molly with raised scales

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Teakwood

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
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449
Location
St.Louis
Hello, I'm in need of opinions. Picked up a fish today from a college girl who didn't have time for it. Its an orange and black molly, I was startled when I got there to find it in a bag of orange water which should have been a red flag....got it home and did a slow acclimation with my tank water(totally cycled, nitrates stay 20 and under) put It in a clear container for further inspection to see the black scales along its head and gills are raised. The orange water tested 0 nitrite and 80ish, possibly more nitrate.
Fish is also quite large and since I've never kept mollys long term I'm not sure if its bloated at all or normal sized. It does not appear to be abnormally large in the mid section. Basically I don't want to risk any contamination in my tanks even though I usually do a round of worm treatment when I add new fish just in case.

Hoping for thoughts and opinions, I once had a Betta with dropsy that never appeared to recover fully even in perfect water and after meds.

Is it possible for the scales to just be a stress issue from previous water quality? I don't think ive had any of my fishes scales do this back before I had cycling down so it seems there are underlying causes. Thanks for the opinions. Not letting me post a pic. I will try to add it after posting.apparently it did let me add a pic...
 

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She's in a small hospital tank with air stone, a little salt, and prazi because of weird feces. Going to keep an eye on it and see how it goes tomorrow.
 
That fish has got dropsy. Well, dropsy is a symptom which, is quie had to cure. I believe you have to go to the vet and get a injection for tHe fish. Sometimes they'll survive but it's not very common. Good luck!
 
If it has raised scales over most of the body, that is known as dropsy, and the hope of a cure is virtually nil. It's an internal bacterial infection that most water borne antibiotics won't touch, even if you can get the right ones. I'm guessing a vet is out of the question.

If you see more scales raised, or she starts to look like a pine cone, or the eyes pop, the kindest thing you can do is euthanize her before she suffers any more.

That said, the very odd fish has made a miraculous recovery, given the cleanest water possible, and in this case, salt may help, as they are a brackish species originally.

They can get to four inches in size. If female, pregnancy is a possibility if she was kept with a male at any time, they can hold sperm for later use. If she is pregnant, there is probably not much hope for live young.. she might abort in her condition.

It's a terrible shame she was kept in such poor conditions. Wish you luck but raised scales are never a good sign for any fish, sad to say.
 
As much as I hate to admit it I think everyone who cares for fish knows there is a time when euthanasia is the most humane option and in this case I did. The person who had it also gave me the used products including a bottle of melafix so obviously there were issues in the past, I hate to see fish suffer, recovery is a long process and isn't guaranteed. And the risk of contamination to other fish is a risk at this point I can't take. I've also watched fish of my own go through symptoms of dropsy(in the past) and never fully recover. But man I tell ya what euthanizing is always sad and emotional. Thanks for the opinions. I was hoping with some time in clean water it would show signs of getting better but she looked quite rough today and I did what I felt was best.
 
Sorry to hear, but good on you for doing the right thing. I know it's not easy, but it's the only thing we have to offer an animal in pain who isn't going to get better.
 
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