Ok, I'm pretty new to fish world so bare with me..

ON thursday I did a water change., I noticed the next day my black mollie had pop eye and white spots, (I have a 60 litre biorb, and changed 15 litres approx)
Took a water sample to the fish store and they said water quality was fine, I asked them about the pop eye and they didn't sound to concerned. But I bought a general tonic which helps with disease etc.
After I added anti white spot tonic as well. The next day the fish seemed a bit better, no white spot, and the pop eye had gone down not completely though.

Yesterday I noticed everything has got worse, the pop eye and the white spot is back. So I added more anti white spot tonic. But today, the fish still has white spot, and pop eye. hIts eating ok, and doesn't seem distressed, but looks awful. TBH, I'm only saying its, pop eye as thats what the aquatic staff said it was. I have done research and it certainly sounds like!!

I dont understand it cant be water quality, as my other fish are fine, and all levels are within range. I have taken the charcoal stuff out of the filter, and am not sure when to put the charcoal back in, when should I put it back in the filter?

Another problem is since I added the general tonic my tank water has been green and it doesn't seem to be clearing....any idea when my tank water will be clear again??
Do you think my fish will pull through?? I'm off to the aquatic centre today to ask their advice and hopefully get it all sorted... I'm very nervous due to the fact, it saddens me that this fish might not make it!!! even though I have put so much effort into researching and learning.

The tank was installed on boxing day, and fish were added just after new years day.

Please help

Many thanks JD

ok, never ever go by fish store advice. number 1 rule, they are there to make money-hence you coming away with 'fish tonics' etc.

for the pop-eye, you should start by doing more regular water changes, keep that water in pristine condition, chances are the pet shop is using test strips and these are notoriously inaccurate, if you want to test yourself, splash out on a £20 api master test kit (great value and last for months), you are aiming for ammonia and nitrites at 0, and nitrates at less that 40ppm, less than 20ppm is ideal.

if the cleaner water doesnt sort out the pop-eye then try the chemical route. cleaner water sorted my platy out when she got it a few years back when i kept them in smaller tanks.

as for the white spot, thats easy, add aquarium salt. i add i tablespoon to every 20l and it works every time. mix the required amount into a clean jug of warm dechlroinated water or tank water. mix until its all disolved and add it slowly over a couple of hours a little at a time after a water change. the salt will kill the free swimming parasites, but nothing can kill them while they are living on the fish. as each cyst (white spot) bursts, the tiny parasites fall to the bottom of the tank until they find a new host, this is when they are vulnerable and will die. white spots can be hidden in gills so you will need to treat for around 5 days after you see the last white spot to make sure you have got them all. treatment should last a total of around 8-10 days.

when you do a water change add only enough salt to treat the amount of new water going into your tank as the salt does not evaporate so you will over dose if you add the full amount again.

what other fish do you have in the bi-orb? mollies grow quite large and 60l isnt a huge amount of water for a 25% water change at a time. do you gravel vac too? i would say slowly up your water changes to either 25% twice a week or 50% each weekend. if you havent already add a few live plants to keep water quality up between changes.

hope this helps. maybe try www.aquariacentral.com, im on there a lot, they are very helpful and fast to reply.

before you add the salt come back and tell up what fish you've got. Some fish such as neons and corydorus are intolerate of salt. Also mollies should be kept in brackish water anyway and its the major reason why i don't keep them. They are very susceptable to white spot. Another non chemical tip for treating white spot is turning the temp up a few degrees for a few days but you need to increase aeriation in the tank too.

i have always treated all tank inhabitants with salt, even loaches, you just have to be careful that you add it very very slowly, personally i have never had any issues in any tropical or cold water fish i have treated.

i forgot about the heat method, you need to do that very slowly and really increase the surface aggitation or add air stones as warmer water holds less oxygen.

mollies definately do benefit from the addition of salt, also the reason i dont keep them

i never knew they were especially susceptable to white spot though, i thought that was limited more to scaleless fish such as loaches. all fish can get white spot very easily though so all inhabitants need to be treated for it in some way or another

i'd say they were susceptale and very prone to it. I kept them years ago and made it a molly only tank. Even then they were hard work. Lol. I think the reason i say they.re prone to it because most of the mollies i see are not kept in ideal water and not having the salt in there with them stresses them out and the white spot attacks them.

i think any fish is susceptable to it, but i see where you are coming from with the salt in the water. if theres salt in their water they are less likely to catch it as it cannot tolerate salinity. makes sense. i dont think ive ever actually seen mollies in proper water conditions, its sad really

even fish which are not stressed can catch white spot, its so easily introduced on new fish/inverts/plants. thankfully i havent had an outbreak in a long time since i started QT in a smaller tank for a couple of weeks in salt

i had an outbreak of white spot which affected 2 neons. They went in the hospital tank with the temp set at 82 and within a week they were clear. Far too afraid to use salt with them. Cardinals are even more intolerant. I like mollies but they.re never seen in ideal conditions really.

Ok thanks for your help, I shall do a 25% water change and see if this helps, I wary of adding salt due to you saying about my tetras???

When will my water become clear again, and when should I add the carbon into the filter again

TIA

you dont need carbon in you filter. unless you are trying to remove unwanted chemicals leave it out and use the normal sponge/floss media.

ok whats the little black and white stone type things in the filter area?

Joel's dad mentions adding a general tonic - I recall one time adding Methylene blue for some reason I seriously can not remember. But I had to add a carbon filter to remove it from the water. (Stained all the silicon seals blue though)

I'm wondering if the green General Tonic is Malachite Green? And probably needs carbon to remove it too.

That said, I would have thought that the instructions are on the bottle?


As for the Mollie - this poor fish has been through a cycle, has no salt and is therefore probably not in tip top condition. The tank could still be cycling - it only had fish added to it 4 weeks ago.

Daily water changes (with conditioned water), daily measuring of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (and ph) until you are sure the cycle has completed. Don't rely on the shop's tests.

What heat range do Neon Tetra's like? Is it the same as Mollies? (I don't keep either).

Is it possible to increase airation in a Bi-orb?

The best cure for white-spot in my opinion is Protozin, made by Waterlife. I've always used it and it works every time. I've never halved the dosage with my clown loaches either and haven't killed one with it yet. So if you've white-spot and don't want to add salt or increase the temperature, Protozin is the answer.

the thing with protozin is as with all chemicals added to the tank, the stress of the chemicals can sometimes kill faster than the illness itself. heat and or salt is a much more fish friendly option IMO.

as for the little black and white stone type things, there are tons of different medias you can buy. personally i use different grades of sponge, and ceramic rings. anything with a large surface area is good for filters, i recently bought a 2nd hand fitler which had mesh bags full of gravel as filter media.

i agree, never ever rely on shop tests. i have taken in samples before just to see what they came out at in the shop. my readings with the api master test kit were-

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20-30 (this was 2 days before water change day and i was quite heavily stocked but still well within acceptable limits)

the shops test strips gave the following result on the same water sample maybe half hour after i tested it

ammonia 5
nitrite 10
nitrate 80-100

i did ask how my fully cycled established heavily planted tank would show such results, and change so dramatically after half an hour in a clean container and they said the strips are accurate and my tank isnt cycled

i would guess the general tonic was malachite green, i have used methylene blue in a tank once a long time ago when i had lots of health issues (lots of goldfish-25 gallons ), it stained the silicone permanently and i just ended up giving the tank away in the end. both malachite and methylene stain silicone dont they? either way yes water change and then put carbon in your filter to remove it, take it out after a couple of weeks or i believe it begins to leach the chemicals back into the water column.

you really need to be doing daily water changes if you arent cycled, especially if you dont have a test kit as you dont know when the ammonia and nitrite are at harmful levels. these can in a matter of hours climb to harmful amounts.

good luck with your fish

using my phone so my posts will be erratic lol. You can increase aeriation in a biorb by putting an airline through the food hole in the lid. Can't think of another way. Maybe taking off the air stone that is at the bottom of the clear tube in the middle of the tank?

OP the wee stones i.m think sound like carbon media. You may have to replace them. I wish someone with biorb knowledge would come on. I had a teeny one but got rid of it. I thought they were cruel but thats just my opinion. I.m old fashioned lol.

chris i have used protizin to treat a sick cichlid and other fish with fairly good results. I only use it in my hospital tank. For white spot though raising the temp to 82 or maybe 80 i can't remember cleared it in days. I tend to use melafix and pimafix for most problems in the tank.

erratic posts lol.

yes i agree, get a little air pump and just run the line in through the lid with a little air stone on the end, as you would with any aquarium.

i dont own a bi-orb and never will. no room for the poor fish to swim, its a glorified fish bowl. im sure someone on here must have one and have a bit more knowledge of them. personally i prefer a real aquarium with space for the fish to root around and swim freely. they always look sad in the ones ive seen set up even with little fish such as tetras.

+1 on the melafix and pimafix

Don't own a bi-orb either - hence why I couldn't work out how you'd increase airation. They look like fixed units with everything built in. Forgot there must be a hole for feeding