# Molly and fungus--need help



## seaecho

I've had my black balloon Molly for about 3 weeks now. She was in my community 55 gal. She's appeared very healthy up until 3 days ago. She had eaten well that morning and very active. In a matter of hours, I noticed her lying on the bottom, breathing heavily. Then, when I looked closely, I saw what appeared to be pieces of cotton floating from her eyes and a bit on her mouth. There might have been another spot or two on her body, but if so, they were very small. All other fish were (and are) fine.

I realized this was probably fungus, and put her into my 10 gal. hospital tank, adding 1 teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon, Stresscoat, and set the tank to 84 degrees. I put used filter media from her established tank in the filter and a bit of debris from the bottom of the established tank. Floated her for a good half hour, putting a small amount of the new water in her cup every 10 minutes. 

She perked up almost right away after being put in the hospital tank, and has not laid on the substrate since. She's very active, so I've decided that even when her fungus is gone, she'll stay in a brackish tank. I know the black mollies are very susceptible to things when kept in fresh water, and I've already lost a Dalmation Molly that was in fresh water.

She's eating brine shrimp and flakes very well, like she's starving. I'm delighted she's doing so well, but I know how fast Mollies can go downhill again. I changed 50% of the water yesterday (replacing the salt for the amount I took out) and 2 gallons this morning.

I see very little white on her now. Her gills do appear white when she breathes, but I can't remember if that's normal for a black molly or not. Otherwise, that's the only white I can see on her now. She moves so fast its hard to get a good look at her!

I need to know if what I am doing for her is correct. How long should the temp stay at 84? Do I need to be doing daily water changes? Is the amount of salt correct? And most important, should I just "wait and see" at this point, or buy a fungal medication? I really don't want to treat her if its not necessary, for fear of it making her ill, but don't want to let it go either. If I need to treat her, what should I buy? She's only about half grown, by the way. Thanks so much for any input.


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## zero

you should use marnie salt if you wish to keep them in brackish water, its not just the salt that they need but the added mineral salts etc thats in marine salt. also keep them at the temp you have it set at, at the mo or you could drop it to 82. also keep it in around half-strength seawater. also dont rush out and buy anything yet. higher salt levels will kill most of the problems mollies encounter.

you could however just raise the temp in your main tank and see if your mollies fare better with out the use of salts. as the higher the temp the better there immune system will work, plus if you keep the water quality pristine you should see less problems with them.


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## navigator black

I used to have trouble with mollies in my soft tapwater, but once I began keeping them in hard mineral rich water, they became very hardy. Fungus on a molly is inappropriate water 95% of the time, IMHO. 
With proper water and cleanliness, there is no need for fungus meds.

They are not brackish fish - the issue is that salt is the easiest mineral to get. So, we use salt. In the wild (and no matter how many generations we keep them, their needs evolved in the wild) they swim in waters carved out of limestone by erosion. Their freshwater habitats were off the scale when I measured them in Belize, Honduras and Mexico.

I make my own mix of salts, which work in my water, but the recipe could be different where you are. I've always intended to experiment with rift lake salts like the east African cichlid keepers use, just to see if that would be closer. 

The molly species that are brackish (Poecilia velifera, latipinna and orri) have not added all their genetics to the petstore molly mutts, which are also based on inland species that never go near the ocean or brackish zones.


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## seaecho

She got better in a matter of days with the salt and 82 degree water. I put her back in the 55 gal. community tank, and in a couple weeks, I saw fungus on her again (just beginning). So back in the 10 gallon she went, along with a blind little Blue Moon Platy that was getting pushed aside at feeding time and getting very weak and thin. This Molly is not pushy, so this arrangement is working out well. They are in 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons, and I feed them both by hand. I do 30% water changes every other day right now, even though the Molly's fungus is gone again, and will cut back on water changes to once a week soon.

Thank you for the explanations. They make sense to me. I think I will be keeping these two in the 10 gallon permanently. It seems to agree well with them both. No fungus on molly, and the little platy is getting plenty to eat and really starting to fill out now that she doesn't have to fight for every bite, or try to find it on her own.


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## seaecho

Oh, and I'm so glad I didn't rush out and buy any meds now, Zero. You are so right-- the salt and pristine water conditions did the trick almost right away. The water in the 55 is very clean too, but there are 17 fish in there as opposed to two in the 10 gallon, so much easier to keep the 10 gallon pristine!

And Navigator, I have hard, alkaline water. PH is between 8.0 and 8.2, so I think it was probably that the water wasn't absolutely pristine in the 55. The salt really seems to agree with these two mild mannered, sweet little fish and I feel so privileged to have not lost them.


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## zero

no problem. up the temp in your main tank too, will help the remaining mollies improve there immune system.


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## navigator black

Salt is a skin irritant, and the fish produces extra skin slime to protect itself. The extra mucous keeps things like fungus from being able to grab hold (works against many parasites too). That's what makes it an effective treatment for species like mollies or platys that come from hard, mineral rich water, and have kidneys that can easily handle salt in the water.
You are using such a small amount of salt that it won't do a lot - clearly, just enough.
Just keep the 25-30% weekly water changes going and even a balloon molly can have a long life. Balloon mollies get their shape as they suffer from a genetic spinal deformity, much like scoliosis, that usually causes them to suffer from digestive problems. Someone decided to 'set' the deformity and sell it as it was cute, so millions of the poor things are being produced now. They have a harder time of it than their healthy tankmates.


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## zero

i dont like ballon mollies, i think for the reason that they look deformed! i think there should be a thread on what fish are deformed and why, might help people make better choices about the fish they buy?


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## allenshekallen

but balloon Molly's need to be loved too.


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