My Baby Mollies Keep On Dieing!

[Fish911]

I had around 40 mollie babys and now i only have like 15-20. Why do they kep on dieing! There tank is clean and its perfect!!!! hhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllpppppppppppppppp!!

 

[Colin_T]

what size tank are they in?
is it filtered and how long has the filter been running in the tank for?
how often do you feed them and what do you feed them?
how often do you do water changes and gravel cleans?
what other fishes are in the tank with them?
what is the temperature?
have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite & PH?
do the fish show any signs of skin irritation or spots, grey coating, etc?

 

[helterskelter]

Are they with any other fish, if so what fish?

I know so many questions but we cant help untill we know what factors are going on.

 

[Fish911]

Are they with any other fish, if so what fish?

I know so many questions but we cant help untill we know what factors are going on.

They are with like 2 dozen baby guppy fry witch are 6 days old. And they arein a ten gallon for now. They do have a filter its bein running for a few days now but i have a net over it so it doesnt suck up any fry. They alos have a heater.

 

[Colin_T]

your water is probably bad. Do a 50% water change each day. Make sure you use water that is free of chlorine and has a similar temperature & PH to the tank.
Filters take about a month or so to mature. During that time there is nothing to break down the fish food and waste in the water. The rotting food and waste produce ammonia that will kill the fish rapidly. Water changes will dilute the ammonia and help keep the levels low.
If possible get the water tested for ammonia and nitrite.

 

[helterskelter]

Dont do a 50% with fry, do 25% at the most and do it daily if your still having problems

 

[fish48]

i agree with helterskelter only do 25% it should solve the prob-in 2 or 3 days

 

[Fish911]

i agree with helterskelter only do 25% it should solve the prob-in 2 or 3 days

Thanks! But another fry died today and now i only have 13 out of like 40!!

 

[12azor]

Did you take them out of the main tain?

How big was the tank they were in?
How long has the tank that the fry are in been running?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Are they with any other fish, if so what fish?

I know so many questions but we cant help untill we know what factors are going on.

They are with like 2 dozen baby guppy fry witch are 6 days old. And they arein a ten gallon for now. They do have a filter its bein running for a few days now but i have a net over it so it doesnt suck up any fry. They alos have a heater.

If the filter has only been running for a few days then the tank is cycling (which is causing unstable water quality which is why your fry are dying), you should read this article for more info;

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...-tank-syndrome/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...-tank-syndrome/[/URL]


If you already have an established tank and filter, then squeezing some of the gunk from the established filter into the newly running filter will help transfer some of the beneficial nitrifying bacteria into the new started filter and so help speed up the cycle of the tank a lot and so help the water quality improve .
Even though the water may look clean, toxins like nitrites and ammonia are not visible to the naked eye and can be present in even of the most seemingly clean tanks- the only way to know exactly how many nitrites, ammonia and nitrates in the tank are is to test the water quality with an accurate test kit/s.

Ammonia and nitrites should always be 0 and nitrates should be between 1 and 40; if you see ammonia or nitrites or excessive nitrates then you should do a 30% water change with dechlorinator to help remove then.
Do not use chemicals to remove stuff like ammonia and nitrites etc because chemicals tend to only prolong the cycling of the tank and can even mess it up and set it back to stage one completely etc- the best way to improve water quality in a tank is to simply do old fashioned small to medium sized water changes with dechlorinator (and to also clean the filter properly, like avoiding over-cleaning it or rinsing it under undechlorinated tap water etc).

While adult livebearers may be quite hardy when it comes to water quality, fry are extra sensitive to these things (particularly molly fry in my experience) so its particularly important to keep an eye on the water quality of the tank and the general cleanness of it (since feeding fry can be quite messy, you don't want uneaten food lying around in the tank as uneaten fish food or general organic waste can harbor columnaris, a very nasty bacterial disease which can be lethal and very infectious left untreated).
IMHO There is no need to cover the filter intake with netting, healthy fry should have no trouble swimming in a normal tank set up, the only time you will get fry stuck in the filter is if the fry are already sick and dying and can no longer swim effectively- and to be honest, as long as you are looking after the fry properly and the fry are not suffering from disease etc, there's no point in saving such fry since they tend to be the runts of the litter so to speak and are not strong to begin with. IMHO to breed and raise livebearers well, its important to place an emphasis on raising strong fit and health fry only, sorta like a survival of the fittest thing- many common livebearers tend to be rather inbred now days, so its important to not raise weak fry as usually their weakness is caused by bad recessive genes (and you obviously do not want obviously weak mollys growing up and breeding with strong healthy mollys etc) etc.
Adding a small dose of marine salt to the tank will help if nitrites are present as the salt will help detoxify the nitrites (don't worry the salt won't be harmful to the molly fry if it is only a small dose, mollys are actually found in both freshwater and brackish habitats in the wild and can actually benefit from having a little pure/marine salt in their water) .

Does the tank have lighting and what is the temperature in the tank ? What are you feeding the fry exactly and how regularly ?