# Black spot disease?



## jandpgault

I have had a small yellow molly for about 2 months now. When we bought her, she had a small black speck on her tail - I just thought this was her coloration. However, about 1 month ago a new spot appeared on her side. She was doing fine, no scratching, still eating, swimming normally, etc... so I have just been keeping an eye on her. This morning, I noticed 2 more spots on her (another on her side and one one her top fin) for a total of 4 spots. They are very small and do not seem to bother her at all, but now that they seem to be multiplying more rapidly, I know that it can't just be her coloration, it must be something else. The only odd characteristic with her is that she has not grown at all since the day I bought her. She is still exactly the same size and I would have thought she would have grown at least a little in 2 months. :? 

I have done my research and have read that it could be black spot disease, but I have not read exactly what or how to treat it. I have an anti-parasite medication or an ich medication I could use, but not sure which one would be better.

I just moved her to my hospital tank to be on the safe side though. For now, I plan on just keeping an eye on her to see if more spots develop. If so, does anyone have any suggestions on how to treat it? None of the other fish in my main tank have developed any of these black spots. 

Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0

Thanks


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## The-Wolf

if it is true black spot disease or more properly
an infestation of _Paravortex_ member turbellarian flatworms.

then a treatment with any copper based medication will cure it.
however you must be 100% sure it is black spot and not something else
like natural skin pigmentation or burns caused by ammonia, no2 or no3
or someother unknown toxin.

I can not stress enough how powerfull copper is and overdoseing will wipe out an entire tank. you should not use it in tanks that contain snails,frogs or crabs or any tank that has mormyinds or other scalesss fish.

checkout www.fishdoc.co.uk for a good guide to fish ilnesses and treatment,
although primarily aimed at Koi it is mostly applicable to all freshwater fish.

HTH


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## jandpgault

*Molly...*



The-Wolf said:


> however you must be 100% sure it is black spot and not something else
> like natural skin pigmentation
> HTH


Can fish develop more pigments in their skin? The place that I bought her does sell other mollies that are yellow and have black speckles all over them, but I remember her being in a tank with plain yellow mollies. She was really small when I bought her, so I'm starting to wonder now if these aren't just natural pigments coming out as she gets older, but I have no idea if a molly would do this. 



The-Wolf said:


> or burns caused by ammonia, no2 or no3
> or someother unknown toxin.
> 
> HTH


My water parameters are usually fine, but I had gone out of town and was a tad late (a few days) on doing a water change and my ammonia level had risen close to 0.25. All of the fish appeared to be fine (all acting normal, none sick or dying), but of course, I immediately did the water change and got the level back to normal. I noticed the new spots sometime after that. You mentioned something about burns. I wonder if the new spots could be attributed to this. She does not flick at all like they are bothering her and she acts normal and is eating well. 

Thanks for the info.. I just have her in a quarantine tank and I am going to watch her to see if any new spots appear. If I am positive it is the black spot, then I will begin treatment. If nothing happens in a week or two, I will probably just put her back in the main tank


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## The-Wolf

*Re: Molly...*



jandpgault said:


> Thanks for the info.. I just have her in a quarantine tank and I am going to watch her to see if any new spots appear. If I am positive it is the black spot, then I will begin treatment. If nothing happens in a week or two, I will probably just put her back in the main tank


sounds like a good plan.
treating for anything should be the last resort, observation and
research are the keys to all health problems


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