URGENT: MY DALMATIAN MOLLY JUST DIED SUDDENLY AND I NEED TO KNOW WHY

[Kyle E.]

As I am finding currently, dwarf hairgrass growing is not for the faint of heart lol. I takes quite a bright light and some good ferts and I am still trying to balance it out. You should probably stick to the really easy to grow plants if you just want them for the ammonia help.

Not sending any insults your way @Fishiemang I am really just venting my frustration on the dwarf hairgrass lol. Your post was a very good one.

 

[Fishiemang]

Haha...

I just stuck a couple clumps in the sand and it took off like crazy. I mean...it'a been maybe 6 months now, but, there is a lawn in that tank that is gettin pretty thick.

 

[Kyle E.]

Oooh what lighting and fertilizer do you have? I really want to get a nice carpet but mine just keep floating to the top lol and they are not growing at all. I am getting a new light soon so we will see how that does.

 

[the_lock_man]

No water changes during a cycle will just mean your ammonia and nitrite are going to sky rocket before the bacteria needed grow enough.

But I give poor advice, so what do I know.

Mate, that part is fine.

I take issue with telling people to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels at 1ppm. I'm sorry you're unhappy with that, but as far as I'm concerned, that's poor advice.

You give one lot of advice, I give another, it's up to the OP to figure out what resonates best with her.

You don't need to have a squinny just because someone disagrees with you.

 

[Fishiemang]

Oooh what lighting and fertilizer do you have? I really want to get a nice carpet but mine just keep floating to the top lol and they are not growing at all. I am getting a new light soon so we will see how that does.

Fish poop and currently walmart lights.

The stuff does float up, but is usually cause a fish ripped it out. Grazers are bad news for this stuff. They will make it floating grass. But otherwise, you should be able to just plant it and let it go. It took the time stated to get where it is, but it just goes by itself. No special ferts needed.

 

[Kyle E.]

Hmm. I have never actually seen my fish pull them out. I just have cherry barbs, guppies, a betta, and a dwarf gourami so none of them are really what I would call "grazers". I think if they would just grow any roots at all then they would hold themselves in lol. I will see once I get a new light as my current one is crappy anyway.

 

[Fishiemang]

This photo shows if ya zoom in the type of root system they build. It's like a rope ladder just under the surface, so if your fish are scavenging the bottom, they may easily uproot the stuff. That dempsy there loves to keep his access to the log open, so he pulls up the rug every so often. So I just take it and plant it in other tanks. Plecos tho.....them shifty cats.....they eat it right up so it never takes....haha.

 

[Kyle E.]

Wow that looks amazing. I want mine to grow like that! The thing is the grass has grown literally NO roots, like none at all so it is just blades of grass stuck into the substrate basically. I think it is just coming out on it's own as I have never seen them pulled out by a fish. Unless maybe the snail does it at night or something lol.

 

[Fishiemang]

It's possible if you have mts's.

Plant it deeper. This stuff is like lawn ferns. It sends shoots out under the gravel and will pop up in random spots. But the original clumps plant them deeper than you would think you should. Bout half way up the blade. It will be fine. Then you'll onow it's secure in the substrate. If this works, let it roll, and in a few months your tank may need a haircut.

Put it in corners....or under the corner of some deco....to hold it in place. That might help as well. Shifting sands from water and.fish movement may be part of it if you have a sand sub....

 

[carligraceee]

Mate, that part is fine.

I take issue with telling people to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels at 1ppm. I'm sorry you're unhappy with that, but as far as I'm concerned, that's poor advice.

You give one lot of advice, I give another, it's up to the OP to figure out what resonates best with her.

You don't need to have a squinny just because someone disagrees with you.

I am not sure what to do. My fish have started swimming in the original tank now and I have treated it with good bacteria and Prime. Eventually, I will do a water change because water naturally gets dirty, but I am nervous to put my fish through anymore stress.

I also learned that I shouldn't keep my light on in the tank overnight. I noticed that my fish were starting to show the same signs as before. I remembered something my mom said about the light and looked it up.

It said that they need 6-8 hours of darkness for rest and if they don't get it, they get severely stressed out and become susceptible to diseases.

I wonder if that had something to do with my situation.

 

[CassCats]

Mate, that part is fine.

I take issue with telling people to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels at 1ppm. I'm sorry you're unhappy with that, but as far as I'm concerned, that's poor advice.

You give one lot of advice, I give another, it's up to the OP to figure out what resonates best with her.

You don't need to have a squinny just because someone disagrees with you.

I dont have a squinny over the disagreement. I have a squinny with how the disagreement was approached on your end. Frankly was rude.

Prime dechlorinator blocks the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite up to 2ppm.
If you had read and understood my post, I recommended every other day water changes regardless of the number, using the Prime to dechlorinate for the cycle process, to prevent losses of fish and damages to the fish, but also test the water daily and *IF* the tests read 2ppm in between water changes at all to do an immediate water change as its too high. I was not telling them to keep it at that level, it should stay lower by all means, but that all went over your heads. You need ammonia and nitrite to cycle a tank, and unfortunately OP has fish already (and mollies are high bioload larger livebearers who ideally need a 30 gallon as it is!) and doesn't know exact numbers yet. Either way, my advice to change the water at least every other day during the cycle process stands.


I'm just getting fed up with this forum lately from people just treading on everyone else.

You simply could have said, "sorry I dont agree with above statement and this is why..." but no instead just took no heed to how you came off to other people.

I was already on the fence on whether I should stick around the forum or not due to certain people as of recently, figured I'd stop posting my personal tanks and photos at this point and maybe just stick to helping people, but now I dont even want to do that lol.

 

[carligraceee]

I dont have a squinny over the disagreement. I have a squinny with how the disagreement was approached on your end. Frankly was rude.

Prime dechlorinator blocks the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite up to 2ppm.
If you had read and understood my post, I recommended every other day water changes regardless of the number, using the Prime to dechlorinate for the cycle process, to prevent losses of fish and damages to the fish, but also test the water daily and *IF* the tests read 2ppm in between water changes at all to do an immediate water change as its too high. I was not telling them to keep it at that level, it should stay lower by all means, but that all went over your heads. You need ammonia and nitrite to cycle a tank, and unfortunately OP has fish already (and mollies are high bioload larger livebearers who ideally need a 30 gallon as it is!) and doesn't know exact numbers yet. Either way, my advice to change the water at least every other day during the cycle process stands.


I'm just getting fed up with this forum lately from people just treading on everyone else.

You simply could have said, "sorry I dont agree with above statement and this is why..." but no instead just took no heed to how you came off to other people.

I was already on the fence on whether I should stick around the forum or not due to certain people as of recently, figured I'd stop posting my personal tanks and photos at this point and maybe just stick to helping people, but now I dont even want to do that lol.

Hey man! You have helped a lot! My issue is is I am hearing so many different things. I have decided to watch my fish's behavior. If anything starts up again then I will do a water change and follow all of your guys' advice.

As of now, my fish are swimming happily and I keeping a close eye on them. I am going to the store today and will grab some water testing items and I will test my water everyday.

Once I get numbers, I will post them on this thread and will need your help.

I am so sorry if anyone made you feel like this, everyone who has replied has helped me understand what is happening and now I have multiple solutions to my problem. Stick around and help people! Some people just don't know how to voice opinions nicely (sometimes I do it too) but it is likely nothing against you!!

@the_lock_man helped me a lot and so did you! You both seem very educated and I appreciate it. Please keep your eye on my thread and if you have anything else to add please do. I will be posting here shortly with more information. Much love!

 

[Kyle E.]

It's possible if you have mts's.

Plant it deeper. This stuff is like lawn ferns. It sends shoots out under the gravel and will pop up in random spots. But the original clumps plant them deeper than you would think you should. Bout half way up the blade. It will be fine. Then you'll onow it's secure in the substrate. If this works, let it roll, and in a few months your tank may need a haircut.

Put it in corners....or under the corner of some deco....to hold it in place. That might help as well. Shifting sands from water and.fish movement may be part of it if you have a sand sub....

I have a gravel sub. I will have to try planting it deeper as well. My only snail is a nerite so maybe not lol. I really want mts though cause I can't really gravel vacuum with these DH clumps around but my gravel is quite dirty at this point lol. I don't really know the best place to get one or two MTS though...

 

[Fishiemang]

Go to petsmart or petco or whatever big chain store you may have and look at their tanks. If you see snails in all the tanks, look for the mts's. Chances are, they will give them to you for free. They consider them pests. Tell them you have fish that like to crunch on them or.something.....haha. That's how I get mine. They will.breed and burrow like nobodies business, and you'll have a bunch in no time. They will clean your rocks out fast.

 

[the_lock_man]

I am not sure what to do. My fish have started swimming in the original tank now and I have treated it with good bacteria and Prime. Eventually, I will do a water change because water naturally gets dirty, but I am nervous to put my fish through anymore stress.

I also learned that I shouldn't keep my light on in the tank overnight. I noticed that my fish were starting to show the same signs as before. I remembered something my mom said about the light and looked it up.

It said that they need 6-8 hours of darkness for rest and if they don't get it, they get severely stressed out and become susceptible to diseases.

I wonder if that had something to do with my situation.

It won't have helped, but it's not the main cause of the stress.