McLumpy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hey, guys! I try not to post in this section unless it's an emergency, and well, I'm afraid it has gotten to that point.
My Molly, Mimi, has been struggling w/ an unknown ailment for the past 2 weeks. She's housed in a 55g community tank and none of my other fishes are showing symptoms of this illness. I do know for a fact that both of my Mollies have Livebearer Disease due to lack of Electrolytes in the water, but that's not a huge concern at this point.
The water parameters are normal. Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrates-40, pH-7.6. The Nitrates have always been a little high, but they're steady and haven't increased past 40ppm.
Symptoms:
- Wiggling: This is linked to the Livebearer Disease.
- Bloated: She was extremely bloated and some of her scales were slightly sticking out. This has been helped w/ salt baths and she looks "normal" again.
- Missing Scales: Lg portion of scales are missing on her side and tail fin and the areas look red.
- Bump: A soft bump is located on her tail fin, (it feels like there's fluid inside). Yes, I touched the bump and she didn't freak out at all. lol
- Tail Slightly Bent: Her tail bends slightly downward.
- Swimming Issues: She swims w/ her tail "dragging" along the gravel.
- Lethargic: Sits on gravel or in plants 95% of the time.
- Not Eating, (or eating very little): She was gobbling up shelled peas a few days ago when I had her in my breeder tank, but now she refuses to eat flake food.
Treatments:
So far I've used the following treatments...
- Salt Baths: 4 baths given, 30 min's each-once a day for 4 days. Used 1Tbs of Epsom salt in 1g container of tank water.
- Isolated Feedings: I placed her in my breeder box for 4 days and she did fine, but I have since released her in the tank. During the first 3 days, I fed her shelled peas and she was eating fine. On the 4th day, I gave her flake food and she refused to eat, (and doesn't appear to be eating now that she was released back into the tank).
- Melafix/Pimafix: Added 5tsp each, once a day for 7 days. 50% pwc was done after treatment.
The salt baths helped quite a bit to reduce the bloating, but the Melafix/Pimafix didn't help heal the redness where her scales are missing.
Incidents:
This may not be related, but I will mention it... my other Molly mysteriously died recently and he looked and acted fine the night prior to me finding him deceased on the gravel.
Unfortunately I don't have any pics of her at the moment, but I will try to take some and post them as soon as I can, (hopefully tomorrow). If anyone has any thoughts as to what is killing Mimi, please give me your input! I'm completely befuddled and I want to save her, but it's almost to the point where euthanasia may be necessary.
TIA for the help, guys!
My Molly, Mimi, has been struggling w/ an unknown ailment for the past 2 weeks. She's housed in a 55g community tank and none of my other fishes are showing symptoms of this illness. I do know for a fact that both of my Mollies have Livebearer Disease due to lack of Electrolytes in the water, but that's not a huge concern at this point.
The water parameters are normal. Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrates-40, pH-7.6. The Nitrates have always been a little high, but they're steady and haven't increased past 40ppm.
Symptoms:
- Wiggling: This is linked to the Livebearer Disease.
- Bloated: She was extremely bloated and some of her scales were slightly sticking out. This has been helped w/ salt baths and she looks "normal" again.
- Missing Scales: Lg portion of scales are missing on her side and tail fin and the areas look red.
- Bump: A soft bump is located on her tail fin, (it feels like there's fluid inside). Yes, I touched the bump and she didn't freak out at all. lol
- Tail Slightly Bent: Her tail bends slightly downward.
- Swimming Issues: She swims w/ her tail "dragging" along the gravel.
- Lethargic: Sits on gravel or in plants 95% of the time.
- Not Eating, (or eating very little): She was gobbling up shelled peas a few days ago when I had her in my breeder tank, but now she refuses to eat flake food.
Treatments:
So far I've used the following treatments...
- Salt Baths: 4 baths given, 30 min's each-once a day for 4 days. Used 1Tbs of Epsom salt in 1g container of tank water.
- Isolated Feedings: I placed her in my breeder box for 4 days and she did fine, but I have since released her in the tank. During the first 3 days, I fed her shelled peas and she was eating fine. On the 4th day, I gave her flake food and she refused to eat, (and doesn't appear to be eating now that she was released back into the tank).
- Melafix/Pimafix: Added 5tsp each, once a day for 7 days. 50% pwc was done after treatment.
The salt baths helped quite a bit to reduce the bloating, but the Melafix/Pimafix didn't help heal the redness where her scales are missing.
Incidents:
This may not be related, but I will mention it... my other Molly mysteriously died recently and he looked and acted fine the night prior to me finding him deceased on the gravel.
Unfortunately I don't have any pics of her at the moment, but I will try to take some and post them as soon as I can, (hopefully tomorrow). If anyone has any thoughts as to what is killing Mimi, please give me your input! I'm completely befuddled and I want to save her, but it's almost to the point where euthanasia may be necessary.
TIA for the help, guys!
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