Help ID this bacteria, parasite or fungus?

[ScorpiosWife]

I just got this Molly today, very pregnant. I put her in a 3 way breeder in my 50 since my hospital tank is currently my fry tank. Tonight I came in and this! I noticed a dark spot on her earlier but didn't look very close as I was preoccupied. Well I just looked and jerked her out of my tank. Wth is this?? She's going back to the store tomorrow but should I dose some Pimafix, Melafix or both for the rest of the tank? The spot looks bristly from above tho you can't see it in the pics. [/IMG]

[Ballinxalex]

Can't really see but if it's a deep hole it might have parasites eating it that's what I think

[mistahoo]

From the pic it looks fine, but it may be slowly dying. Too bad... It looks nice too

[troy tucker]

Can't really see but if it's a deep hole it might have parasites eating it that's what I think

+1 sounds like something is eating her....

[SunnyHouTX]

Have you got access to Microbe Lift? I had a Petro with that and I treated the whole tank with ML and it cleared up in a matter of days. If it's an internal parasite, might wanna try Maracyn I and II together, or even Metronidazole. Treating her with Melafix and Pimafix will help, but don't really know if it will knock out the parasite.

[SunnyHouTX]

If it doesn't get any worse this weekend, I could give you some Maracyn I and II that I don't use. I will be in Tomball area Sunday.

[ScorpiosWife]

She's swimming around just fine. Doesn't appear to be bothered by it at all, other than being stressed from being in a betta cup which I feel like an azz for putting her in, but with no hospital tank my options were limited. I did take some better pictures, I hope.

I wonder if it would be ok to put her back in the tank or should I leave her separated? I dosed the tank with both Pimafix & Melafix this morning. I'm assuming that since she was in all day yesterday that the damage, if any, has already been done. Thoughts?

This morning the surrounding area looks like a burn. There's a tiny spot at the top of the area, about the size of a pencil tip, that's very red. She seems unaffected behavior-wise. The other fish I bought with her is fine with no signs of whatever this is anywhere & all the other fish in the tank she was in appear fine as well. All I have on hand is Pimafix & Melafix.

Sunny I have to admit that I don't know what MicrobeLift, Metronidazole, or Maracyn I and II are. I've seen yall talk about it but I've not had an experience with it yet. Thank you so much for your offer, I will PM you my number so you can text me when you're in my area.

The only bout of anything I've had so far was with Ich & I don't have a hospital tank anymore to put her in. Forgive my ignorance, but I haven't kept fish for 20 years until 10 months ago. I'm learning, slowly but surely & I appreciate everyone's input, thoughts & help.

[SunnyHouTX]

OK, that's pretty nasty looking. Not sure what it is, so if anybody has a positive ID on this, and if the meds I listed will help, please throw in your input and I'll get them to ScorpiosWife this Sunday

[cu0ngsayz]

Whoa!!!!! Looks crazy. Hope someone finds the cure to this

[ScorpiosWife]

It almost looks like a cigarette burn when you look at it straight on. From above it looks bristly. I can't find any info online about what it could be, so I ran to you guys. I did try to ID it on my own to no avail. Hopefully someone can help. I'm gonna change the title & see if someone can help ID whatever this is.

[Fancyfish]

I've seen this before. I think its a bacterial infection and the spiky stuff is fungus that's attacking it. I’m pretty sure it's common or was common enough to be in most fish books disease section. When i go back to my library of fish books I'll look it up. If you don't have salt in the water, add some. It should help the molly. Standard non-iodized salt is fine. How much you add depends on the size of your container. I'm thinking a beta cup is like a cup of water or so. I'd 2 or 3 pinches of salt which I think will translate to no more than 1/8 of a teaspoon.

[SunnyHouTX]

I've seen this before. I think its a bacterial infection and the spiky stuff is fungus that's attacking it. I’m pretty sure it's common or was common enough to be in most fish books disease section. When i go back to my library of fish books I'll look it up. If you don't have salt in the water, add some. It should help the molly. Standard non-iodized salt is fine. How much you add depends on the size of your container. I'm thinking a beta cup is like a cup of water or so. I'd 2 or 3 pinches of salt which I think will translate to no more than 1/8 of a teaspoon.

So Maracyn I and II in addition to the salt should take care of the problem?

[ScorpiosWife]

Thank you FF. I have aquarium salt, so I just dropped 2 little crystals in the beta cup. Water is room temp, so 78. Can't get it any higher in her current container, but I wonder if raising the temp would help, too? Headed to Home Depot, so I'm gonna pick up another Homer bucket to put her in. I feel like a butthead having her 3 inch long self in a cup. Was gonna take her back to the store, but changed my mind. We'll ride it out, give her a few days & see if she makes any improvements.

[Fancyfish]

ok got my The Science of Fish Health Management out. They have a picture of a goldfish with the same issue you have. What they say is that Large ulcers result from infection by several sorts of bacteria. The goldfish pictured has an aeromonas infection. These are gram-negative. These bacteria are found in aquariums and on healthy fish.

I continued reading and it looks like 3 possibilities: Aeromonas, Pseudomonas or Columnaris. Some of these are antibiotic resistant. All 3 recommend tetracycline. All 3 are believed to be caused by stress(such as shipping). All 3 are present in healthy aquariums. And you can have more than one present in the wound. Columnaris is gram positive. And the book recommends formaldehyde and copper sulfate as well as sulfa drugs and tetracycline.

My guess is that this is not infectious but something found in the environment that will affect stressed or injured fish. So you probably don't need to treat the entire tank or worry about a massive out break or fish kill.

As to treatment: Ideally you identify the bacteria and use an antibiotic specific to treat it. And injecting the treatment is preferred. However that is very impractical at the hobbyist level with an inexpensive fish.

I don't know about maracyn I and II. I'm thinking if my memory is correct one treats gram positive and the other treats gram negative. If that's the case, then that would be helpful.

Definitely keep doing the salt. That is mentioned in the book as well. I'd closely watch any other fish you got from that store at the same time as well. If you have antibacterial foods, feed those. They might help.

Frequent water changes, 75-80 temp, salt and medicate and you have a good chance of pulling the fish through this.

Good luck!

[ScorpiosWife]

Thanks, FF. Should I keep it isolated? It was in my tank for 12 hours yesterday before I removed it, so if I'm gonna treat 1 should I treat all?