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

[the_lock_man]

There is a grain.of.wisdom in everyone's ideas. ..... It's never "junk".

What, even the Petsmart guy who said it's OK to lose a fish?

 

[Fishiemang]

Sure.

It's like when someone you know dies. They console you, and tell you that it's ok. Because it will be.

Same goes for fish. All pets will die. Even if it is because WE made a mistake. It's an opportunity to learn. In this case, it brought the individual here.

So yes...even the petsmart guy was conveying some wisdom.

 

[carligraceee]

Okay you guys! So I tested my water and found these numbers:

GH: 60
CH: 60
PH: 7.5
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 20

 

[Kyle E.]

What about ammonia? The 0 nitrites are good, 20ppm nitrates is the highest we like it to get but it might be best to leave it for a little bit to let the cycle settle down. 20ppm will not have any immediate effects on your fish.

 

[carligraceee]

What about ammonia? The 0 nitrites are good, 20ppm nitrates is the highest we like it to get but it might be best to leave it for a little bit to let the cycle settle down. 20ppm will not have any immediate effects on your fish.

The water testing didn't give me any ammonia readings.. also the nitrates were a bit lower than 20 but not much (I would guess 17 maybe).

 

[mcordelia]

This sounds reassuring! I take this to mean that your ammonia was also at 0 then? That is the most poisonous chemical for your fish, but also as such you will be able to see in your fish behavior if it is really high (though generally it is better to catch it before that happens). Sounds like you are on the right track!!

 

[Chad]

Just a quick note on bottled bacteria.
The idea of bottled bacteria is a sound idea.
The reason I have stayed away from such products is, though the idea is sound, the products may not be.
They have expiration dates after which they may be just bottles of dead bacteria.
The bacteria in them is also subject to being killed by temperature fluctuations. If they get too hot or cold the bacteria could die.
If you dump a bottle of dead bacteria in your tank, not only does it not help cycle the tank, but it will add the released nutrients from the dead bacteria into the tank making conditions worse rather than better.

If you trust the bottled bacteria and it is still viable then there is no reason that the product won't work.
For me, it's just a risk I don't want to take and instead I just take my time.

One more note - plants can be a good way to speed things along. They will uptake ammonium nitrate and other things the fish don't like as it is a fertilizer for them.

 

[Kyle E.]

Very true! I have had success with them but you do still need to be careful and they do not work 100% of the time.

 

[the_lock_man]

The water testing didn't give me any ammonia readings.. also the nitrates were a bit lower than 20 but not much (I would guess 17 maybe).

HI Carli,

Judging from the results that you gave us, I'm guessing you used the paper test strips. I'd really recommend that you invest in some liquid test kits. The paper strips aren't massively accurate, and you don't get an ammonia test, which is really important.

I personally recommend the Salifert tests (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate should set you back around $25). Many people on this forum recommend the API liquid tests.