# White spot on my molly's end tail area



## dragoones88

Hi everyone. There is a white spot in between the tail fin and the front fin of my orange molly(might be wrong name) . I thought it might have been ick so I've been treating the fish with PIMAFIX an antifungal fish remedy stating it is "all natural, rapidly treats fungal infections on fish". 


I've been treating this fish for more than a week and the spot only got bigger
The fish itself I can say has been distant and usually secludes itself usually floating in one of the areas of the tank compared to the rest of the fishes
 There is alot of feces in the tank caused by the algae eater is that what is causing it?
There are two other mollys without any visual signs.
Any suggestions in what to do ? Thank you for your time and response. The following attachment is the picture of the fish .
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## dragoones88

I think another fish is developing the same mark in another area ;_; Helppppp


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## afremont

dragoones88 said:


> I think another fish is developing the same mark in another area ;_; Helppppp


Is it getting the spot in the same location? Is the first fish getting worse? "allot of feces in the tank" doesn't sound like real good living conditions. Water quality is everything, so we need to know the parameters and what kind of maintenance you do. This could be a bacterial infection, but at any rate doing large water changes is pretty much a requirement when you have sick fish. Changing water removes things besides the basic toxins (ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte), it also removes bacteria in the water column and free swimming parasites. Vacuuming helps remove parasites that are in the cystic stage as well as poop.


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## dragoones88

Mm the new fish has it on anew location instead of being right before the tail fin, it is rRIGHT after the top fin. and yes the first fish is getting worse. It isn't my family and I are going to buy a vaccume to clean out the feces. Mm sorry unfortunately I am unaware of the water quality I don't have much maintenance other than changing the filter. Mm changing the water sounds like a sound ideal but wouldn't that put stress on the fish ?


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## DysontheLoach

It can also be stress. My fish had it and it wasnt ich it was stress. just another idea, maracyn can help. or ich. but be careful i Lost 4 fish to the meds...


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## afremont

I'm kind confused, haven't you had these fish for a while? Changing the filter could cause real water problems because the beneficial bacteria that convert ammonia to relatively harmless nitrAtes live there. Anyone keeping fish needs to have a test kit of some kind. You can't judge water quality by looking at it and high levels of ammonia or nitrItes can cause the fish to come down with all kinds of problems due the weakened immune system.

Water changes are the only way to remove the nitrAtes and other chemicals that accumulate over time. It is also the way that you put dissolved minerals back into the tank. You should change 25% of the water each week once you know that the biological filter is functioning, until then you need to get your water parameter checked at a fish store while you are there getting your vacuum. Don't accept vague responses from them, get actual numbers for the ammonia, nitrItes, nitrAtes at least. Please purchase a liquid test kit such as the API Master Freshwater kit. The liquid tests are much more accurate and much cheaper in the long run than test strips.

Make sure any new water you add is treated with some kind of decholorinator such as Prime by SeaChem. Make sure it is close to the existing tank temperature when you add it back in. You will remove water by vacuuming the substrate. If you have never stirred the substrate, be careful as you could stir up some nasty anaerobic bacteria, it stinks like sulpher and can harm the fish. Just disturb the top inch or so.


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## BarbH

Hello and welcome to tfk. From the sounds of it I am guessing that you are new to keeping fish. In all aquariums a process called the nitrogen cycle takes place. There is a good article written by Byron that explains the process of what takes place in the aquarium this article can be found in the freshwater article section. A basic explanation of the process is that the waste that fish produce breaks down into ammonia the ammonia is converted into nitrites and finally into nitrates. Ammonia and nirites are harmful to fish, the beneficial bacteria converts these into nitrates which within a certain range are okay for fish.Water changes are one of the ways which we help keep things in check. Before starting any type of treatment you should always check what the water parameters are. As mentioned the api master test kit is a great investment. 

At the top of this section is a sticky that has a form to fill out which can help others try to help figure out what may be going on. What size is your tank? You also mentioned an algeaeatet, are you taking about a common pleco? If so they get very large and need a big tank, they also create a lot of waste. Common plecosw also when they get larger actually will not eat algea. 

Definitely starting a water change schedule is one of the best things that you can do for your fish. A gravel vac is one of the most important pieces of equipment that you need for maintaining a healthy tank. I would definitely suggest spending time reading different post and also ask any questions that you may have, there are many knowledgable and helpful members on this site that want to help and see you succeed in this hobby.


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## BobtheSnail

Hi! As I was reading through your posts I got kind of confused, so I was thinking it would probably help a lot if you filled out this for us! Just answer as many questions as you can:

1. Size of tank?

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia?
b. Nitrite?
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH?
e. Test kit?

3. Temperature?

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? 

5. How long the aquarium has been set up?

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants?
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom?
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors?

9. a. Filtration?
b. Heater?

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used?
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long?

11. a. Water change schedule?
b. Volume of water changed?
c. Well water, tap water, RO water?
d. Water conditioner used?
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed?

12. Foods?
How often are they fed?

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
b. Appearance of poop?
c. Appearance of gills?

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? 
b. What meds were used?

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.


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## dragoones88

Thank you everyone that posted on this thread. I actually have been reading your post I just never had the chance to write back. I did follow your instructions to get the pump and changing the water. I did get the liquid test kit as well but I have yet to use it. Unfortunately the first fish that I posted earlier just past away =/ I thank you for your efforts regardless and hope to keep up with all the suggestions you made. To the following post inquiring about my conditions this is all the information I can provide for you: 

1. 20 gallons
2. I still have to take these =/
3. 78/25 degrees ( Fahrenheit/Celsius respectively ) 
4.Fresh Water
5. I can't give you an exact time but I would say about 5-7 years
6. I now have two mollys with an algae eater or pleco is it called. The pleco is quite big actually and the mollys are the average size. I have had them since december
7. Mm The first were not 
8. No real plants just fake plastic plants, gravel and some decors but they have been there since I have had the aquarium.
9. There are two filters going 
10. No lighting schedule whatsoever just an overhead lamp I turn on when I feed them and turn off when I sleep
11. I'm trying to get in the habit of changing water but I just changed out 5 gallons yesterday, and I'm using tap water


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## dragoones88

12. They are just fed normal food flakes twice or once a day with the algae eater eating these green algae pellets. 
13. Well as stated before gills are quite hard to see since the fish are pretty small. But the poop I have not really had time to examine. its just long.... Symptoms I guess is the white mark on the skin and clamped fins the other two mollys though don't have it except for one of the fish with a white mark. But I'm hoping it will go away. 

14. I used a liquid treatment PIMAFIX an antifungal fish remedy and now I'm using jungle fungus clear tablets .


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## dragoones88

I am sorry I have not posted anything I have been caught up in school and figured my problem would idssapear since the fish died. 
I doubt anyone is keeping up with this thread but I figured if anyone was keeping up with it they could help me. 

I have done all the liquid tests and have found that all my levels are about normal with PH being to high

Ammonia is 0.25 if not 0 
Nitrate levels look like 5 ppm if not 0 
My nitrite level is at 0 as well 
However my ph level is 8 =/ I don't know if this is a bad sign my father says it should be fine but it looks like the other two mollies caught the same thing as the other one and now look sick I have been doing regular water changes but I feel like this might be putting stress ont he fish =/ I don't know any other way to take out the poop but by pumping out water any suggestions ?


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