Snoo2theWoo

hey. I have had my tank setup for about 2 months now. When I originally got it setup, I bought a gold mollie, a silver mollie, a dalmation lyretail mollie, a pleco, ghost catfish, and 3 neon tetras. I bought all my fish at one Petsmart. Before the week was over my dalmation died. I replaced him with the same fish, and within 2 days he was very disoriented and on his last leg, so I took him back and got another dalmation. he lasted all of 2 weeks, and then died. Before the 3rd dalmation i bought died, I also lost my gold mollie. Then after I had my tank for about 2 1/2 weeks, I lost my silver mollie. I decided to walk away from the mollies, for the time. I began to have ph and ammonia problems. Well, I finally got my water fixed and decided to get more fish. Note: I have yet to loose my catfish, 3 tetras, or my pleco. Well, I bought a Glass Fish, two platys, and 2 dwarf puffers. My glass fish died after only a day and a half, when I took him back I purchased a dalmation mollie like before. Thinking that the petsmart i got the first ones from had "bad fish", so I got my new mollie from a different petsmart. After only 2 days, he is acting very strange. Swimming upside down for lengths of time. Be very weak, gets stuck in my fake aquarium plant, and swims on his side a large amount. He started acting that way yesterday morning. He managed to make it through the nite, only to this morning get caught under the plant again, upside down, and finally died. I read that a mollie's life span is like 2 to 5 years, but I can't seem to keep them for more than 2 1/2 weeks. None of my other fish seem to be harmed though. Has anyone else had this problem? Please help! I love mollies, but they all die.

Heaveny_Jen

Wow, you said you were having water probs earlier... have they corrected themselves I lost 2 mollies within 3 weeks of putting them in. But the one left with the 5 goldfish just had a whack of babies. Maybe you levels are still wonky??.

Snoo2theWoo

No. My levels are fine now. and all the rest of my fish are fine. I've had my water tested and they said everything is fine. Besdies the glass fish, I've only lost the mollies.

CPVFD325

you stated youve had your tank setup for 2 months.....was it properly cycled? because if you are having ammonia problems its seems like you arent properly cycled....just my . If you are unfamiliar with the nitrogen cycle there are some guides on this site that explain it in great detail. Im sure there are a few members that will post telling you all about it also......If there is anything else, we will be glad to help.

JMatt1983

first of all, what size tank do you have? filtration? heater? what are your test readings ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

my first concern is that your mollies need salt in the water, please read the molly profile on here. second of all, what kind of pleco do you have? if it is a common pleco, which i think thats the only that petsmart sells, they grow to be way too big for any tank under 55G.

as a side note, CPVFD325, looking at your signature, you are WAY overstocked, an oscar needs at least 55G to himself, same with your jack dempsey, your tiger barbs will be eaten by either one or the other. i know they are small now, but they grow fast, they are considered a sport fish in south america, growing to aroun the 1ft mark. very messy fish as well. i would definately consider returning your dempsey and oscar

CPVFD325

Well Matt. The 55 is coming. just isnt here yet. so lets focus on the molly problem WE are helping him with.

COBettaCouple

welcome to Fishlore.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm - Are your ammonia & nitrite levels 0, with nitrate levels 10 or less? If you're using strips (or having petsmart test the water), the results that you're getting are at best unreliable. The API master freshwater testing kit will give you more accurate results.

The problems that you're having with your fish sound like it's either got a water toxins problem or a disease (less likely). I'd recommend using Prime as your water conditioner to help protect the fish from the toxins until the tank is cycled.

susitna-flower

WELCOME to FISHFORE, Snoo2theWoo. I love mollies also, I'm feeling for you right now!

What size tank do you have?

I would say the first thing to start doing is 50% water changes every day till you get that API Mastertest kit that CObettaCouple told you about. Most people here recommend that kit.

YOU can't take the word of people at your LFS, only say that because many employees don't know what they are looking at, and if your fish die, and you come back for more fish, THEY make $$$$$! So the only safe thing to do is test your own water.

Keep posting and let us know what is going on...

Snoo2theWoo

Well I have been getting a full water test done at Petsmart, but I do have my own ammonia and ph tests. Those masterkits are really expensive and I can't afford one right now (me and my husband are both full time students and we have a 2 year old daughter...money is tight in other words.)

Anyways, I have a 10 gallon tank, Bio-Wheel Filter, and my heater is a Theo Hydor (not sure if that is the brand name or what, I don't have the box w/ me, just read what it says on the heater). and i just have a common placo. I did have some trouble w/ my ammonia ( I was over feeding) but I have since gotten that straitened out, and my ammonia reads in the "safe" region on my test. And my ph sits at 7.2.

CPVFD325

If you have an ammonia and a Ph test kit, you are only 2 tests away from the "essential" tests. You need a Nitrite and a Nitrate test. If you are properly cycled you should be reading 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and some level of Nitrate depending on how long your tank has been cycled and how much or how often you are doing partial water changes. Ammonia and nitrites are extremely toxic to fish and nitrates are too at high levels....the only way to lower your nitrates (which are by products of the good bacteria eating your nitrites) is to do partial water changes. However, live plants will help your nitrate levels. You are familiar with the "Nitrogen Cycle" right?

Another thing. Just out of curiousity.....what is the temp. of your water?

COBettaCouple

http://www.petmountain.com/product/t...-test-kit.html - Petsmart MAY honor that price of $13.95. You could call and see if they would. They usually honor their own online price, which tends to be cheaper than the store price.

Hydor is the brand & Theo is the model on the heater. We have a bunch of those and like them.

Your ammonia test reads "Safe"? I'm not sure what test that is - do you have the manufacturer name on it?

The common pleco can grow to 18-24" and needs a tank of 55-75 gallons. Unfortunately, the pet stores don't tell people that and it seems like almost everyone starts out with a common pleco in their tank.

It sounds like the problem is that the tank is overstocked. For a 10g tank, you'll want a maximum of 10" of smaller fish (looking at their adult size).

Mollies are 2-4" each
Common Plecos are 18" but need 55-75g due to them being larger fish and HUGE waste producers
Ghost Catfish are 2" each
Neon Tetras are 1.5" each
Platys are 2" each
Dwarf Puffers need 3g each since they are small but put out huge amounts of waste. They also are semi-aggressive and don't tend to play well with others.

I think you're looking at water toxins killing the fish.

Snoo2theWoo

My pleco is about 1 1/2 inches, and when he gets too big, we have a freind w/ a pond, so we'll give him to them. My 3 neon tetras are a 1/2 inch each, my puffers are extremly small of course, my catfish is about 1 1/2 inches and my 2 platys are about an inch in length as well. And my puffer fish are actually well mannered, and tend to hang out on the opposite side of the tank of the other fish. They love to hide in the foliage of the decorative barrell that I have in my tank.