Black Molly with spots

Question
Hi Karen-

I have a male black molly who is living with 5 tetras.  I just got him two weeks ago.  Today I purchased a mate for him and noticed that he now has four small white spots on his side.  None of tetras have any visable spots on them.  I had my water tested right before I bought him.  Any idea what this might be and how to treat it?  Should I be watching for more spots to appear?

Thank you-  

Stephanie

Answer
Hi Stephanie!

Your Molly VERY likely has white spot parasites---also known commonly as "ICK" these parasites are the most common illness a fish can experience, thankfully though, it can be cured rather easily...
The best treatment method is first isolating the sick molly..But I highly doubt you have a spare "hospital tank" most fishkeepers don't. But in your case you should do a good water change, about 30% or so. Raise the water temperature to at least 80 F...which speeds up the parasites lifecycle and makes treatment easier (this will make much more sense later...) and you should, as soon as you can, buy a medicine specifically for Parasites like Ick. Quickcure is a common medicine but the doses must be cut in half for sensitive fish like tetras. There are many Ick meds available in fishstores and most of them work great for treatment. The main thing is catching the parasite's lifecycle when they are most vunerable to meds.

Now I'll explain the Ick parasite's lifecycle in a simple way....
Ick parasites are said to be present in your water at all times, (this could be compared to how germs and viruses are everywhere people are--yuck!) But it is when a fish is stressed badly to the point of weakening the fish's normally healthy immune system therefor allowing Ick Parasites to attack. These parasites attach themselves to the fish, just under the skin and develop the protective cysts that no medication known can penetrate--these are the white spots you are seeing. They live this way for a good while until they are ready to break out and multiply. This is when the spots dissapear and you think your fish is over it. But in reality, the parasites are in the gravel and on the bottom now multiplying by the thousands. And soon, the many thousands of parasites will be free swimming in search of a host to live on, THIS is when your medicine will be able to kill off the parasites. This is the most important stage, when the parasites are vunerable. Which is why you MUST continue the medicine treatment for at least 2 weeks even if the label says not to. This insures you kill off every little parasite still swimming in the water. Ick can attack the fish's gills and cause breathing difficulty if action isn't taken as soon as possible. The reason you raise the water temperature to at least 80 degrees is to speed up the lifecycle, the parasites breed faster and go through all their life "stages" much faster which ends up in the meds working sooner and your fish less stressed by the medicine. Which by the way, I should mention, ANY medicine is stressful for fish, and some meds even destroy the nitrifying bacteria colonies which are so important to have in all aquariums---this leading to horrible water quality. There is a brand, that claims to not upset the biological system of your aquarium and that brand is MARDEL. You should be able to find their brand of Ick and parasite medicine at your fish shop.

Try to do a water change every 3 days or so which not only helps remove excess parasites in the water, but also of course, keeps your fish feeling better with freshwater in their tank. Oh yes, and aquarium or Rock salt is said to help lessen the amount of stress a fish is in especially when plagued with an illness... It would be beneficial to add some aquarium salt according to the directions to your aquarium along with the Ick medicine. Salt can also get rid of parasites like Ick.

I REALLY hope this helps!!! There is a 99% chance of your fish surviving Ick parasites, with proper treatment, he should be healthy in 2 weeks or less. Remember, if your male molly has it, it is likely the other fish will soon get it.

It's great you are taking so much great care and concern for your fish! I wish you the best with your molly....but I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news though!
Best of luck! Feel free to email any questions you have...

Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~