black molly

Question
hi have a black Millie that has now had white spot several times in the last couple of months, have brought several treatments,it goes then comes back as soon as the treatments stop, have done water changes in between treatments,i was advised to use a treatment called esha 2000 which i used and have now lost 4 neon tetra in the last couple of days since doing these treatments, any advice as to why white spot keeps coming back, or should i just get rid of black molly.

Answer
Hi Dave,
Does the white spot go away in a day and reappear within a day or two? If you stop medicating before the recommended full-treatment period, it is likely to re-occur. Its usually best to keep the white spot medication in the aquarium in the aquarium for at least 2 weeks to insure every last white spot parasite is gone.

You might want to consider the "Heat and salt" treatment method.  Raise the temperature to about 86 degrees slowly about 1-2 degrees per hour. And add aquarium salt to the water. Make sure to pre-dissolve the salt in a container of tank water before adding. Only add little bits of pre-dissolved salt water to the tank at a time throughout the day.

It does help to do 30-50% water changes every other day or so during this treatment and almost any treatment for that matter to help keep the water clean and remove excess parasites. Just re-add the amount of salt according to how many gallons you look out (make sure its pre-dissolved).

White spot parasites cannot tolerant too-high temperatures or salt very well. But the fish generally respond well to this treatment. Which should typically last about 14-21 days. After that, start doing daily 20% water changes to bring the salinity down. And lower the temperature gradually over a few days.

Make sure to keep the temperature stable with a good quality heater. Mollies tend to be quite sensitive but not so if their water is kept clean and the temperature stable and warm.

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~