Fish Noob - Balloon Molly Issues

[AnimalNstinct]

Hello Everyone,

I really hope someone can help me here as I'm honestly stuck on what to do. I received a 2.5 Gallon tank for Christmas to have on my office desk, well I ran out and purchased a couple small fish for it. I was misinformed at the pet store and was told that I could keep a few 1-2" fish in it. I purchased 2 Ballon Mollies and a super tiny Plecostomus.

I have no real experience with fish! I am an arachnid and reptile keeper, but I just recently started to fall in love with fish thus the Christmas gift. I'm down to only one molly and the plec as one passed away 24hrs after being in the tank. I think the one that passed away might of been stuck in one of the plants as that's where I found it dead the next morning.

The one left alive has had erratic behavior since I got him. It darts around swimming like crazy, then when he sits in a single spot he thrashes around almost like he is having full body convulsions. We'll today he is continuing the same thing but has moments where he is settling at the bottom of the tankand acts like he is going to just float off onto his side, but right before it seems like he is trailing off he darts off.

When I first brought them home I started researching a lot and discovered a few things that I need to change. Unfortunately the associate I talked to misinformed me about everything so I've been trying to correct everything. I realize they shouldn't be in a 2.5 gallon tank and I'm working on upgrading.

To give you a better idea on their living environment; The water is treated, temp is around 75 degrees, feeding tropical flakes once a day, 1 algae wafer a day (for the plec), a few fake plants & hiding hut in tank, and I do have some aquarium salt but I have not used it yet.

Any ideas on what could possibly be wrong and where I could make improvements? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

[dh058977]

Obviously your tank was not cycled so there is no good bacteria to handle the waste Ammonia your fish are producing. I assume this tank has a filter?
Your tank is only really big enough for shrimp / snails or maybe a male betta at a push so you are going to be overstocked. With an uncycled filter (now in a fish in cycle) you should be doing large regualr water changes with temp matched treated tap water. Your water changes should be around 80-90% daily in my opinion.

 

[AnimalNstinct]

Well I went out and purchased a 10 Gallon for him and I'm setting that up right now. I also just got done changing the water and putting a correct PH fizz tab in. I also purchased a 5 in 1 test kit and my results are the following:

pH - 7.8+
Nitrate - Slightly over 0
Nitrite - Slightly over 0 pushing .5
Total Hardness(GH) - 300+
Total Alkalinity(KH) - 180+

I'm not 100% for sure on what all the results mean for the health of my fish but I'm researching everything. According to the kit, most of my results seem safe.

Now that I'm setting up the 10 gallon how long do I let it run before adding any fish? Also, what else can I do to improve the environment of the tank for them?

Thank you for your help and any additional advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[dh058977]

I wouldnt mess with the Ph for now, to be honest that should be the least of your worries. Di you get a liquid testing kit or strips, the strips are next to useless and should only really be used to indicate the presence of a chemical. I also see your testing kit doesnt test for Ammonia? This is one of the most important things to test for. Try to invest in a liquid testing kit.

You need to read up on fish less cycling in the beginners section, it could be months before you are ready to add fish. What is going to happen with your fish during that time? If they remain in your other tank then you need to stick to the regular large water changes.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum AnimalNstinct.

Treated water at 75F is a good basic start, so maintain those conditions as you do water changes. Your GH, KH and pH are fine for the fish that you have.

Now that you have that 10 gallon tank, try doing a 50% daily water change. That should be enough to keep the water safe for your few fish. Those daily water changes will need to happen for about 6 weeks until the filter in your tank has a chance to develop its ability to process nitrogen in what we call a cycle. After that, you can try testing your water quality. Any ammonia or nitrite should be considered poisonous and the 50% water change should be performed, but by then you have a good chance of showing zero for both chemicals. Once that condition is achieved, you can slowly add more stock to your tank. Be aware that the commonly available pleco at most shops is one that will grow to about 2 feet long and will have a body as big around as your arm, hardly suitable for the average home aquarium. For some reason that I do not understand, they keep selling the darned things.

 

[AnimalNstinct]

Thanks for responding guys.

I feel horrible that I was stupid enough to trust a chain pet store associate before researching further into things first. I should of know better as I care for many others pets and can't get over some of the things I hear being told to people by others. I just wish my mistake didn't lead to the death of two little lives as I sadly work up to discover my plec had passed during the night. I'm still working hard to keep my last little guy kicking though!

The 5-in-1 tests I purchased were strips and I didn't realize till I got home that it didn't include ammonia testing. However, I've set up the 10 gallon today and I'll be sure to do a daily 50% change. Now right now my last balloon molly is in the 2 gallon but should I go ahead and transfer him over and just continue the daily changes?

He does seem slightly better as he is no longer lingering on the bottom of the tank, but the constant shaking is still occurring though. Is there anything I can feed him or personally do to comfort to possibly help with his overall health? I have the aquarium salt which I read can help with the health of mollies so should I go ahead and add some?

I really appreciate all the help!

 

[snake007]

The shaking could possibly mean there is ammonia present in the water.

 

[OldMan47]

Go ahead and move your fish to the 10 gallon. The original 2 1/2 is nice for a fish show but too small to keep anything much bigger than shrimp or maybe Heterandria formosa on any kind of permanent basis.