# My 2 Black mollies have ick.



## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

I do not yet have a sterile tank or med tank set up and my twitching o mollies have e ick, and they won't let my cleaner shrimp near them.

What can I do?

should I put them I'm my 40 with a breding pair of clowns since both of them are pregnant?
thanks


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Since their mollys i would just flush them and let your tank fallow for 8 weeks.
You should quaranteen all new fish and corals. One day you'll introduce something that can kill off your tank.


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## Blue (Mar 23, 2005)

I wrote this thinking that you had them in a freshwater tank. If the ick is marine, I believe the treatment is to give the fish a freshwater dip to cause the cysts to take in water and explode (from osmosis). I'm sorry if this post just confuses things more:

Mollies can handle quite a saline water, so I would add salt to their tank. You should add quite a bit. 5ml/gallon so if you have a 10 gallon tank you're adding 50 ml of salt to it once a day for 3 days. so eventually your tank will have 15 ml/gallon of salt.

dissolve it in a cup of tank water and pour it back into the tank all dissolved. Afterwards slowly increase the temp to 85-86 F (probably could go higher but I've had decent luck with this temp). 
the point of a higher temp is to speed up the life cycle of the parasite that causes the white spots because it is only susceptible to the salt during one phase of its life cycle..

I would not do what Raptor suggested except the quarantine suggestion. Salt is cheap and effective.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Elevated salt levels will not cure marine ich, or dipping in freshwater. Nor will elevated temps either. (Tottaly different beast than freshwater ich) Only copper will kill marine ich or hyposalinity, and there are strains that will resist hypo salinity so copper is the best route, and since he cannot do either because he has no spare tank for that i suggested he dump the fish, and let the tank fallow.

Unless its black ich, Then a fw dip will get them off, Butthey still will be in the tank.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

damn u guys know ur shhhh,

I like the idea of a quarantine tank.

I'm gonna get a 20 gl. tank for a quarantine tank.
anysuggestions for the filtration for it?

How long should I give the ick to clearup in my 75 gl? and before I add fish?

it looks like my grapevine things got ick!

thanks


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

You should let your tank fallow 8 weeks so the ich dies off in there, and treat the fish in a seperate tank because copper, or hyop salinity will kill everything in there.
Never use copper with liverock or substrate.
A quaranteen tank doesent need to be big a 10-20 gallon should work and a little biowheel filter and a heater is all you need. The filter should be cycled though so you dont have a spike.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

That's a great idea,dang man.

I think I wanna just put a couple pieces of live rock, and some crushed coral substrate, or maybe even live sand.

no coral or nothing though, I don't even have to have light.

I think ill use carbon in my bio-wheel filter also!

I will also probably have a few konks and turbo snails to cut down on algae and stuff.
maybe a scoooter blenny.

and I quarantine the fish until the ick passes, and quarantine my new fish until I'm sure of no disease correct!


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

raptor- flush them?? kinda sick. lol

also, trillion. i have noticed in a few of your posts that youre under the impression that scooter blennies eat algae... they dont, Algae blennies on the other hand DO


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

illnino said:


> raptor- flush them?? kinda sick. lol
> 
> also, trillion. i have noticed in a few of your posts that youre under the impression that scooter blennies eat algae... they dont, Algae blennies on the other hand DO


algae blennies

Ok got it.
I don't know when I'm gonna be able to get my 20 gl. probably here n the next 2 weeks hopeflly

Thanks.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

illnino said:


> raptor- flush them?? kinda sick. lo


Well i hate to lose fish, But thought since they were mollies it was a small casualty.
The Q tank can have some liverock, It just has to be taken out if you medicate or use hypo.
And if your fish are sick you dont want to then add that that live rock your main tank so you can treat with meds because you would be introducing the disease to your main tank.
You can use pvc for the fish to hide in while in their layover.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

sorry to sound so inexpierenced, but what the heck is "pvc" usually I'm good at figuring out what abbreviations are but I have no idea.

Hopefully its cheaper than live rock!









Thanks

I can't wait to get my 20 gallon.

this chick is gonna give me hers for free... well not free







if u know what I mean


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Pvc is plactic pipe used for plumbing. Any good hardware store will carry it.
Its cheap.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

so what they just go on the inside of the pipe or something like hamsters?

I guess my power head in some forms is like a hamster wheel since they swim rapidly in to it









curious about the pvc though let me know if they do or not u talked me into it I like the sound of it

I'm gonna get some sir.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

I caught one of my molliew slipping and netted his ass.

he went straight down the pooper :rasp:

like raptors thing says,"death is fair to everyone".


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

ok just when I thought my ick problem was going away... its back.

on my damsel that big pimple is gone,but he's getting ick again.

I left hm in my tank alone for a while to did tha make him establsh dominence?

if so when I put my niger in there can my niger protect itself, I'm sure my niger will be considerably bigger, but I don't plan on getting him for a while!

thanks


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

no more ick any where in my tank thank god. don't know what I did but I did it.

it was probably the cleaner shrimp.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

Proud to report I have no more ick, and no more molly, since it got sucked up by the power head, man those things are so stupid.

Any way my trigger let him live or either he was smart enough to avoid him, but not smart enough to avoid the power head.

oh well no more ick


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

LOL just because the fish is gone doesent mean you have no more ich.
Its still there. Just hope your trigger doesent get it.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

i think i got the ick









just kidding

no my trig hasnt got it yet hes or shes doing great along with everything else now!

i hope its not there any more.

lol, my water chemistry is probably to bad for ick!.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

LOL Thats funny. I wouldent be surprised if a new fish gets it when added. It will live even if you dont see it. If the fish is healthy it wont show signs of infection, Most of it will live in the gills, or anywhere on the fish just waiting for an opportunity to blow up again.
Thats if you truly had ich.
By some of your explanations it didnt sound like ich more like an infection. IMO


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

thats music to my ears.

i hope and think it was just an infection!


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

found out that if you feed your fish garlic it helps with ich.

g I must be the only one on here that knows that huh?


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