# Need advice quickly - cottonmouth disease.



## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

Hello, I am new here and I am at my wit's end (and also worrying my head off!)

A little history. I had a 30 gallon tank successfully set up with healthy fish for a good six months. I only had 7 fish in there, but all of them suddenly began to die, except for 1 algae eater. I thought there was something wrong with the water, so I cleaned everything and set the tank back up, cycled it, etc, starting with 2 giant Danios, and the remaining algae eater who did well, ate like pigs for a few days before I figured it was okay to bring some fish home, and the guy at the petstore, who seemed quite knowledgeable, said it would be okay to bring home a small amount of fish to start out.

I brought home 2 dalmatian mollies and 2 swordtails last night, and they seemed to be doing great. The mollies seemed lethargic, but I figured they were stressed out. Now tonight, they're showing signs of cottonmouth disease (I can see the whiteish stuff on their fins and around their mouths.) . I'm currently treating them in a bath of aquarium salt, and they seem to be tolerating it well, but my problem is this..

What do I do now? Am I doing enough, or should I use something like Melafix as well? Do I put them back in the tank, or is the tank now "infected", such that it has to be cleaned? Should I also treat the fish who aren't showing signs of the disease?

Need help quickly, thank you..:--(


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Yikes, I hope someone comes along soon who knows what do to. I wish I had some advice for you but I've no experience with this type of illness. :-(
Have you looked at the sticky above this section that outlines (w/ pictures) the various illnesses and how to treat. Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry that you're having problems.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I've never heard of cotton mouth disease. Is it the same as cotton wool disease?


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## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

I believe so, dramaqueen. It is also called columnaris. Thank you both for the responses.

I am a bit confused now, because another fish keeping website had a picture and description of cotton mouth/columnaris and it seemed to fit what my fish had exactly. However, the information for columnaris on this website does not quite fit what my fish are experiencing. 

I don't know what to do now..

Either way, a little update:

I moved the fish from the salt bath back into the tank after changing about 15% tank water and adding aquarium salt. They seem to have handled the bath ok, but their behavior hasn't changed much. They seem to sit at the top of the tank and not move around much, but they are not gasping for air or swimming strangely. I noticed that any whitish patches I saw on the fins of the mollies are now gone.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I found some info from a book I have on bettas that has a section on fish diseases. It says that "fish with early stage translucent patches should be transferred to clean water with 4 teaspoons of salt to the gallon and potassium chromate or potassiumpermangamate according to package instructions. The salt assists osmotic balance and the permanganate oxidizes and kills the bacteria.Uninfected fish from the outbreak tank should be treated prophylactically with a nitrofuran bath to catch the disease before it is apparent. " I hope this helps.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I read more about it on our diseases page here on the forum. It says you can use a combination of Maracyn 1 and 2.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I've used Furan 2 to treat columnaris with good results. I've used the Maracyn 1/2 combo but seemed to have a little better results with the Furan 2. Also, my bio-filter was harmed with the Maracyn but not with the Furan 2. Keep the water clean with extra water changes between doses and watch your parameters for any spikes you may have.


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## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

Thank you everyone. With the multitude of information on this site, I'm no longer sure that my fish had columnaris (I probably should have came here first!) But this stuff always seems to happen in the middle of the night when i have no access to medicine other than what I have on hand. I tried a salt bath and then put a bit of melafix in their isolation tank, but the sick mollies died anyway. My swordtails are still alive and don't appear sick, but I'm not sure how long that'll last at the rate things have been going.

I think I'm going to give up on this fishkeeping thing, because I don't know what to do anymore and I hate to see them die when it's my fault..It seems like they are having the same problem as when my other fish from a few months ago died..They just inexplicably become sick and die..I've never seen any sign of outward physical problems other than last night where I was sure I saw something on one of my mollies fins. It's obviously something I'm doing, but I don't know what it is and no matter what advice I get, it doesn't seem to save my fish.  And I don't think it's my water (in general) because I have two betta fish as well and they are happy as clams.


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## fryup (Jan 12, 2010)

im sorry to put a downer on this but i had a really nice pink and white female guppy who had cotton mouth......2 days from when i saw it.....R.I.P strawberry


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## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

I am sorry to hear that! Guppies are such nice little fish..RIP strawberry


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## Austin (Feb 1, 2010)

Did you change filters or something before all your fish started dying? You may have caused a big minicycle or something. and from what i got out of your post your tank isn't cycled yet? 2 days for cycling isn't close to long enough. Keep the swordtails you have now and don't buy any new fish for a few weeks to a month. Do W/C every other day. Buy a liquid test kit and keep an eye on the ammonia. When thats 0 and doesn't show up again watch the nitrite until that is 0 and nitrate is low. That's just a brief summary of cycling. You can find more info on the forums or google.


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## fryup (Jan 12, 2010)

i just hope its not the same for you


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## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

I had my tank running for a little over a week with just danios inside and the algae eater I had left over from my old tank, and they weren't dying, so I brought a sample of the water to get tested and they said the nitrate and ammonia levels were fine and that a few fish could be introduced. I guess not?? I did change the filter cartridge, however this was done after all the other fish in my tank suddenly died after living happily for several months (that happened a few weeks ago.)

I am going to keep doing water changes though and hope it'll improve things for the sword tails..Thank you.  I will also head up to the petstore to see if they have any testing kits in stock!

edit: also, how much water would you recommend changing per change, austin? and how often? my tank is 30 gallons.


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## fryup (Jan 12, 2010)

i would say change around 20% every two days this may help the fish and the tank to cycle


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## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks very much! I also wanted to ask about treating swim bladder issues. I think one of my swordtails has something wrong with his, as he seems to sink to the bottom and has trouble staying afloat, but not all the time. He seems fine other than that. I've heard to feed your fish a piece of a pea to relieve this, but I tried and he just ignores the pea. Is there anything else I can do?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I would try some daphnia, either freeze dried or frozen. If you feed freeze dried be sure to rehydrate it before feeding to avoid further digestive problems.


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## sailfin molly (Mar 18, 2010)

thanks dramaqueen. The swordtails are doing much better today..They haven't eaten but they've been swimming around much more normally, and no more deaths.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm glad they're doing better and I hope you have no more deaths.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

sailfin molly said:


> Thank you everyone. With the multitude of information on this site, I'm no longer sure that my fish had columnaris (I probably should have came here first!) But this stuff always seems to happen in the middle of the night when i have no access to medicine other than what I have on hand. I tried a salt bath and then put a bit of melafix in their isolation tank, but the sick mollies died anyway. My swordtails are still alive and don't appear sick, but I'm not sure how long that'll last at the rate things have been going.
> 
> I think I'm going to give up on this fishkeeping thing, because I don't know what to do anymore and I hate to see them die when it's my fault..It seems like they are having the same problem as when my other fish from a few months ago died..They just inexplicably become sick and die..I've never seen any sign of outward physical problems other than last night where I was sure I saw something on one of my mollies fins. It's obviously something I'm doing, but I don't know what it is and no matter what advice I get, it doesn't seem to save my fish.  And I don't think it's my water (in general) because I have two betta fish as well and they are happy as clams.


 
Do you have a test kit? perhaps fish store would test the water for you if you brought them a sample. Water for livebearer's should be hard and alkaline with pH between 7.5 and 8.0. They do poorly in soft water.Water should test zero for ammonia and nitrites,and nitrates should be no higher than 20 ppm IMO.Water changes should be performed once a week at 25 to 30 percent and replaced with fresh water that is close to same temp of tank and that has been treated with proper dechlorinator. .
Might also consider that fish may be sick when purchased and maybe look for another source if fishes that have died, came from same place.
Temperature for mollies should be between 80 and 84 degrees F . IMO. Swordtails however,,would do better in lower temps with 75 to 77 degrees being comfortable for them along with platy's. Mollys and swordtails need at least twenty gal tank for they are active swimmers especially the swordtails.
Livebearer's are largely herbivores, and need vegetable matter and or spirulina flake for staple portion of their diet.
I might Review water parameters , and see if perhaps someting is needed to improve their chances.


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## Austin (Feb 1, 2010)

sailfin molly said:


> I had my tank running for a little over a week with just danios inside and the algae eater I had left over from my old tank, and they weren't dying, so I brought a sample of the water to get tested and they said the nitrate and ammonia levels were fine and that a few fish could be introduced. I guess not?? I did change the filter cartridge, however this was done after all the other fish in my tank suddenly died after living happily for several months (that happened a few weeks ago.)
> 
> I am going to keep doing water changes though and hope it'll improve things for the sword tails..Thank you.  I will also head up to the petstore to see if they have any testing kits in stock!
> 
> edit: also, how much water would you recommend changing per change, austin? and how often? my tank is 30 gallons.


Hey, 

Pet store employees are usually stupid and shouldn't be trusted.  :x

Changing the filter may or may not cause a mini cycle. I think some filters with biowheels and such could be ok. But I wouldn't fish it. You're better off just cleaning the filter in old tank water than replacing it. The main idea of the filter is to catch the larger debris and home beneficial bacteria. If you remove the filter you take a large chunk out of the beneficial bacteria colony in your tank. Which means there's not enough bacteria to convert the ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate = minicycle. 

Anyways, since you have such little stock atm... maybe 25% every day or two would be good. The general rule for cycling is to get a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Test ammonia and nitrite and when ammonia gets over .25 ppm change 50% water.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Austin said:


> Hey,
> 
> Pet store employees are usually stupid and shouldn't be trusted.  :x


Not stupid, uneducated.

Nice to hear your fish are doing better, sailfin molly!


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## Itz_a_fishkeeper (Jan 18, 2021)

sailfin molly said:


> Hello, I am new here and I am at my wit's end (and also worrying my head off!)
> 
> A little history. I had a 30 gallon tank successfully set up with healthy fish for a good six months. I only had 7 fish in there, but all of them suddenly began to die, except for 1 algae eater. I thought there was something wrong with the water, so I cleaned everything and set the tank back up, cycled it, etc, starting with 2 giant Danios, and the remaining algae eater who did well, ate like pigs for a few days before I figured it was okay to bring some fish home, and the guy at the petstore, who seemed quite knowledgeable, said it would be okay to bring home a small amount of fish to start out.
> 
> ...


my balloon molly's mouth does the same thing, what you can do is dose the tank with a tsp. per gallon of Kosher Salt. Just make sure it isn't iodised. also if you have plants move the fish to another tank to medicate them as kosher salt may be harmful to plants. hope this helps


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## Itz_a_fishkeeper (Jan 18, 2021)

ok so i only saw the first message on here. but how long did you acclimate them for? it could just be the stores fish. I had bunch of fish die when i was just starting my tank. I hated seeing them die to


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