addisonsmommy

so i originally had 7 harlquin rasboras in my 20 gal aquarium, already fully cycled. i woke up yesterday and one passed. wake up today another one passed. then shortly before putting one of my female pregnant black mollies in the birthing seperator, i see another floating at the top of the tank. ive had them for going on almost 3 months now i believe. what could be causing this?

scuba-ooba

Have your water tested to check for any chemical imbalances. After i first cycled my tank and added fish i had a huge ammonia spike. If you have already done that there could be disease(s) in your water. Watch your fish closely to look for any deformities or awkward behaviors...... hope this helps!

addisonsmommy

yeah i tested earlier and everything is normal except the alkalinity is in the 120-180(ideal range) and the nitrite is around the 2.0(stress). what can i do to fix that? also my FIL had suggested we were over feeding them which was twice a day, once in the am and then again once in the pm. he said to feed once a day and we chose to at night and we did that for 3 days and i could tell all the fish were hungry. so today i have gone back to feeding twice. his reasoning was because of our frequent cleanings, when he has never cleaned his tank and never had any problems, he has around a 75 gal with tons of tetras, guppys, snails, a few diff plecos, and maybe a few other tetra breeds.

CHoffman

HI addisonsmommy,
What are your reading for ammonia??...With a nitrite reading that means your tank is not cycled yet or going through a mini cycle..I would suggest doing daily 50% Waterchanges until your readins are 0 for ammonia, 0 for nitrite. I'm guessing your fish are suffering the effects of a cycling tank.

Lucy

I agree with Cesch, water changes would really help your fish until the tank completely cycles.

I'm really sorry you lost your fish, I know it stinks.
Good luck.