Thinking of getting some guppies...

[desley]

Oh and sorry forgot to say I had a molly in with my guppies and he chased them to death. Maybe cause he was on his own

 

[snowyangel]

Mollybreeder 2 for ammonia level is VERY lethal and high. Try to give your fish as much oxygen as possible, whether by adding air stones or doing daily 15% water changes. Reduce feeedings(or dont feed at all for a couple days) to bring down the level to 0. Dont buy anymore fish either until it reaches 0 and stays there.

 

[Mollybreeder]

Thanks snowy angel, i will do lots of water changes over this next week. I have to feed my fry though so i will only be putting in small small amounts of crushed up flakes. Hopefully my ammonia will go down because i think my fish are suffocating, they keep gasping for air...

 

[snowyangel]

They are suffocating, ammonia replaces the oxygen in their blood so its suffocates them to death thats why you need to increase the oxygen level in the water because the ammonia uses theirs all up. I personally would fast them for a couple days(only feed the fry once a day). Fish can fast easily and they will gladly to do so to be able to breathe again.
Can you not get cycled water from a fish store? I dont see why they wont bag you some water for free(or just buy a plant and ask for lots of water). That way you can bring the ammonia down quickly with their beneficial bacteria.

 

[Mollybreeder]

I did a 50% water change but the ammonia is still high! I cant get to my LFS for awhile because its two hours away. I dont have an airston either, the only thing i can do is water changes...will that help at all?

 

[Kittycat]

I didn't have test kits, but when I was cycling, I anticipated amonia to go high, I had to do water changes daily. If it's really bad, maybe you can do 50% water change early in the day, then another 50% in the afternoon or at night, though I'm not really sure, I'm not an expert, but more water changes should help.

Also, have you considered zeolites? I put them in my filter box when my tank was cycling. As mentioned, I don't have test kits, so I had no clue what my amonia was, but zeolites are supposed to absorb them...

 

[Mollybreeder]

Thanks for the help kitty cat, im gonna go get those zeolites and do water changes daily. youve helped out alot thanks

 

[fishguy18]

I hope everything works out for the best .....mine was high for a little while too but once i added a few air operated gizmos....like a treasure chest that opens...and a diver....and a bubble wall they are awesome....the levels went down ......so maybe consider getting a few air operated gadgets .....or just a pump and a piece of airline tubing on low pressure....it should help

 

[Mollybreeder]

Its been 5 days now and my ammonia is STILL high! My fish seem to be doing ok except for one white mollie who has a hunchback and doesnt eat at all... Im trying everything i can for now...water changes is all i can do and im not feeding them at all, i moved the fry into a 1 gallon tank so they're completely seperate now. I hope my fish dont die..and the ammonia goes down soon.

 

[3fsh]

Has the tank cycled yet? What kind of filter do you have? I would get a bio-wheel filter a.s.a.p. as they cycle the tank very quickly. Don't stop feeding your fish completely, just feed them less than normal. As I said, the bio-wheel is your best chance of bringing ammonia levels down quickly. Just make sure not to do the 50% water changes if you get one, because the ammonia wont build up enough to let the beneficial bacteria grow on it. Can you get any sponges/gravel from your LFS's tanks? That would help as well. Good luck!

BTW- I prefer wild (or "feeder") guppies over the fancy kind because they are much hardier, less susceptable to diseases, and much cuter/spunkier . I have one male survive out of the 4 fancy guppies that I got. (One was a pair that I paid $10.00 for!) Irritating to say the least. And yes, my water quality is perfect.

 

[Mollybreeder]

Im going to get some live plants which will help give off oxygen to the fish, and i dont think my tank has ever completely cycled even though its been running for 2 months. I didnt get a tes kit till a week ago and am now testing my water parameters which arent good!!!

 

[3fsh]

I hate to suggest this but... could you give the fish back to the LFS to hold for you until your tank cycles? This is going to stress their little bodies terribly and shorten their life spans, if they do survive. You can do either the fishless cycling method or use dannios to cycle your tank, but I think it would be best to remove the fish you have right now unless you can get something coated in bacteria from your LFS right away. (ie- sponge, gravel, etc.) Plants might help, but most need at least 1.5 watts per gallon and they only give off oxygen during the day.

 

[Mollybreeder]

I would take them back to my LFS but its two hours out of town and there is a blizzard going on right now, its not safe to travel on the highway right now so i went to check all three super markets in town to see if they had any air pumps and one did! I bought a big 5 inch air stone and hooked it up to the tank immediatly. Now my fish are swimming all around and through the air bubbles. I think this will help since there is alot of oxygen being put off in the tank and its going to stay on through out the night. I know i have been an idiot for not setting up my tank the proper way and i would like to start over but it is hard for me to get back and forth to my LFS. The ammonia went down .5 today and hopefully it will keep going down. I think the big airstone will help alot

 

[sylvia]

edit: sorry, double post

 

[sylvia]

The hunckback molly may need to be euthanised as it sounds like it has TB and this is usualy impossible to treat, contagious, and can even be passed on to you.

Anyway, with the guppies. A lot of people say they are difficult to keep alive etc etc. That's because the fancier types - like the rarer blues and grass guppies - have been extensively in-bred. You can tell when guppies have been in-bred because they lack body size (another result of in-breeding). I generaly suggest reds, half-black reds, feeder guppies and guppy/endler hybrids (these are smaller and shouldn't realy be bred - at least not to endler's - I suppose guppies are messed up enough already for it not to matter) for hardiness. As for temperament, guppies are very similar to mollies but smaller, less active and less aggressive (and breed a lot more too but eat their fry more readily as well). I very much like guppies myself, they come in so many colors and are quite attractive but small and peaceful enough to be kept and bred in a small tank. Most are generaly hardy too. Can't say the same for mollies though - it's just that they are like big (kind of ugly-cute) guppies with a bad attitude