molly is sick. cant find answers! HELP!

[kryslyon]

VIDEO IS ATTACHED...I am new to this site! let me first say I have looked at all the threads on this site and many others....and still don't have a for sure answer!
this morning when I turned on the tank lights, my dalmation balloon belly molly was swimming upside down and sideways. he keeps going nose down and sometimes flips over. he is still eating fine with his friends. my first thought was swim bladder because we just switched to a new food AND my tank was dirty. then I noticed a white "spot" on his anus. I figured he was constipated. I removed him to quarantine, fed him peas, gave him a salt bath, and also treated for ick, he did poop! his little booty is still white. it doesn't look like a worm (no movement. just a white speck. but this was not here yesterday!)
I cleaned the whole tank and did a 50% water change.
after a full day in quarantine, I put him back in the big tank. nothing has changed! it seems like he is rubbing against the décor and gravel. but its hard to tell with his erratic swimming! Him being a Dalmatian means he already has white spots (and silver) all over, so detecting any white fungus would be hard. he still has energy. not lethargic. he is eating. will swim at top and bottom of tank. please help me! I am attached to the guy.
TANK INFO....
20 gallon (I know I need to upgrade)
3 goldfish and one balloon belly molly
iv had them all in this tank for well over a year
they all get along
they have all been happy and healthy until now
VIDEO IS ATTACHED

 

[kryslyon]

IT said the video was uploaded. I don't see it. not sure how to post it!

 

[kryslyon]

BUMP? please....my 3 kids will be heartbroken if he dies

 

[Delapool]

Hi, do you try Epsom salts or aquarium sea salt?

Looking bloated at all or normal? Was poop normal looking?

On that I'd shift back to QT so somewhere quiet and no feed for several days.

Is he (definitely a he?) flashing or not? No other changes in tank, no injury signs and water chemistry ok?

 

[kryslyon]

Hi, do you try Epsom salts or aquarium sea salt?

Looking bloated at all or normal? Was poop normal looking?

On that I'd shift back to QT so somewhere quiet and no feed for several days.

Is he (definitely a he?) flashing or not? No other changes in tank, no injury signs and water chemistry ok?

I did the salts with him for a few hours. not bloated. poop is normal.
pretty sure its a HE, alothough I guess it wouldn't matter. no pregnancy could happen because hes been in here with only goldfish for over a year.
if flashing means "scratching" then I think he is doing some of that. I don't see any signs of injury or fungus. just the white spot on his butt. like ON it.
the tank hadn't been cleaned or water changed for months up until yesterday. took care of all of that. they had been on new food for a few days so I switched back
this morning he is the same. energetic, eating fine, swimming all upside down. I describe it as looking like his head is heavy, he keeps going head down.

 

[ImACoolguy]

From what I can find, there is a few things the scratching could indicate:

A. Early stages of ich, gill flukes, or worms.

B. High ammonia/nitrite/nitrate

I'm thinking B is likely put suspect seeing as 3 goldfish alone in a 20g is quite overstocked.

If you could post your water parameters:

pH:
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:

That would help a bunch.


Caleb

 

[Matt68005]

If you stress fish by doing things like overcrowding, not chaning the water often enough, or keeping it too hot or cool, that will stress the fish and lead to parasite and then bacterial disease outbreaks. It might be best to just keep the 3 goldfish in the 20g for now, i would not mix mollies with goldfish, they have completely diffrent care requirements. It sounds like he has an internal infection, the only medicine i know of that might help him is pretty expensive, and so would not be worth it for one molly.
Even better would be to get a 30g tank for the goldies, maybe secondhand, and then keep diffrent types of mollies in that 20g. Just a thought.

 

[Delapool]

I did the salts with him for a few hours. not bloated. poop is normal.
pretty sure its a HE, alothough I guess it wouldn't matter. no pregnancy could happen because hes been in here with only goldfish for over a year.
if flashing means "scratching" then I think he is doing some of that. I don't see any signs of injury or fungus. just the white spot on his butt. like ON it.
the tank hadn't been cleaned or water changed for months up until yesterday. took care of all of that. they had been on new food for a few days so I switched back
this morning he is the same. energetic, eating fine, swimming all upside down. I describe it as looking like his head is heavy, he keeps going head down.

Possibly an upset tummy if no other signs apart from the scratching and was fine one day / not the next. The white spot on the butt I'm not sure on but could be just intestinal mucus which would tie in with swimming problems / upset tummy. I'd still stick with back in QT and no feeding for several days. QT water level low so to reduce water pressure.

If the scratching really is persistent flashing and not just a swimming problem then keep an eye on if it is the gills or anywhere specific. Are other fish ok?

Longer term it can be tricky to find time however shifting to regular water changes each fortnight at least will improve water quality. Several times now I have picked poor water quality from over dosing ferts just by seeing the fish sulking so good water quality always helps. As well I find a liquid based water test kit like the API freshwater test kit pretty invaluable.

 

[RABENA]

Well there is your problem keep up on your water changes
That molly was swimming in piss for a month
Goldfish are dirty and make a lot of waste

Sent from my LGLS740 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Jessy2363]

Just use a parasitic med that gets inside the fish. I like tetra parasite guard. You can possibly keep molly's and goldfish together. They both LOVE a high PH. Molly's are a bit brackish however if they were to live in freshwater then high PH would do them justice also it would the goldfish. However I'd keep the temp up to around 24 degrees. Goldfish do great in that. And the minimum temp for molly's is 24 so you need a heater and keep it at 24 and you should be okay. Even add a bit of crushed coral around the substrate and you're PH will be perfect.

Get a wicked filter though. Like a canister. Fish are messy buggers and if you accidentally overfeed then dirty water comes along. Even if it hasn't got ammonia or nitrite in it, even just old food crap laying around an poohs and stuff just makes water gross and easy to catch diseases for the fish.