Can It Kill?

[bubblej17]

can too much salt kill mollies?

 

[paul_219]

Yeah it may kill them, if alot. What do u want to add alot of salt lol. U want to kill them.

 

[roseK]

do they have ich or something?

 

[bubblej17]

im trying my hardest to keep my mollies alive ive lost 14 mollies within a week!!!!!! 12 of which were my precious little babies im totally gutted i just cannot understand where ive gone wrong, the only thing i can think of is ive added too much salt, all my levels are fine, i did a 50% water change lastnight and never added anymore salt today they seem a little better but are breathing very fat and one of my blood red mollies has very red gill shes also the one who is rubbing her sides on the gravel do you reckon she has some sort of disease? i need help quickly, thanks in advance

 

[Rafael Dilone]

Well there can be so many possibilities that could have killed your mollies. You should first try to figure out what caused the fish to die so you do not make that same mistake again. We could be more helpful if you tell me your tank stats. Such as pH, ammonia, ammonium, water hardiness, nitrate, nitrite, etc. Also a 50% water change can be much of a risk. That is because with such a large water change you loose much beneficial bacteria that plays a role in keeping your tank balanced. The only way you can preserve beneficial bacteria from such a large water change is by soaking your filter sponge with the water you took away from the tank. Since the filter holds most of the beneficial bacteria that should help a lot. Also mollies need a bit of salt not a lot. They are brackish fish by the way. Not saltwater. Also it would be helpful if you can tell us more about your tank so we can hep you.

 

[theotheragentm]

To answer the original question, yes too much salt can kill Mollies. Too much salt can kill any fish, including saltwater fish.

In answer to your problems with fish dying, there is something drastically wrong with the water parameters. When you are changing water, are you matching water temperature before adding it to the tank? Are you adding dechlorinator? What is your bioload? If you do not know these things or what these are, do not get any more fish. They will just end up with the same fate as the current fish unfortunately.

Please ask questions as it sounds like you are new to the hobby and might not know some of the basics to allow for optimal care for the fish.

 

[bubblej17]

wow thanks for you replies, firstly my
ph is about 7 - 7.2,
nitrite is 0
my nitrate is 20
the ammonia is between 0 - 0.25,
i always match the temp before adding my new water to my tank,
i do use water conditioner
thats all i can think of although could someone please explain what bioload is as thats the only thing im not sure of

 

[theotheragentm]

Your ammonia should be 0. While it will not kill instantly like nitrites, ammonia levels above 0 will slowly burn the fish's gills. Your nitrates are higher than I like to see when dealing with Mollies. It is possible that after one fish death, an ammonia spike could have occurred, causing a chain reaction of deaths. Do a 20% water change when you get a chance, trying to gravel vac around to make sure nothing is rotting in the tank.

That would be my first guess, but there are some things you can do to prevent this and alleviate the situation. How large is the tank and what is in it? How often are you feeding? A lot of times a heavy feeding regiment can cause the nitrate levels to sneak up and then once you lose one fish, you get the chain reaction.

 

[bubblej17]

hellllpppp its still going so so wrong???
ok so since my last update on here, i was going away for four days my dad came round to feed our house full of animals and the fish that was fine all was well apart from me having yet another dead mollie i did a 25% water change and all seemed to be good until i went to clean them out again today and yes... you guessed it yet another dead mollie,
im not getting anymore until i know whats happening with my tank,
my baby of 6 months has survived and one of my males who ive had for ages but all my others just seem to be dying one by one,
my only sugestion is to let them all die off and start again from scratch, unless anyone has any more advice for me?? please i really need it before i do loose them all, thanks

 

[scooterchick]

Sounds like a parasite to me, could be gill parasites, or velvet. Any chance you could get some pics up?

 

[theotheragentm]

Are there any physical signs on the fish that make them look any different from healthy fish? Anything that looks like growth on them? Any redness? Any loss of color? It's really hard to narrow these things down.

What else is the tank and how are those things doing?

 

[bubblej17]

i'll take some pics tommorrow, all my levels are fine, same as before just cannot shift this slight bit of ammonia and when i say slight i dont even think it reads 0.25, and just one fish was flinching and has now stopped they were been treated for white spot ive stopped that treatment now as i was doing it like it said on the box,
as for what i have in my tank i have 2 males one dalmation one blood red, 3 silver females, one orange speckled female my little dalmation baby thats all i have in that tank