What's Wrong?! Sick Fish!

[lots_to_learn]

I have a 55 gallon that I have had set up for about 5 months and it's been doing pretty good. I had some issues with two walmart bought beta fish that turned out to be sick but I have resolved those issues months ago. Right now I have two female mollys (a sailfin dalmation and a balloon) that are holding their fry for over two months now. They became pregnant shortly after I got them but took 2 months to finally have them but I was on vacation when it happen so I only have 1 surviving fry. My brother was house sitting but did not do a good job of keeping an eye on them so I have no idea what happen to them. I did suction a bunch of small fry during a tank cleaning shortly after I got back. It's been about 10 weeks since those fry were born. Both females look very pregnant but not having their fry. Water conditions test normal but I do have a hard water problem from my well water that I have yet to find something to fix it. 4 days ago I made a trip to petsmart after I did some research to try some ideas. Right now I am trying Top Fin Tap Water dechlorinator (as suggested by the petsmart employee for hard water) added after a 50% water chang. I also added aquarium salt since I read that will help. Next I bought a decoration with lots of plant/shrubbery for fry to hide and a tank divider to segregate my females so they can have some privacy and be able to feed them more often then the other fish easier. The one fry is in there with them because I have 3 glo fish that will chase it despite it's size. I am using API 5in1 Test Strips to test the water and the hard water after the 4 days has gone down from 180 to 120 GH and 240 to 190 KH. PH consistantly remains at 7.0 and NO2 NO3 consistantly remains at 0. I have two tank heaters that keep the temperature at about 75 degrees and I use an undergravel filtering system with the carbon filters.

With all of this, still no fry and today I discovered my black male balloon molly with severe dropsy, raised scales and has just died typing this message when otherwise yesterday he looked 100% fine. My other fish look 100%. However, I have noticed that for a a while now the 9 neon tetras in the tank seem to bloat when they are fed and have trouble swimming downward. Their bellies will look like they have a bulge and they will nearly point straight down and trying to swim and barly going anywhere and if they stop they almost rapidly float toward the top. This goes on for about 5-10 mintues and goes away and they are perfectly fine. I feed fish flakes every other day and only what they can consume in about 30 seconds. All-in-all, the tank is populated with the two segregated female mollys and the one fry, 9 neon tetras, 2 plattys (male and female - not breeding??, and 3 glo fish.

 

[lots_to_learn]

Update on the situation. I double checked the callender and it's been almost 7 weeks since the mollys gave birth. I guess it just feels longer because of the anticipation. With the exception of the male that died suddenly from dopsy everyone seems just fine.

I am concerned with why my mollys are holding their fry for so long. Anyone have some insight?

Also, the feeding time issue with my neons, is that anything I need to worry about? I observed them when I fed them last night and the floating issue seemed to last almost 30 minutes. I am not putting that much food in so I doubt it's over eating. Maybe it's what I'm feeding them? Here is what I feed: TetraMin Tropical Flakes and I sometimes give the plattys and mollys TopFin Freeze-Dried Bloodworms. I usually drop the bloodworms right in front of the intended recipient. The mollys are eating the bloodworms in the morning and the flakes at night. Just a little at a time so they don't overeat but eat often enough for the fry.

Does anyone have any help or advice?

 

[Athena]

The only thing I can think of is that the freeze dried bloodworms are causing a bit of constipation and bloating. Also causes swimbladder disorders in some fish. Try feeding them a de-shelled pea that has been squashed into tiny pieces and see if that helps them.

Athena

 

[lots_to_learn]

The only thing I can think of is that the freeze dried bloodworms are causing a bit of constipation and bloating. Also causes swimbladder disorders in some fish. Try feeding them a de-shelled pea that has been squashed into tiny pieces and see if that helps them.

Athena

Thanks for trying to offer help! I'm really freaking out at this point...I'm actually wondering if I may have a problem in an internal bacteria? The pregnant mollys and the one fry are kept in the same tank but are seperated by a tank divider from the neons and other fish. My male balloon molly obiously died from dropsy which was completely undetected until he was 100% pineconed when I woke up and he died a couple of hours later. Now, yesterday my female balloon molly began swimming all kinds of funny and by the end of the day she was having trouble staying level. Today she is pretty much always positioned tail above nose like she is pointed directly down. She was breathing labored yesterday and is still today. I have noticed she seemed like she was moving her fins rapidly but I thought maybe it was due to her being so close to birthing her fry. She's been getting more squared off lately. My dalmation molly seems in pretty good condition but it does look like she may be stressed. She is holding her dorsal fin flat and her tail isn't spread out as usual. I thought yesterday she was going into labor because she was staying solitude and doing dramatic swim movements in place. I took a video and posted on youtube: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlauRTwOvIo

Anyway, the mollys were the only ones getting the bloodworms and I can discontinue feeding that and try the pees. The other fish seem perfectly fine but I have noticed stringy poo every now and then despite only feeding them a few fish flakes every other day. The neons seems to have severe swim bladder issues after they eat. I noticed their belly bloates and they have trouble swimming down. Another thread mention it could be bacterial or just the fish flakes. Also thinking I may need to change the carbon filters? They have been there since I installed the filter system in late January.

Sorry for the long post but I'm trying to get as much information as possible.

Thanks

 

[lots_to_learn]

*update*

My female molly is now on the brink of death. It doesn't so much look like dropsy though. She's not bloated and her scales aren't pulling out but she seems to not be able to remain level as she is almost 100% of the time with her tail directly above her head. She is still breathing but it's small breaths. The other fish seem just fine so far except I'm noticing some small signs of stress in my dalmation sailfin molly. She's holding her fins clamped about 50% of the time.

Anyway, I bought some medicine at walmart that says it's for a variety of conditions including dropsy and swim bladder disorders whih is basically what I am dealing with. It turned the water a blue-ish green but I really don't care so long as my fish get better. Sadly I think it is too late for my ballon molly carrying her fry.

 

[-FighterFishh]

You'll need some proper water test kits, preferably the API ones. These are much more reliable and can help you get more accurate water readings, as the test strips are pretty inaccurate.

As for your stocking, I believe glofish need to be in a shoal of at least 6, and the platies need to be 2 females to every 1 male.

Don't worry about all the medication, just keep up some small water changes with warm, dechlorinated water and try feeding some shelled peas.

 

[lots_to_learn]

You'll need some proper water test kits, preferably the API ones. These are much more reliable and can help you get more accurate water readings, as the test strips are pretty inaccurate.

As for your stocking, I believe glofish need to be in a shoal of at least 6, and the platies need to be 2 females to every 1 male.

Don't worry about all the medication, just keep up some small water changes with warm, dechlorinated water and try feeding some shelled peas.

Thank you. I'll get a better test kit asap. I'll get more glofish as well. I thought they would be okay since I had all the neons and they have been doing pretty good. I noticed though my neons don't really school. Any particular reason for this or is it normal? This is the first time I've had them in such a big tank so I thought they would school more. Anyway, my water is naturally dechlorinated since it is well water but it is hard water and so far cannot find something to fix that problem but maybe I am wrong about how hard it is since the test strips aren't very good. I'll try the peas and what you say and I'll let you know how they continue! My female balloon molly is still alive but looks even worse then yesterday so I don't think there is any hope

 

[-FighterFishh]

You'll need some proper water test kits, preferably the API ones. These are much more reliable and can help you get more accurate water readings, as the test strips are pretty inaccurate.

As for your stocking, I believe glofish need to be in a shoal of at least 6, and the platies need to be 2 females to every 1 male.

Don't worry about all the medication, just keep up some small water changes with warm, dechlorinated water and try feeding some shelled peas.

Thank you. I'll get a better test kit asap. I'll get more glofish as well. I thought they would be okay since I had all the neons and they have been doing pretty good. I noticed though my neons don't really school. Any particular reason for this or is it normal? This is the first time I've had them in such a big tank so I thought they would school more. Anyway, my water is naturally dechlorinated since it is well water but it is hard water and so far cannot find something to fix that problem but maybe I am wrong about how hard it is since the test strips aren't very good. I'll try the peas and what you say and I'll let you know how they continue! My female balloon molly is still alive but looks even worse then yesterday so I don't think there is any hope

Good They probably aren't shoaling as there aren't enough of them, so up the numbers and hopefully that'll fix that.

Cook the peas first, shell them, then chop them up into smaller pieces and try feeding Hopefully that along with good water should cure her. Don't loose hope!

 

[lots_to_learn]

Good They probably aren't shoaling as there aren't enough of them, so up the numbers and hopefully that'll fix that.

Cook the peas first, shell them, then chop them up into smaller pieces and try feeding Hopefully that along with good water should cure her. Don't loose hope!

So 9 neons aren't enough to school? New to me again. lol. I have a 55 gallon with 17 fish so I guess I do have room to add more. I like giving them tons of space. Of course first I need to get them healthy again! I'll try to get her to eat some pea if I can manage to get her our of her little spot she has places herself in at the bottom under a plant Last night when she was up and moving her appitite seemed fair so maybe. Sigh. I wont loose hope so long as she is still breathing!

Thanks again!

 

[lots_to_learn]

Well, I put the dying molly in a breeder net box and gave her a pea so the other fish won't eat it. She's not really swimming around and is not showing any interest in the pea. I don't know what else to do other then leave her in the net and see if she manages to eat it and if that has any affect.

 

[Athena]

Sorry to hear things are still not improving.

Have you managed to purchase a liquid test kit yet? Would be interesting to see what the results are if you test the water straight from the well. Apparently, it has been known for some wells to contain chemicals harmful to fish. I would check that out if it were me.

Regards, Athena

 

[hedhurley1]

You'll need some proper water test kits, preferably the API ones. These are much more reliable and can help you get more accurate water readings, as the test strips are pretty inaccurate.

As for your stocking, I believe glofish need to be in a shoal of at least 6, and the platies need to be 2 females to every 1 male.

Don't worry about all the medication, just keep up some small water changes with warm, dechlorinated water and try feeding some shelled peas.

Thank you. I'll get a better test kit asap. I'll get more glofish as well. I thought they would be okay since I had all the neons and they have been doing pretty good. I noticed though my neons don't really school. Any particular reason for this or is it normal? This is the first time I've had them in such a big tank so I thought they would school more. Anyway, my water is naturally dechlorinated since it is well water but it is hard water and so far cannot find something to fix that problem but maybe I am wrong about how hard it is since the test strips aren't very good. I'll try the peas and what you say and I'll let you know how they continue! My female balloon molly is still alive but looks even worse then yesterday so I don't think there is any hope

Good They probably aren't shoaling as there aren't enough of them, so up the numbers and hopefully that'll fix that.

Cook the peas first, shell them, then chop them up into smaller pieces and try feeding Hopefully that along with good water should cure her. Don't loose hope!

Hi This stuuf is great u might have to go to a salt water store to buy or Amazone, I just wanted to know if anyone has tried this Microbe-lift it is 100% natural and i have had real good luck with it its all natural. I have a 75 Gal discus tank and i picked up fin rot it cleared it right up with out changing 25% of the water dally. I also have a 125 gal with Africans in it my clowns started to show signs of velvet it cleared it right up with out changing 25% of the water daily. This is good 4 my friends my Fish

 

[lots_to_learn]

Okay, to update..My sick female balloon molly is still alive. She is being kept in a breeding/birthing net so the fish don't pick at her and I have been feeding her a cooked, deshelled pea once per day. This will be the third day doing this. I am also doing water changes. Sunday I did a strong 50% water change. I syphoned all the gravel to remove waste and stur up the gravel. She perked up a little with the water change and tried a little swimming and I think managed to eat a tiny amount of pea.

Yesterday (monday) I did another 50% water change but left the gravel undesturbed but picking up surface debris. She really perked up with yesterday's water change and at a good pit of pea. Her swimming seems very hard for her to accomplish since she can't stay upright and when she swims she end up swirling around. When she is resting she is laying totally on her side at the bottom of the net.

So far today she is a little more active on her own but not moving most of the time. I have noticed no poo in the net the whole time she has been in it so I am guessing she is constipated? She has no bloating, no redness, nothing fisually wrong with her so I can't figure anything else.

All the other fish in my tank are alive, active, and very well. My camera is on the charger so I can get some quality video later of what I am talking about.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Undergravel filters are about the least effective filters you can use, especially for a tank the size of yours. I'm thinking your water parameters are probably off by quite a bit. Once you get the API test kit, let us know what they show when you test the water.

Please don't get any new fish until your situation is cleared up, or they may get sick as well.

 

[lots_to_learn]

Undergravel filters are about the least effective filters you can use, especially for a tank the size of yours. I'm thinking your water parameters are probably off by quite a bit. Once you get the API test kit, let us know what they show when you test the water.

Please don't get any new fish until your situation is cleared up, or they may get sick as well.

Thank you for the advice. I have read a huge amount on the contraversy over undergravel filters. I'm not going to change anything until I get the results from a better test kit as everyone keeps recommending. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get one yet. I will on thursday (payday). I also do not plan on getting any more fish for at least a month unless I have to make changes to my tank. The changes will require me to buy an aquarium filter which I know will cost me quite a bit since I cannot go with one that hangs on the outside of the tank.

Anyway, to address the more important issue of getting a better test kit. I took a look at some options. Petsmart only have two types of individual liquid tests; one for pH, and one for Ammonia . They have a master test kit and what it includes is: pH, high range pH, two different ammonia, two different nitrates, and one type nitrite but it doesn't mention hard water or KH other then reading the product description on their web where it mentions a mini kit (not sure if that is included). This is all they had there. Walmart next door did not carry anything other then test strips.

Is the master kit they carry exactly what I need or is it missing anything? Here is the link for it: http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754034&lmdn=SHOP+FOR