2 Fish appear sick.. Don't know what to do!

[Squishiebabe]

well, i'm pretty new to keeping an aquairium, so when my mom brought home a cute little 5-gallon home one night, i had no idea of the problems i'd find.
I began shopping for all the things i thought i needed...my neighbour gave me a filter that she'd only used once, and i bought gravel, and a heater+thermometer.
I read quite a few webpages about how to start an aquarium, and quicky realized my 5 gallon didnt look so easy after all...but my parents, thinking they know everything, said it would have to do, and so i started it up. I let it run for 3 days, checked the heater and filter, made sure the plants and decor was safe, ect, then took a trip to Petsmart. I asked the consultant if i could start yet, with maybe small fish, and she said it should be okay. I picked a fancy male guppy, and a black molly (male). I let the bag float, blah blah...they seemed fine the first few days. 5 days actually. The molly gasped at the surface a little bit, but i thought nothing of it because the guppy was perfect, active and they both looked healthy otherwise. Then one day, i went to feed them and found my molly stuck to the filter "sucker part" (sorry)
That morning, he had seemed a bit ehausted, but i didnt know.He wasnt dead, but died a day after, because of that i guess.
My dad said it was nothing, and that maybe the fish was old or something. He insisted that getting water tests was stupid, but i think something was, and still is wrong in there. The guppy is perfectly fine though.
Anyway, yesterday he took me to get 2 new fish (2 days after molly died)
and this time i was very careful picking them. i made sure no dead or odd looking fish were in the tanks. I picked another black male molly, hoping he wasnt going to die, and a Sunburst/Sunrise platy.
Bad idea?
Now, they both are crashed at the bottom, and the black one was stuck to the filter but not dead earlier! The guppy ius still swimming as if its nothing...hes invincible!
Is there anything i can do...also, my dad doesnt beliueve i need ammonia or anything tests, but i sneaked in a pH and its around 7.3 it says.



i know...I'm a horrible aquairist i guess...if my fish could they'd prolly jump out and fin-slap me

 

[cla55y19]

sounds like you need to let the tank run for longer did you use dechlorinator in the water? the fish gasping at survace means something isnt good i cant remember wat its called but im sure some one on here can, also petsmart arent the best for buying fish your best going to your LFS where there main proriety is there fish and nothing eles. also is your filter getting enough oxygen to the water you might want to add an air stone? just a few ideas im sure more people will have more to say

 

[Squishiebabe]

Yes, i used dechlorinator. I even added a bit of bacteria starter, just as the bottle said, maybe a bit less ... Said it helped nutralize ammonia (do you think thats the problem?...i did a water change anbd cleaned the gravel today)
its only the molly gasping at the surface though, the last one was too
I just checked, and now the molly seems better, hes swimming a bit, but the platy is still crashed and hardly moving, they seem to like to crash together in one spot

 

[cla55y19]

the fish gasping i think would be down to ammonia but you might wanna do a water test you should have 0.0 ammonia. if there gasping again do a partial water change to help lower it. i wouldnt add no more fish for a while let the tank run for a week. you need to allow your filter to let the benefical bacteria grow and this can take a while

 

[Squishiebabe]

Is there ANY possible way i can test ammonia without a store-test kit....??

 

[cla55y19]

Ammonia in an aquarium is caused by the decomposition of fish waste, decaying food, and dead fish that have not been promptly removed. Ammonia can cause a great deal of problems if not taken care of. It is the No. 1 killer of tropical fish. It is easy to treat if water conditions are ideal. You need to do routine water changes, siphon the gravel , and be certain to keep from overfeeding. With an ammonia level of 6 ppm, the death rate may be as high as 50%. As the levels rise, the death rate will be higher. Ammonia effects fish by causing the blood to loose its ability to carry oxygen. The creates stress and lowers the fish's resistance to bacterial infections such as fin and tail rot, body slime, eye cloudiness, body sores, and more.

It is best to do routine water changes and monitor the water conditons with a test kit made specificially for testing ammonia
there is no free way to test it going to have to go against your dad and get a secret test if you can find a decent LFS take them a sample of your water they will be able to test it and tell you more maybe for a small feee

 

[Squishiebabe]

Damn....any ideas on how i could keep them alive hopefully...?
Tomorrow i'll see if i can wimper my way into a store visit, if not my boyfriend will drive me
I know they do free water tests.
Will aquarium salt help anything? if so, i heard you could use koser salt or rock salt ??(Not iodized/table salt i know)

 

[OrkyBetta]

if you are using Ammo Lock or something, you need a different kind of test so your readings arent messed up. I'm afraid, unless you have access to some pretty odd chemicals, you need to store buy a test.

If you are really having issues with fishkeeping, and the fish you have now don't make it, sterilize everything in hot water and a SMALL ammount of bleach, rinse it well, until NO bleach could be left in that sucker, then rinse it again.

Maybe you are starting with too delicate of fish. A betta would be very happy in there, and aren't as hard to keep. just make sure you sanitize everything and NEVEr use anything that isn't meant for a tank in the tank. Bettas don't like strong current, so you'd need to fix the filter if you did so.

Good luck, wish I could help more!

 

[Squishiebabe]

Thanks....i had a betta for two years, actually....but i really like the idea of more than 1 fish lol....if these ones dont live, well i know the guppy will tough it out the longest, i'm getting a bigger aquarium and starting from scratch

 

[Squishiebabe]

Just found the molly dead...removed him from tank...the Guppy is no different, but the platy seems still bad off...any suggestions on what the heck i can do?
Parents thoink its "bad fish" ,..i'm not buying that story
...i think its the water or something...help!...

 

[cla55y19]

do a water change, and dont feed the fish untill they come round and if worst comes to worst do wat OrkyBetta said i dont think bad fish are to blame as its happened to a few now

 

[Squishiebabe]

i just cleaned the tank today though...alot of it...maybe 1/4 of the water
Either way, i'm P.O'ed... hopefully the other two pull through...what i really dont understand is the guppy...he honestly is not in any way acting oddly. he eats and swims around normally, i've yet to see him lying on the bottom and hes been around about almost 2 weeks now...hmm...

 

[cla55y19]

sounds very weird and i think alot of people will have stories like this when they first start keeping fish i think main thing to take from this is to keep on going and not give up in a few months ull have a kool tank and will have forgotten this and just have learnt from your mistakes

 

[Squishiebabe]

Yeah, hopefully....I;m looking already for a bigger tank...if worst comes to worst and the platy dies, i'll go for another guppy or two...after i wait and watch him for anything odd....sound good?
I hope so. I'm exhausted myself from this

 

[FishEnthusiast]

Salt in the water will help. If I am not mistaken guppies and other live bearers like salt in their water. How big is the filter? Is it really strong? The reason I ask is you found 2 fish stuck to it. It may be too strong of a current for such a small tank. I am at a loss. I would do another water change. Make sure that the temp of the water going in is the same as the tank water. Use decholrinator and get your water tested at the store tomorrow.