# fuzzy mollies?!



## shainateal

My black and white mollies turned fuzzy acouple days ago. They are acting perfectly normal, but have this odd white fuzz growing all over them in tiny patches. what is this and how can i treat it?


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## Felicia

What are your water parameters? 

Bring the salt level up to .20% with freshwater aquarium salt. Sounds like Columnaris, a bacteria that looks like a fungus. common on mollies, black mollies in particular. Siphon uneaten food immediately and don't overfeed. Keep your temperature stable and watch your water quality (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, pH, etc.) 

If that doesn't help, let us know and we can recommend treatment.


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## AmberH

I just noticed similar symptoms on my dalmatian molly yesterday. I'll use the advice given in the post above, thanks.


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## maykaym4

How long have you had the mollies and how long has your tank been set up?


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## AmberH

The tank has been set up for a month now and I've had the mollies two weeks. 

I'm sure the tank should have been cycled longer but I grew impatient.


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## claire69

ive noticed my black mollie has same fuzziness but could yu help with its other problem its sluggish sitting at bottom of the tank is also fatter than its gold companion i have put it in a seperate tank on its on for now but am wondering if its possible it could be pregnant


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## maykaym4

I went through a whole stage when I didn't know how to cycle right...okay, actually it was before I knew what cycling was (oh no)...and I went through about ten fish of all types (green spotted puffers, gourami, mollies, etc) before I figured it out... they all got fuzzy, cottony-looking stuff on them and ended up dying...around a couple weeks after I got them. Someone with more experience on here would probably know how exactly it caused that, but I'm not really sure how. Check your water parameters and if they are all out of whack, do a medium water change. How much salt do you normally have in there now? If any of my mollies get sick, one of the first things I do is add a little more aquarium salt and and raise the temperature to 80. This seems to work for me most of the time with mollies. 




claire69 said:


> ive noticed my black mollie has same fuzziness but could yu help with its other problem its sluggish sitting at bottom of the tank is also fatter than its gold companion i have put it in a seperate tank on its on for now but am wondering if its possible it could be pregnant


Claire,
The fuzz and the sluggishness are most likely caused by the same thing, unless it is pregnant. How much fatter is it? Could you get a picture of it? What are your water parameters and how long have you had the tank set up and how long have you had the fish?


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## alliecat420

could you be over-feeding.. fish will get body fungus over a slight scratch if theres rotting debris in their tank.. and like felicia said.. add some aquarium salt.. this will kill unwated parisites if that turns out to be your problem


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## emc7

The question is from january, most likely the fish are dead or cured by now. Most of the fuzzy diseases are pretty nasty. Its worth noting that 'black molly disease' is a synonym for columnaris.


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## mousey

Do mollies get more diseases than other fish?
In the lfs it seems the mollies always have something wrong with them and my friend who prefers mollies is always have some issue with them.


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## emc7

I think black mollies are prone to ich and columnaris. Balloon mollies are prone to death in childbirth. I don't know why certain species or varieties are excessively susceptible to certain diseases. It may be a lack of genetic diversity in the fish in the hobby. But when they name a disease after a fish (angelfish plague, dwarf gourami disease), you can bet there is at least one strain of something that preferentially targets one fish.

Personally I think that mollies are esp. sensitive to ich when kept in soft, salt-free water.


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## Guest

mollys are just plain weird!


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## hookertoo

Is the fungas the disease? Or is a sick fish more vulnerable to the fungas?


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## emc7

Fungus can infect fish as a disease, but its more likely to infect wounds and grow on dead tissue like it grows on uneaten food. The bacterial infections that are also white and fuzzy tend to be very serious and quick acting. Sick and injured fish are susceptible to all kinds of things and even if you treat the symptom you see, you may miss the original cause.


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