Owie or Alien?

[Sharkbutter]

So I moved my Balloon Belly Molly back into her normal tank from the hospital tank where she was treated from columnaris.

The hospital tank is not as well lit as the normal tank (a mistake, now I know) so when I returned her to the well lit tank with my 6 tetras (10 gal) I saw that she has something hanging off of her! I don't know whether this is a flaked scale or a full on parasite. She is happy and healthy, huge appetite and curious as ever and no clamping at all. She just has a black thing hanging off of her. Either one sucks but which one is it? I will try to post a pic later if someone needs it.

Are parasites usually black? As she is black too, I hope you can see my confusion. I have tried to get a good look at it for an hour now but she won't stay still for a darn second, in true Molly fashion. Let me know if you have ideas!

 

[Sharkbutter]

*Update*

So the thing fell off and now it looks like a slightly darker patch of black on her skin. I can't tell if it's a hole, as she is black herself. Hole in the head?

I swear this fish is going to give me a heart attack. She is the healthiest sick fish ever. But she is a survivor.

 

[happygirl65]

Wow, I am sorry. Can you post a pic? I know how hard that is but sometimes it helps to see it even if it's not a clear pic.

If you suspect she has HITH I would put her back in QT to be safe and obderve for a while even if you want to hold off on treatment to see what is going on with her.

 

[Sharkbutter]

I think that is may have just been new scales underneath. It looks like it resolved itself. Well, if it's not one thing, it's another. Now her dorsal fin is getting ragged. Maybe the tetras, with their new found sense of community are ganging up on her. It's weird I know, but for a community school, they are a bunch of gang bangers.

On the bright side, 99 % of her columnaris cleared up. I think maybe it was my hospital tank that was exacerbating it. I am going to clean it.

Thanks for your help!