sam1989

hi, my husband sorted out all his tank, were waiting to get a bigger new one, he has seen one with an exteranl filter and is a huge tank, he has bin doing gravel cleaning and 20% water changes, my mum tested the water for me as i wasnt in all that day, she said it came back fine now, but all my pregnant female mollies seem to keep dying, they go lifeless and just sit at the bottom hiding, because they get harrassed my husband puts them into a breeding box and they get a small white circle and it goes very dark then in the morning they are dead, we have a golden coloured sailfin who is pregnant and the males were really pushing her about so my husband put her in the box last night and her bum has gone black with a white circle showing and has bin pooing alot but its clear, and shes just sitting at the bottom n looks lifeless shes not moving at all, im really worried as this will be my third to die near to giving birth can anyone help?

Shawnie

im sorry you keep loosing your fishies
what test kit did mom use and what were the readings?

sam1989

il have to ask her in the morning, it was a liquid one i think, she said it was about 15 pound, she said the ammonia was 0 now thats all she said to me before she left, i dont no what to do with the tank now at all, my husbands doing what he can, my mum told me to start a fresh but dont mess with the filter to sort the tank out, but wasnt sure if thats wise, do u have any advice what we can do or why the pregnant ones keep dying?

Jonah

Does that sound like a parasite to one of the more experinced fishlorians?

Shawnie

what brand of liquid kit? without the readings for water parimeters, its hard to say definately ...once we know the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrate readings, it will at least rule out water as the issue...does the hubby do water changes often as the amount of fish and the type of fish in a 60L tank will throw that water into a big tailspin.....do you have some prime or stress coat+ to do a water change for now until you know for sure? the prime or stress coat+ detoxes and helps the fishies feel better..

it could be, but usually parasites have white poo most of the time not so much clear...and the white marks im thinking could be ammonia burns...as the plec alone in a 60L will make it intolerable unless daily water changes are done

sam1989

il ask about the kit tommorow, he does water changes every monday and brought stress coat+, its only the pregnant ones that have this clear stuff and when they get there gravid spot, my scissortails are fine though, thats what i dont get and my other mollies are fine the males, is it best i get a new bigger tank and set that up so theres more room? because i dont no if overstocking is the problem too

agabr123

if you're going to have fry (which you probably will if you've got males and females) then i'd recommend getting another tank anyways, as they need to be separated unless it's a very heavily planted tank.

how many fish and what kind do you have exactly? knowing specific info will help members figure out what size tank would be most appropriate

sam1989

i do have too many fish but we are waiting for a bigger tank that my husband always wanted, he kept buying fish so it is overcrowded, its a small tank the one he wanted they didnt have in stock at the time and its pricey too, but my mum got it us for a wedding present, its 3 foot matching stand, the one he wants is Fluval Roma 240, atleast that way we will have plenty of room and our current tank is a spare for the babies, i have 2 scissor tails, a plec(hes got odd pale colours on him) 4 mollies, a flying fox and a male betta, and 2 tetras dont no what they are though, we had issues with our water too, thought id mention, we are in a flat at the moment and our water is so much different than parents who are in houses, ours has quite a metal taste, is that the problem do u think too? my daughter was bad from drinking it, it upset her stomach, they have replaced all the pipes now, thats why mum told me to start a fresh but would u advise that?

agabr123

yeah you'll need a bigger tank. for the flying fox your tank needs to be at least 60cm/24inches long. a picture of the pleco and tetras would help identify them if you can get one. for the tetras, when you have a big enough tank i'd suggest getting four more, they really need to be in schools of at least six to be happy. the fluval roma 240 should be enough room for everyone you have, but that could depend on what kind of pleco you have.

the betta will more than likely need his own tank. a few people have had some degree of success with males in communities, but IMO it's not a good enough chance to risk it. tetras are fin nippers and the bettas fins will be very tempting to them, and there will probably be issues with aggression from the betta as well. you could very easily keep your betta in the tank you have now by himself, and if you still want to use it for fry then you could possibly get a divider, but i'd be careful when picking one to make sure the holes (if there are any) are too small for the fry to be able to get through to his side.

in terms of your water....if you've had problems with it in terms of illness then i'd be cautious using it, but a good water conditioner like Prime or Stress Coat + detoxifies ammonia and removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. if it's anything other than that then i would go for RO water if you can

sam1989

hi, my mum come up last night,our fish were getting worse, so she said she was doing a big water change and syphoning the gravel alot, whereas we havnt done it too much because of the pregnant mollies, it was discusting!!!!!!! we had pebbles in there and a big ball plant incase of babies, and we didnt realise that fish had got stuck in there and died, no wonder why my tank was having problems!!! there was a few neons under the gravel, so my mum and husband took alot of gravel out, took the big plant out and put minimum plants back in, under the gravel was black, it was awful, so the gravel cleaner couldnt get that far down as there was lots of gravel, we put the fishies in there water in a spare tank with a heater whilst we sorted ours out, we didnt touch the filter, our water this morning is crystal clear and the fish are so happy, the mollies are actually showing there fins!! the fighter has bin out showing his too, im hoping that this has solved the problem, im testing the water later today so i no the results, il take some pictures later