted tank that has ich, but only on the mollies. I have been doing heat and salt treatment along with daily 50-80% PWCs. If I skip a few days of water changes, a few specs of ich show up, but only on the mollies, every time! My ph is at neutral, is it maybe because the lack of marine salt in the water?

Hello FW...

Mollies are brackish water fish and are healthier with a bit of standard aquarium salt as are the other livebearing fish. I keep tanks of Guppies and Platys and have always added a little aquarium salt to the replacement water.

Mollies are the most sensitive of the livebearers to changes in the water chemistry. Large, weekly water changes are a must for these fish, but you should work up to changing out this much water.

Ich parasites live in the bottom material during the life cycle as well as on the skin of the fish. In addition to the daily water changes, you should be doing a good job of vacuuming the bottom.

Keep the feeding to a bare minimum. Sickly fish aren't likely to want to eat and you don't need uneaten food fouling the tank water.

B

 

[dalto]

Mollies are brackish water fish and are healthier with a bit of standard aquarium salt as are the other livebearing fish. I keep tanks of Guppies and Platys and have always added a little aquarium salt to the replacement water.

Mollies are not truly brackish water fish. They have been collected in brackish waters and will tolerate it but much of their distribution range is fresh water. Even if they were brackish fish, adding aquarium salt will not replicate brackish conditions.

Ich parasites live in the bottom material during the life cycle as well as on the skin of the fish. In addition to the daily water changes, you should be doing a good job of vacuuming the bottom.

My understanding is that Ich is only susceptible to treatment while they are thermonts. Since this is one of the shortest periods of their lifecylce disrupting the treatment with water changes is more likely to harm then help


EDIT: I was actually still writing this when I hit save but I got pulled into something else.

 

[FWFishTanks]

The fish eat well and act normal, but a speck or two just keeps appearing on only the mollies, with 50_80% daily wcs, and through vacuum of most surfaces. I have also been adding half dose of salt, due to cories and pleco. I will see if I can borrow my friends heater to bump up my temp.

 

[ppo8820]

82 will not do (that rhymed). You need a min of 86 and if your heater wont do it, then go get another one and sooner than later. It worked for me and I was nervous about the temp being that high, but ich left in 3-4 days and I kept temp up 12 days. No ich since.