RED FISH HUNTING

I have just started out with a fish tank for my daughter and I don't =
understand any of this.
I have a 18 liter tank with 4 mollies.
It has a light on the top as I bought it this way.
iv put stones and a house in the tank for the fish, I have not added any =
greens plants yet. As the guy in the pet shop was so busy running around =
with other people I couldn't work out what I was supposed to do.
So I used fresh water out of the tap and added water ager (chlorine =
neutraliser) and adds electrolytes.
It seems not to be that easy.
the tank was going fine and the fish was happy for two weeks the fish =
was eating and looking very healthy.
Then I woke up one morning and one of the fish my black mollie was dead.
so I thought the others looked so healthy that maybe it was old when we =
got it. It was about 4cm long and had a big fat bump on its belly and =
looked funny, but the guy told me to buy it as it would be a =
disadvantage to eating and attacking other less fortunate fish, so I =
bought it.
Not sure if it was male or female again the salesman wasn't very =
helpful.
Anyhow the other fish were fine and last night we lost our little baby =
that was looking great yesterday. It was just lying on the bottom of the =
tank. didn't seem to have been attacked or anything like that.
There fore I am here tying to find answers and it is very upsetting if I =
cant look after these fish, I cant live with myself if its my fault they =
re dying.
If you can help me in any way I would be so grateful.
thank you

lyndatu

It looks like the nitrogen cycle hasn't took place yet.......or have it? If not, then it is important for you to understand and perform the cycle. In the Fishlore Homepage, under the Tropical Fish Beginner's guide, you will see the "Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle", click it, and read the article. It's quite a must for the cycle to go on first before adding fish. Not performing the cycle is the no. 1 killer of fishes.

Also, your tank seems a bit too small........the really best idea is to get at least 20 gallons..........If your tank size is below 20 gallons then it would be VERY difficult to maintain and only recommended for professionals.

Oh, and welcome to Fishlore.com!

susitna-flower

It will be help you understand what is going on if you read all the articles in the heading at the top of this page titled articles.

There are there for Freshwater beginners and Aquarium setup guides.

Two things to pay close attention to are the nitrogen cycle and the stocking rates.

Are you testing your water for
Ammonia?
Nitrites?
Nitrates?

You will need to invest in an API Master test kit to do this, and this is probably the best investment you can make. It lasts for hundreds of tests, and is the only way for you to be able to keep a healthy tank.

Are you doing water changes?

Do you have any fish except the mollies?

When you answer some of these questions, we should be able to help you.

COBettaCouple

Welcome to FishLore.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm will help give you information on cycling the tank. With fish in the tank, I recommend treating the water with a product called Prime and changing 25% of the water every 2-3 days.