Newbie Help Please

[katykaye]

Got two new mollys yesterday 1 male and 1 female

They seemed fine in my 50l tank with 6 cardinal tetras, 2 male guppies, 2 small Danios

my tank stats are:
Ammonia 0
NitrAte 10ppm
Nitrite 0
PH 8
Heated to 80 degrees C

My male molly has died (floating on the bottom rather than the top) and my female molly is going mad - round and round in circles very fast. (to be honest all the fish seem to be a bit overactive tonight)

Can anyone enlighten me as to what may have happened please, how I can stop my female dying and what I should do if anything to my tank.

Many thanks for your help

Kaye

 

[rabbut]

Got two new mollys yesterday 1 male and 1 female

They seemed fine in my 50l tank with 6 cardinal tetras, 2 male guppies, 2 small Danios

my tank stats are:
Ammonia 0
NitrAte 10ppm
Nitrite 0
PH 8
Heated to 80 degrees C

My male molly has died (floating on the bottom rather than the top) and my female molly is going mad - round and round in circles very fast. (to be honest all the fish seem to be a bit overactive tonight)

Can anyone enlighten me as to what may have happened please, how I can stop my female dying and what I should do if anything to my tank.

Many thanks for your help

Kaye

80 degrees C?? shouldn't that be F?? Anyway, it sounds possible that it is poisoning of some sort or another. Have you used any airosols or other chemicals near the tank? I assume you have used dechlorinator? The first thing to do after taking a water sample for testing out of a tank that is having problems of any kind, is a 25% water change. Desease or poisoning of any kind will require a water change before further action is needed anyway, so it is best to improve conditions sooner rather than later. Unless there are other symptoms, I would assume water poisoning. In these circumstances, an on-the-spot 50% water change is advisable now, and another 50% in a few hours time. Watch those water stats, and look for any possible caurse of poisoning.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[katykaye]

Thanks Rabbut

I did a 25% water change this morning and yes my tank is 80 degrees F (ooops) not C

Nothing has been used around the tank and yes I used a dechlorinator. Should I carry on and do another water change tonight even though my stats are good?

 

[rabbut]

Thanks Rabbut

I did a 25% water change this morning and yes my tank is 80 degrees F (ooops) not C

Nothing has been used around the tank and yes I used a dechlorinator. Should I carry on and do another water change tonight even though my stats are good?

Definately. There are no specific sysmtoms, so poisoning cannot be ruled out. As this is the most damaging possibilit I can think of given the circumstance, this is what we will assume it to be at this point. With poisons, it is crucial to dilute them as quickly as possible, using the largest safely possible waterchanges, in a short period of time, thus reducing the likelyhood of long-tearm damage to your fish.
Even if the problem isn't poisoning, the waterchanges will reduce disease organisums in the water, slowing the spread of any diseases through the fish, untill symptoms appear

HTH + good luck
rabbut

 

[katykaye]

Thanks

have done a 50% wataer change now, the stats are still good and the fish look ok if a little stressed with all the messing about.

hope they are all ok in the morning

 

[Gazpug]

Hello,

Your PH is slightly high try to lower it between 6.5 and 7.5. you could als lower your water temp. try to lower it to 22-25 degrees this will save your heater working over time. I would only turn it up when medicating the tank.

Regards

Gaz.

 

[rabbut]

Your PH is slightly high try to lower it between 6.5 and 7.5. you could als lower your water temp. try to lower it to 22-25 degrees this will save your heater working over time. I would only turn it up when medicating the tank.

I would agree with the coment about temperature, for general tropicals, but under no circumstances should you alter the pH using chemicals. Chemicals rarely hold a stable pH, which is more important than on in the correct range. A fluctuating pH will caurse more harm than leaving them in a tank with less than ideal pH. In a tank, stability is key. Fish can adapt to stable conditions out of their ideal range easier than they can to conditions that fluctuate within their ideal range.

HTH
rabbut

 

[katykaye]

Thanks for your help guys

My fish seem happier this morning, my ph is down to 7.5 and the temp is down to 79 - so all is looking well

 

[Gazpug]

Thanks for your help guys

My fish seem happier this morning, my ph is down to 7.5 and the temp is down to 79 - so all is looking well

Sounds good.. You can afford to drop the temp 1-2 Deg C. happy days

Regards

Gaz

 

[Little-Fizz]

I was going to say something about the pH being a little high... It is possible that the pet store had them at a little softer and they weren't used to the harder water... Next time I would use a drip method to accumulate them... How did you lower your pH BTW?

 

[katykaye]

I was going to say something about the pH being a little high... It is possible that the pet store had them at a little softer and they weren't used to the harder water... Next time I would use a drip method to accumulate them... How did you lower your pH BTW?

I have no idea how my ph changed - it was different when I did my water change but its normally 7.5 to 8

The petstore is in the same very hard water area as we are although I guess they might use a water softener.

 

[Staccat0]

I Might be wrong, but I've been under the impression that mollies aren't that hardy from most people and require a little bit of salt. Am I crazy?

 

[Hollymolly4]

I've always had trouble with Mollies. I'm currently QTing 4 to add to my new tank. I've read on other forums there's arguments over whether they need salt in their water, however I have always added some after losing the first ones.
Losing that molly could also just be from stress, or something that was already wrong with him at the store. As the other post said, doing water changes is always a good idea. Don't know what's wrong? Do a water change! Also make sure to acclimate them slowly. I put mine in a 1 gallon tank and added my aquarium water every 5-10 mins. After about 45 mins I put them in the QT tank. You never know what all the readings are from the store water. Big changes cause big problems!
Good luck!

 

[katykaye]

Well my female Molly died the next day but not before she had given birth. We managed to "save" 4 fry and they are all doing really well now in the same tank so hopefully they will survive.