Black Molly with White specks

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robertmarda

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Messages
314
Location
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
My black molly has white specks on its side, sailfin, mouth, and around its eyes. Around the eye it looks puffy. He is acting normal right now. He was fine when I left work on Friday and this morning I found him like that.

What would be the best treatment for him? I'm thinking it is Ick that he has. Would it be better to use salt (he has not been kept in brackish water for at least a year or more) or Ick medicine? Does Ick medicine ever go bad? Do I have to use Salt from a fish store?

I'll be taking him home tonight where I'll have to switch my 10 gallon tank from a breeding tank to hospital tank. Thankfully I don't have any baby fish right now and my breeding fish are probably not pregnant. If I go with salt how much should I use in a 10 gallon tank? The black molly will be the only fish in the tank and I'll remove all the plants from that tank too.
 
Your breeders are all mollies, correct? If so, I'd go with 1 tablespoon per gallon.

Also, over the course of a few days, crank the heat to 85 or so, the fish can take it, Ich dies over 82 I believe.

Transfer the plants, and don't put them back until you have changed the water in the 10 so it's fresh again.

I never use ich medicine so I cannot address that issue.

With just heat and salt (and catching on to the disease early enough) most of my fish survive bouts with ich.
 
Argg, I forgot, you should either use aquarium salt or Kosher salt. not tble salt that is iodized.
 
Thanks for the quick response!

correct, my breeder fish are mollies. I plan to move them from the tank to avoid them being exposed to what the black molly has in case it is something worse than Ick. I also have 2 Oto's and my turtle in this 10 gallon tank so they'll get moved to.

If Ick dies at 82 F, then if I keep all my tanks at 83 F I should never have a problem with Ick, right? I currently keep all my tanks at 80F.

I'll have to buy some salt tonight. Where can I get Kosher salt?
 
The temperature is debatable insofar as keeping it there all the time. Thats a tough call. I wouldn't want to give you bad advice, that high all the time might not be good for all your various fish.

Every grocery store should have kosher salt, it doesn't have to be a specialty kosher-only store. It should be with the other salt, but ask a clerk if you can't find it.

I use kosher salt for all my cooking, I like it better for that, but it's coarse, so you can't put it in a salt shaker (at least the kind I have).
 
I wouldn't increase the temprature up to 85 straight away either, try to bring it up to 85 in a few days, as a sudden dramatic temprature difference can shock fish.
Don't forget to reduce it back either - remember that although a higher temprature will gradually kill off ICH, it is a better condition for other diseases.
 
I just thought of something else. My 10 gallon tank does not have a good filter on it right now. Will I need to stir up the tank periodically after putting the salt in or will the salt float around on its own?
 
Either stir it around untill all disolved, or best case, do you at least have an extra air pump and airstone? If you put a bubbler in there it will keep the water moving enough for what you need.
 
Just to add my $.02 and agree with CC -

My first bout of ich (before I knew much) I lost 8 rummynose tetras in 2 days using ich medicine.

My last bout of ich, about 4 weeks after that, I treated with aquarium salt ($2.49 for a big bag that's not even half empty from the LFS, 1 teaspoon per gallon for my 55) and slowly raised the temp to 83 or 84 degress. Not a single fatality and no more outbreaks.

I won't use ich medicine again!
 
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