2 mollies die in 2 days please help

JoJo99

about a week ago one of my mollies started looking fat. I thought she was pregnant. She got very big in just 4 or 5 days then she died. Then this morning I noticed my male was looking kind of fat and he died tonight. Before they died I noticed that the looked very lethargic for a day and were hiding in the back of my 90 gallon tank. I've tested the water. The ph is 7.8. All other tests are ideal and amonia and nitrite zero. Nitrate is barely measurable. The temp is 79 degrees. The hardness is reading soft. I added some stress coat to try to help them out. I have about 30 other fish in the tank and they all seem very happy. I am worried about my other 5 mollies. None of them have spots or anything but there is one female that is starting to hide out. Any ideas on what the problem may be? Please help.

okiemavis

Hmm, sounds like it could be dropsy, have you noticed a "pine cone effect" with the scales? Swollen stomachs without scales sticking out are also a sign of internal parasites, although I did not think they would become fatal that quickly, nor are they particularly contagious. Could you maybe post a photo? If you haven't figured out what it is and another molly dies, it might be worth it so do an autopsy (I know this sounds rough), that will make it easy to rule out worms and such, and hopefully point you in the right direction.

Lupin

Dropsy has several causes however as this happens internally, there is no way of knowing what exactly is the cause and whether it is contagious or not. The solution is isolating all fish that have cannibalized affected dead fish or suspected to have dropsy.

JoJo99

Well it's morning and my sick dalmation is still lethargic but she did come up to eat. I did save the male Dalmation and I can do an autopsy but that might gross me out. I read that this is not contageous and I sure hope not becasue I have a beautiful pair of creamsicle dalmations that I am very worried about. I am watching this sick one to see how she is doing. When I get home from work I will move her if she is no better becasue I won't be home for a copule of days and my siste in law who is watching the animals won't know what to do. I don't want her to die while I am out becasue I have corys and other bottom feeders that I wouldn't want to get to her if she dies. I do have a 2.5 gal quarantine tank that I can put her in. Is there anything I should add to the water to help her? Both tanks are slightly salted. I don't use too much becasue of the corys. Just 1 tbls per 10 gal. I also add stress coat.

okiemavis

Hehe, sorry, I was being confusing. I meant if you concluded that it wasn't dropsy, and thought that it was maybe internal worms, an autopsy might be worth it. Do you have a photo of the sick fish? Any pinecone effect or other symptoms? Best of luck.