# Molly looks wierd



## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Hey there,
I noticed today that one of my mollies looked really abnormal. I didn't notice until i looked closely. But it seems as if all of his scales are protruding out. I've never seen him like this. Kind of freaky. I'm guessing this is not normal.
What can i do to treat this?

thanks


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

find a treatment for dropsy


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

Fishfirst said:


> find a treatment for dropsy


this is in the diseases thread so I figured I'd post the link here for more info for you: http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Dropsy 

yep it's dropsy for sure - if you can quarantine the fish that would be best as it is contagious - an antibiotic (here's where the carbon would be removed from the filter if you have any) is advised and a salt dip solution (about 1-2 minutes) in aquarium salt - like brine. make sure the temperature of the water in the salt solution matches that of the quarantine tank

i would also advise a lil brine salt added to the main aquarium (about 1 tablespoon per 10 gals) which will be removed in your regularly scheduled water changes - mollies prefer brackish water anyhow but if you have other fish in the tank then my suggested amount above is best (less if you have alot of catfish - also, catfish are very sensitive to antibiotics so really quarantine the mollie if you can at all)

some additional info here:
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hddropsy.htm


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

lochness said:


> this is in the diseases thread so I figured I'd post the link here for more info for you: http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Dropsy
> 
> yep it's dropsy for sure - if you can quarantine the fish that would be best as it is contagious - an antibiotic (here's where the carbon would be removed from the filter if you have any) is advised and a salt dip solution (about 1-2 minutes) in aquarium salt - like brine. make sure the temperature of the water in the salt solution matches that of the quarantine tank
> 
> ...



Hmm... according to the first link, it says that it may have been caused by umkept conditions in my tank. My try really hard to keep conditions good. I dont think that could be the cause. I would add a little sale in my main tank but i have cories. I dont think that adding salt to the main tank is a good idea. I do have a little sale in my 29 gallon tank though. So i'll go ahead and quarantine the mollie in there with a little more salt.


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

Alin10123 said:


> Hmm... according to the first link, it says that it may have been caused by umkept conditions in my tank. My try really hard to keep conditions good. I dont think that could be the cause. I would add a little sale in my main tank but i have cories. I dont think that adding salt to the main tank is a good idea. I do have a little sale in my 29 gallon tank though. So i'll go ahead and quarantine the mollie in there with a little more salt.


just says that's a possibility - it also says it would be due to bacterial - which could have been caused by many other factors - so long as you can place it somwhere so that it can be treated you have some hope - a lil more salt may not be enbough - at this point the condition has progressed enough to have the sacles protrude so a salt dip solution of about 1 minute would be good as well as the antibiotic/tetracycline - even a small breeder would be good (they are sold cheap too)


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Cories won't put up with salt, looks like you have to seperate the fish.
Salt is great for preventing bacterial diseases in the future. Yeah.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Cichlid Man said:


> Cories won't put up with salt, looks like you have to seperate the fish.
> Salt is great for preventing bacterial diseases in the future. Yeah.


Ok... then i shall move my mollies in there with my black finned tetras (i just hope they dont get their fins nipped) and i'll move the pleco in the big tank where there's a slight growth of algae.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

lochness said:


> just says that's a possibility - it also says it would be due to bacterial - which could have been caused by many other factors - so long as you can place it somwhere so that it can be treated you have some hope - a lil more salt may not be enbough - at this point the condition has progressed enough to have the sacles protrude so a salt dip solution of about 1 minute would be good as well as the antibiotic/tetracycline - even a small breeder would be good (they are sold cheap too)


Ok, i will do the saltdip thingie. Then add more than a little salt to the 29 gallon that already has some salt in it. Then put him in the breeder net until he recovers. 

thanks everyone!


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

gl and sry for the typos lol


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

lochness said:


> gl and sry for the typos lol


By the way, what's a salt dip? and how do i mix a con****tion of this stuff up?


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

a salt dip is taking brine with just a little bit of dechlorinated water and literally *dipping* the fish in it - some people use a small breeder tank or 5 gal container with water and brine (aquarium salt) to ease the stress on the fish and others use just a little bit of water to soften the brine and dip the fish - i've heard of 3-5 minute dippings but that seems too stressful for the fish to be effective -i suggest a minute - the reasoning behind using aquarium salt (and never use table salt since it contains calcium, magnesium and sometimes iodine) is that it will kill tiny bacteria and pathogens that are the cause of many fish diseases and since the fish can reasonably tolerate salt to a certain degree (even cories but less so which is why i generally suggest 1 tablespoon for every 10 gal as opposed to the usual 1 tblsn to 5 gals) the idea is to help speed the healing process by dipping the fish in it - i also would add salt whenever I was going to add a new fish. salt acculmulates and can only be removed with reg water changes so keep this in mind if you decide to do this. 

you can bypass this altogether and use tetracycline or some other antibiotic in a separate container instead and use as directed on the box.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Understood. I went out and bought some maracyn 2 which states that it treats dropsy and i also added 1 tablespoon per 7.5 gallons for the salt. I used the maracyn as directed but as the day went on it didn't look like the molly was going to make it. 
The scales went from looking like a pinecone then it later on looked like there were chunks of the scale missing. Lights out for the night, then in the morning the molly was dead. I tried to do evrything i could but there wasn't much else i could do. 
Water quality is where it's always at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and very low nitrates. 

thanks for everyone's help.


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

im sorry


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## micstarz (Oct 22, 2005)

sorry for your loss.... and it was a MOLLY! I dont keep mollies anymore but I remember the way they are cute and they just sort of wriggle in the water.... lol

give it a decent burial.... the traditional flush-down-the-toilet should do..


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