What killed my Dalmation Molly?

[Feathers]

My Dalmation Molly, Inu, died almost a month ago after what felt like a prolonged and shifting illness. I'm still plagued by what it actually was that did him in, and how the other two fish in the tank are perfectly healthy when he had gotten so ill.

I first noticed it as a white growth on his eye. At first it was only on his eye, so I treated for ich (which was my guess, since my heater had been on the fritz and temperature fluctuations were likely) and it went away. After that, however, it seemed like he couldn't really see out that eye, and started to swim kinda tilted off to the side. I thought he might be having a swim-bladder or digestion problem, so I started the pea treatment. All three of the Mollies happily gobbled up the peas, but Inu had his fair share, too.

My water levels had been fine throughout, as I was checking them almost obsessively. I was doing daily water changes just in case there was something in the water, because I was really hoping I could get it out.

One evening, when I got back from a staff meeting, Inu was struggling to swim upright. He was swimming in a screw-like pattern, as he'd try to right himself and wind up flipping back over. My other two fish were right there nipping at him (probably trying to help but likely only stressing him more), so I removed him from the tank and put him in a five gallon bucket with a heater and the filter from the main tank.

I thought he was going to die that night, and thought the bucket might be a more peaceful environment for him. I put one of the fake plants and decorations from the tank in with him so he could feel at home when he went. He wedged himself upright between the two and I figured he'd be gone the next time I checked. Instead, he kind of recovered. A few hours later, he swam normally (though still slightly tilted to the side) and I was very confused. I got a quarantine tank, which needed to cycle and all that jazz before anyone could be put in it, but Inu lasted a good week in the bucket. I'd keep thinking about putting him back until something else popped up. He'd swim funny, or he'd jump from the bucket (even when I was pretty darn sure the water level was low enough that he couldn't get out...he'd try anyway!).

Then he developed pop-eye. I checked the water quality in the bucket, and aside from hard water with a high PH (which is unfortunately the water quality down here) which he should be used to by now, everything was fine! I know pop-eye is generally water-quality related...but I was changing bucket water every day. Probably just about 25-30%. I tested it religiously, and nothing was the matter.

He didn't recover that time, and started to have swimming upright-ness problems again, then I lost him. I really don't know what happened, or if it was just that he was old and it was his time to go? Seems like a nasty way for an old fish to have to go out, if that's the case... I'm not sure if it was stress from the bucket, either... I wasn't comfortable putting him back in the tank with the other two, though, because he still wasn't better and I had no idea what he had.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm still really confused, and would like to know in case it ever happens again...

[Obsidian]

I am not sure what he had but I can tell you that the other fish were likely not "Helping" him. They were probably stressing him more, and were definitely going after the weaker fish.

I do know that sometimes the stress of transport to a LFS and transport to a house can be too much for some fish, which can come out in different ways. But I have no idea if this had anything to do with the loss of your fish. If you had him for a relatively short period of time that would seem to at least be a contributing factor. And if he was less hardy than the others it would explain why he suffered and they did not. I think it is good that you isolated him both because it stopped the harassment by the other fish and because it would help to lower the risk to the other fish.

[Feathers]

Ah, I'd had him for nearly a year. He survived two tank moves (when I moved out of my dorm for the summer, and then back in at the beginning of this year). Had it been sooner to the second move that he got sick, I would probably have attributed it to stress, but it was several months into the school year that he went.

I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but two of the three got Ich while they were at my house because of temperature fluctuations that were unfortunately beyond my control. He was one of the two with Ich, and my Black molly was the other. (The creamsicle molly escaped unscathed). But they all overcame it because I treated it right away. So I thought they were fine, after that.

I was worried that isolating him might have stressed him out more, since he'd never tried to jump out of the tank when I had the lid off for cleanings, but tried really hard to get out of that bucket. But I'm not really sure. I read as much as I could find online and never really found an answer.

Thanks for your input!

[emc7]

I can't fault your treatment of the fish, nor identify a cause a death.

Mollies generally thrive in high pH.

Cloudy eye is usually curable. It can even go away on its own with frequent water changes.

Pop eye was mentioned elsewhere on the forum as a symptom of kidney failure. But that could just mean he was dying.

My fish don't like buckets much, either. Dark gray buckets seem to freak them out less than white ones. Isolating a sick fish is stressful for the sick fish, but I can't say its worse than being picked on or being out-competed for food by healthy fish. Its definitely better for the other fish. Its practical to care for the welfare of the majority at the expense of one who, mostly likely, won't make it anyway.

When you have a fish die of unknown cause, you are right to be concerned about the other fish in the tank and any fish you add to the tank in the future. It is prudent to treat the tank as quarantined while you watch and see if other fish get sick.

[Feathers]

Well, he was out of the tank for a week while he was in the bucket, and I watched the other two boys like a hawk to make sure they didn't have any symptoms. It's been almost four weeks since he died, so five since I took him out of the tank, and the two remaining fish are doing well.

Kidney failure, huh? Hm... I wonder what could have caused that, other than possibly just his downward decline to begin with.

I felt it was strange because that night when he was fighting to swim upright looked like it would be his last for sure, and then he recovered after two hours in the bucket. Well, he was swimming right, at least.

It was all very confusing for me.