What i thought was ich i dont think is!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dataz722]

For about 3-4 weeks i have been treating for what i thought to be ich. It started with my gold and white molly on the top of her head then spread to my orange molly. The gold and white has some somewhat large and very bright white spots but mainly only on her head and the orange molly dosnt have as many and they are all over her body and they are a much duller white. They are the only two that i have noticed it on. For about the first week to week and a half i was treating it with salt and raised the temp to aboout 86 degress. Once i decided that wasnt working because it was only getting worse i went out and bought Quick Cure which the person at the LFS said was the best thing to use. As of tomorrow i will have been using that for two weeks and havnt seen it getting any better, if anything its getting worse.
There is a couple reasons that i dont think this is ich. I have been treating for a long time now and it isnt getting any better at all. Up until about 3 days ago all the fish were acting completly normal (no scratching against things or gasping for oxygen or anything, things that usualy come with ich). The only thing is that a few days ago the orange molly basicly stopped eating. I thought this was becuase of the ich but yesterday i saw her come to the top of the water to eat which she hadnt done in days, then i saw the gold and white molly charg at her, i think this might be the main reason that she isnt eating. The other reason that i dont think that its ich is because none of the other fish show any signs of it and two of them are black and it would be really easy to see.
My water conditions are good, as of yesterday they were ammonia and nitrITE were 0, and nitrate was around 15 or 20.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be and how do i treat it???

Thanks any help would greatly appreciated
-Mike

[CrazieEddie]

Sorry for the late reply...

ich looks like little grains of salt on their bodies. Since you have been treating with medication and it hasn't reduced, it is safe to say that it probably isn't ich. It could be little spots fungus as well. But before treating it with fungus medication, perform daily water changes of about 10%. Also slowly lower the temp back to your normal setting. Lower it at maybe 1-2 degrees every few hours. Then observe the fish for a few weeks, to make sure there are no signs of stress.

Would it be possible if you could post a pic of the sick fish? I am wondering if it may be just the coloration of the fish. Do these spots protrude from the body a bit?

[dataz722]

They dont protrude at all and i dont think that it is just a coloration. They spots started as just a few on the gold and white and they becamore more then spread to the orange one.

Ill see what i can do about posting a pic, i have a digital camera but someone gave it to me and ive never used it before but ill charge it and try.]

What do you think about the one molly not eating, do you think that it could have something to do with the fungus? Or is it just because of the bully? Other than that they are acting completly normal, ill do the daily water change and do you think i should add some stress coat in there, would that help at all?

[CrazieEddie]

Keep a close eye on the fish not eating. The meds in the tank could have stressed the fish in a way that could have weakened it. I would suggest to move it in a QT tank, but if it's weak, the stress of the move will not help. Does the fish appear somewhat lethargic?

If possible, try to give it some foods, high in protein, such as frozen bloodworms. Use a turkey baster to squirt the food near it so the other fish will not attempt to eat the bloodworms.

Using stresscoat seems to always help.

[dataz722]

Well i lost the orange molly late last night, the other one is acting completly normal but still has the spots. I bougt some maracyn yesterday so im going to try that, from what ive read it sounds like it is body fungus and that should treat it in 5 days.

[betaboi]

Are the spots like flat disks moving very slowly moving on the skin or fins? If so, it could be fish lice. This is a pretty rare disease so its not likely. Look for one spot on the fish and keep an eye on that spot. If it has moved that could be fish lice. The only things i know of to cure fish lice is called "Parasite Clear" or "Parasite Guard" made by Jungle®.

[dataz722]

i think i was dropsy, i treat that for a week and now the fish are acting normal again but the spots still are not gone on the gold and white molly

[AngelMom]

Althought it is a bit difficult to confirm without pics, your fish might have Chilodonella. You don't say what size the white spots are, but this protozoan causes decay in the skin of the fish and the areas are usually 1-3mm wide.

Treatment for this consists of removing any activated charcoal from your filter and administer 1g of Methylene Blue per liter of water (should be about 2 Tablespoons for every 10 gallons)

Pour the Methylene Blue over washed cotton or filter material. After 5 days, add the charcoal back into the filter to remove the medication.

Hope this helps.