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Molly with potential dropsy? What to do.

pollyandpear

pollyandpear

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Joined
16 Jan 2023
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291
Location
London
Today one of my Mollys, the male, looks a little swollen and keeps spending time on the bottom. When I tried to get him to swim up to the top to get a better look at him some of his scales almost look a little rough.

I noticed he was almost sat wonky in the sand. He looks like he struggling.

I tested water and it is fine. All other fish are super active.

What do I do :(
 
As of yesterday, one of my Mollys looked like he has dropsy.

He is bloated, some scales look rough, always at the bottom. I don't think he will last long. I tested my water and it is fine.

What is the best course of action - can I treat him within the main tank, or do I need to consider moving him to a 'hospital tank'.

I have got a spare tank, it isn't set up but would that be the best thing to do?

If so, what do I do. I have another filter - I could use some filter media from my current tank?

Any advise would be appreciated.

I have bought some Esha 2000,
 
What is going on in your tank? 😬🥲

I kind of think your main tank is borked, I’d start a course of anti bacterial treatment, I’d also not do much else. Small daily water changes (as in 5% volume) and tbh just let this ride out. The best thing you can do for these fish now is provide a stable environment. If you can, get some live food. Turn the lights down too, if you can and same again with filtration.

I’ve never had a fish survive dropsy, but I also haven’t seen dropsy in any of my own fish in a long time.

I don’t put much faith in off the shelf Uk fish meds. Sorry you’re on this journey.
 
I don't know :(

I have tried so hard to do everything okay and I just don't seem to be very good at it.

Which anti bacterial treatment would you recommend?

What live food would you recommend?

My lights can't be turned down, they are just on or off.

Thanks for your support.
 
Also, okay, not a great topic but sometimes you kind of need to start again.

You get so much advice on forums, and it’s not cohesive or agreeable so it’s hard to know what to do in these cases. I don’t think you’re at fault. Neither are those who give advice 😅

Fundamentally, fish need oxygen, water, heat and food to survive. Im sure you are providing that as your fish are not dying immediately.

After this, fish need a mature system. They need stability. This way fish live for a long time. Plants do help with this, but so does patience.

If you’ve got a pond, go dip the net in and get some mosquito larvae. Yes, this could introduce something into your tank, but it never has for me, and we’re past that worry with yours 😉 if your fish are not eating what you put in, it’s not looking good.

I wouldn’t bother with any meds now I’ve thought about it; just small water changes (I have a 3l jug I use) keep an eye on flow, if you can aim the outlet to the surface to get more o2 in there, and better yet reduce the flow if you can. Fish don’t love being in whirlpools, it uses up their energy.

I suspect it’ll be fine, but if they all get a bit ill, clover oil.

The truth is these bacteria are in everyone’s tank in some kind of ensemble. Healthy fish beat these things all the time; your tank just seems to not have healthy fish. Maybe your LFS is at fault, btw.

If you do start again, I will next day delivery some filter media at my expense to you.
 
Firstly, thank you.

I've done a small water change.

I have a HOB filter so I can't aim the flow. But I have 2 air stones in the tank to help.

They are eating the food I put in, up until a two days ago all fish were active! Now this one is not :(

I'm so gutted that I've lost so many fish.

Thank you so much for the offer regarding filter media - I am not sure how I'd even attempt starting again.

I guess my focus now is on just looking after the fish I have, small water changes and just cross my fingers :(
 
Sorry to hear about your molly, hopefully someone can give advice soon. Is this the same molly you thought had dropsy or another one?
 
Dropsy can be tough to recover from IMO, try you best, but dont be too hard on yourself if treatment fails. Trying to find the cause is the main thing to prevent it happening again. Isolated fish if you can as if treatment doesn't work not good for other livestock.
 
It'd help if you could post some full tank shots and some good quality images of your mollies.

Mollies are supposedly hardy fish but they always seemed to pose problems when I first started out fish keeping. The black molly was the most fickle. I haven't kept them since, and things may have become worse with intensive captive breeding producing genetically weak individuals prone to disease, so don't feel too bad.

Back then, the solution was to keep them at a relatively high temp nearer to the higher end of their range, which is around 70-80 degrees. Also they require mineral rich water, they can't tolerate soft or acidic water. London water is hard and should be fine. And consistently good water quality is also a must for these fish.
 
Thanks.

No the white Molly is the one I first thought had ich or something going on due to white spots on it's tail, but these went within two days so I am wondering what they were and if I am just over panicking.

This is the male Molly - my tank water seems fine, tested it and nitrates etc were fine.

Other fish are eating well and very active.

But this one looks so poorly, I don't know what to do, I have ordered Esher 2000 but seems the advice here is not to doe.

The temp is set to about 77 degrees farenheit.

I can set up another tank if needed, as mentioned I have my old filter, with some media from this current tank in it. I wouldn't use substrate and would just have some floating plants from the current tank to give them some hiding spaces.
 
There is no real reason not to try and treat with eSHa 2000. It's well tolerated, so it won't do any harm. It's a broad spectrum treatment and might actually work. The problem is that generalised oedema, aka Dropsy, is not a disease in itself but rather a symptom of an underlying problem. If it's got to the stage where it's causing oedema, it's generally accepted that recovery is unlikely, but not necessarily impossible.
 
Yes, I understand. I'll try it - should I isolate him and try it, or dose the main tank?
 
I've always treated the entire tank. Especially if I suspect the disease is contagious. No need to isolate and stress the fish out even more. But whatever you decide is right, follow the instructions carefully and don't forget to take in to account the capacity of your filter when working out the dose, and remove any absorbent media like charcoal or purigen.
 
castle said:
I suspect it’ll be fine, but if they all get a bit ill, clover oil.
Click to expand...
What will clover oil do?
pollyandpear said:
I can set up another tank if needed, as mentioned I have my old filter, with some media from this current tank in it. I wouldn't use substrate and would just have some floating plants from the current tank to give them some hiding spaces.
Click to expand...
That’s what I’d do. Hospital tank, put the ill fish in, add your Esha 2000 according to instructions and hope for the best. Keep a close eye on your other fish, and remove any that begin to show signs of illness. Carry on with water changes on your main tank as suggested.
 
Clover oil will cull the fish; I’m not saying that’s a first course but if your tank is outrightly infected I think euthanasia is kinder to the fish.
 
Esha 2000 and plenty of water changes, it may pull through although the chances are slim. I had a whiptail recently with dropsy that I was sure would die but it pulled through and is fine now.

If I’m honest I’m not sure it’s anything you’re doing wrong. Balloon mollies are another fish i wouldn’t touch, they’re inbred and deformed and generally weaker than standard mollies.
 
Got home, he is still alive but he has a red sore on his back and it looks awful.

What the hell is happening!??
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