Urgent: dying molly

[NetMax]

"FishNoob" > wrote in message
...
> In article
> .co.uk>, Jennie
> Kermode <"Jennie > says...
>> Fish do sometimes die from strokes, cancers, and other
>> things
>> which we may not see coming and simply can't treat. One thing I'd be
>> looking for in this case, however, is bruises, especially any swelling
>> around the head or vertebrae. He might have injured himself or he
>> might
>> have been attacked, especially if he was quiet. Not that there's much
>> you can do if this is the case, except make him comfortable and see if
>> he recovers. Where possible, I put fish in this situation in a
>> bare-bottomed isolation tank where they won't damage their mucous
>> layers
>> by scraping on gravel.
>
> He didn't make it :-( He put up a good fight, flopping around the
> tank for a few hours, but in the end he wasn't strong enough.
>
> He was definitely injured, though I don't know how. We do have one
> fairly aggressive danio, but he was substantially larger than it, and
> its agression seems mainly limited to pushing the other fish a bit. I
> had a look at his injuries after we took him out of the tank, and
> there were two marks, one behind his gill, one a bit further back,
> but they didn't look like bite-marks - not the right shape, and for
> them to be so far apart he'd have had to be bitten twice. There are a
> few shells in tank, but they all have smooth edges and the edges are
> all in the gravel. There's nothing else I can think of that would be
> sharp. I'll be keeping a close eye on the tank for a while though,
> just in case.
>
> --
> FishNoob

In these cases, it is very important to remove the cadaver (as you have)
from the aquarium ASAP. The danger is that some internal contagions are
spread through ingestion, and if the fish pick the cadaver apart, you
begin a cycle of inexplicitly losing fish every 3-6 months.

My experience with vets has not been very good (you might have better
luck in your area). Most are curious and somewhat interested but too
inexperienced to give really good advice for the difficult cases they are
approached with. In any case, we're talking about a Molly, not a $4,000
Arowana (that's where it starts getting very interesting).
--
www.NetMax.tk

[FishNoob]

I've just found our male sailfin molly floating amongst the plants in
the tank. He was on his back, and I initially thought he was dead.
However by the time I'd fetched the net to remove him, he'd started
to try to flip over, and his gills were moving. I moved him out from
under the plants so I could see him better; he's now lying on the
gravel, attempting (a bit) to flip over, but mainly on his back. His
gills are moving and it looks like he's trying to feed from the
gravel, but he's clearly not well, and to my inexpert eye, looks like
he's on his way out.

Is there anything I can do? I don't have a second tank - apart from a
small plastic unheated unfiltered one. There's nothing notable
physically - i.e. he doesn't look injured, no visible fungus, etc.
He's always been "quiet" - liked hanging around the back of the tank,
wasn't as active as the other mollies, but has never looked visibly
ill in any way.

Water is clear, I did about a 15% change two days ago, ammonia and
nitrates are zero. None of the other fish look ill (though we've lost
a few tetras, but always within a few days of arrival, and I'd put it
down to them being less-than-hardy fish to start with).


--
FishNoob

[Jennie Kermode]

On 2005-11-13, FishNoob > wrote:
> Is there anything I can do? I don't have a second tank - apart from a
> small plastic unheated unfiltered one.

Can you get a heater for it? Even if it's too late on this
occasion, it may prove useful in any future emergencies. Filtering isn't
as important in short-stay tanks, though it would be worth setting that
up too if you have the opportunity.

> physically - i.e. he doesn't look injured, no visible fungus, etc.
> He's always been "quiet" - liked hanging around the back of the tank,
> wasn't as active as the other mollies, but has never looked visibly
> ill in any way.

Fish do sometimes die from strokes, cancers, and other things
which we may not see coming and simply can't treat. One thing I'd be
looking for in this case, however, is bruises, especially any swelling
around the head or vertebrae. He might have injured himself or he might
have been attacked, especially if he was quiet. Not that there's much
you can do if this is the case, except make him comfortable and see if
he recovers. Where possible, I put fish in this situation in a
bare-bottomed isolation tank where they won't damage their mucous layers
by scraping on gravel.
Another possibility is that this is an internal bacterial
infection. Some such problems can take months to develop to a dangerous
(and visible) stage, so it doesn't apply only if you've recently
introduced new fish. Has his colour darkened at all? Are any of your
other fish showing even faintly similar symptoms? Have any of them been
off their food? If this is your problem, you'll need to treat the whole
tank with antibiotics - I'd recommend consulting a vet.

Jennie

--
Jennie Kermode
http://www.triffid.demon.co.uk/jennie

[FishNoob]

He's still going, two hours later. He's managed to roll over a bit
and is back in amongst the plants. It looks as though he tries to get
up the right way, but something pulls him upside-down again - almost
as if his back was weighted, iyswim. While he was in a more exposed
area of the tank, the other orange molly poked at him a few times, at
which point he'd flip over a couple of times before coming to rest
again on his back.

During his flipping-over, we've noticed a couple of small dark red
spots on his side, behind his gills. It looks as though he may have
been injured. I'm taking this as a good sign, in that a) if it's an
injury, it's not a disease which might spread, and b) if he's been
injured and survived this long, maybe he'll recover *crosses fingers*

I have a breeding net, which I could move him into for protection,
but I'm leaving him alone for the time being, on the premise that he
clearly wants to be under the cover of the plants, and he might
*feel* more exposed in the breeding net and be more stressed. Is this
the right thing to do?

I've added some Stress Coat to the water.

Anything else I should do? Any idea of his chances?

--
FishNoob

[FishNoob]

In article
.co.uk>, Jennie
Kermode <"Jennie > says...
> Fish do sometimes die from strokes, cancers, and other things
> which we may not see coming and simply can't treat. One thing I'd be
> looking for in this case, however, is bruises, especially any swelling
> around the head or vertebrae. He might have injured himself or he might
> have been attacked, especially if he was quiet. Not that there's much
> you can do if this is the case, except make him comfortable and see if
> he recovers. Where possible, I put fish in this situation in a
> bare-bottomed isolation tank where they won't damage their mucous layers
> by scraping on gravel.

He didn't make it :-( He put up a good fight, flopping around the
tank for a few hours, but in the end he wasn't strong enough.

He was definitely injured, though I don't know how. We do have one
fairly aggressive danio, but he was substantially larger than it, and
its agression seems mainly limited to pushing the other fish a bit. I
had a look at his injuries after we took him out of the tank, and
there were two marks, one behind his gill, one a bit further back,
but they didn't look like bite-marks - not the right shape, and for
them to be so far apart he'd have had to be bitten twice. There are a
few shells in tank, but they all have smooth edges and the edges are
all in the gravel. There's nothing else I can think of that would be
sharp. I'll be keeping a close eye on the tank for a while though,
just in case.

--
FishNoob