FelicityGraham
- #1
Hi, long time lurker on fishlore, first time poster. I have a 40 gal established and planted freshwater tank (long cycled). I've had it for about a year or so. I do water tests with API liquid test kits, and have also had my water tested by local stores. I've had ich in my first month, cleared it without chemical, it never came back and learned to never buy fish from big name stores. I have also never had a new fish die within a month of it in my tank.
I have CURRENTLY (most of the fish I will list were not all in the tank at the same time, I just got more fish to replace some deaths and heart aches) have 2 corys, 3 australian rainbow fish, 1 sailfin pleco about 4 inches, 1 Raphael catfish about 3 inches, 1 dojo loach about 3 inches, 3 dalmatian platys, 1 dalmatian molly, 1 gold molly, 1 gold dust molly, 3 cherry barbs, 1 zig zag eel, 3 glass cats, 3 amano shrimp, 8 ghost shrimp, and tiny butterfly loach.
I'm aware that almost all of my fish will get significantly bigger, but for right now, they are still very small. Again, I'm planning on getting a much larger tank in the near future, I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment so I would rather save the stress of moving fish into a new tank for only 2 months.
Nitrates/nitrites/ammonia are all 0
pH is about 7.4, and stable
KH is about 100 ppm and stable
Temp is 80°F
Bubble stone going along back half of the tank
Weekly 25% water change
Top Fin filter (I know, I'm going to get a better filter when I get a bigger tank in the next few months). I'm not sure the model, but it came with my tank. I also have added sponge at the filter intake to catch any bits from stray plants to prevent clogging.
I also do a gravel vac every week.
Anyway, I've been having this reoccurring problem, but the last 2 days have gotten significantly worse. Going back from the beginning, I started off with 6 mollies and 6 platys, the 2 corys, the sailfin pleco, and a betta. I had 2 white mollies that lived very healthy until last night. The other 4 mollies I had at the time were black, and ended up all getting sick and dying, with perfect water parameters and being properly fed fresh veggies and flakes- no overfeeding. Only the black mollies died that fast, symptoms that led up to death were lethargy and thinning. The platys however, lived very healthy, up until about 3 months ago, and they started dying off one by one, with the same symptoms. Lethargy, hiding, and very erratic movement at rare times. After a few days, would die. I had a farlowella catfish for about 7 months, who lived very healthy, and then without symptoms, died.
But now recently, I've had multiple fish die over the last 2 days. I had an elephant nose about 6 months who lived very healthy, and also without any symptoms, died 2 days ago. (I've heard they are great at showing if the water is bad because they are so sensitive). My 2 white mollies thay I've had since day one both got swollen mouths, get lethargic, and die over the course of 6 hours yesterday. I've read that's a symptom of ammonia poisoning. Ill post a pic of one molly I took before she died. I lost 1 dalmatian platy and 1 dalmatian molly overnight, as well as my betta. These last fish I've listed were VERY healthy, friendly fish, that showed no signs of illness. Every time I lose a fish, I check the water parameters and all nitrites and ammonia read 0. I'm terrified, I'm aware I'm close to over stocking, but again, I keep up on my water changes and gravel vacs. I wash my hands thoroughly with soap, and then thoroughly rinse again to make sure there is no soap left on my skin. Nothing has changed with my tank the last few months to inhibit such an epidemic. I watch my fish for hours, I adore them, and I catch any strange behaviour or appearances, and I do not have bullies or nippers in my tank. For right now, everyone is healthy, but the ones that have died in the last 2 days looked healthy too. I'll post pictures of some of my other fish as well, just to show.
What is going on with my tank?
I have CURRENTLY (most of the fish I will list were not all in the tank at the same time, I just got more fish to replace some deaths and heart aches) have 2 corys, 3 australian rainbow fish, 1 sailfin pleco about 4 inches, 1 Raphael catfish about 3 inches, 1 dojo loach about 3 inches, 3 dalmatian platys, 1 dalmatian molly, 1 gold molly, 1 gold dust molly, 3 cherry barbs, 1 zig zag eel, 3 glass cats, 3 amano shrimp, 8 ghost shrimp, and tiny butterfly loach.
I'm aware that almost all of my fish will get significantly bigger, but for right now, they are still very small. Again, I'm planning on getting a much larger tank in the near future, I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment so I would rather save the stress of moving fish into a new tank for only 2 months.
Nitrates/nitrites/ammonia are all 0
pH is about 7.4, and stable
KH is about 100 ppm and stable
Temp is 80°F
Bubble stone going along back half of the tank
Weekly 25% water change
Top Fin filter (I know, I'm going to get a better filter when I get a bigger tank in the next few months). I'm not sure the model, but it came with my tank. I also have added sponge at the filter intake to catch any bits from stray plants to prevent clogging.
I also do a gravel vac every week.
Anyway, I've been having this reoccurring problem, but the last 2 days have gotten significantly worse. Going back from the beginning, I started off with 6 mollies and 6 platys, the 2 corys, the sailfin pleco, and a betta. I had 2 white mollies that lived very healthy until last night. The other 4 mollies I had at the time were black, and ended up all getting sick and dying, with perfect water parameters and being properly fed fresh veggies and flakes- no overfeeding. Only the black mollies died that fast, symptoms that led up to death were lethargy and thinning. The platys however, lived very healthy, up until about 3 months ago, and they started dying off one by one, with the same symptoms. Lethargy, hiding, and very erratic movement at rare times. After a few days, would die. I had a farlowella catfish for about 7 months, who lived very healthy, and then without symptoms, died.
But now recently, I've had multiple fish die over the last 2 days. I had an elephant nose about 6 months who lived very healthy, and also without any symptoms, died 2 days ago. (I've heard they are great at showing if the water is bad because they are so sensitive). My 2 white mollies thay I've had since day one both got swollen mouths, get lethargic, and die over the course of 6 hours yesterday. I've read that's a symptom of ammonia poisoning. Ill post a pic of one molly I took before she died. I lost 1 dalmatian platy and 1 dalmatian molly overnight, as well as my betta. These last fish I've listed were VERY healthy, friendly fish, that showed no signs of illness. Every time I lose a fish, I check the water parameters and all nitrites and ammonia read 0. I'm terrified, I'm aware I'm close to over stocking, but again, I keep up on my water changes and gravel vacs. I wash my hands thoroughly with soap, and then thoroughly rinse again to make sure there is no soap left on my skin. Nothing has changed with my tank the last few months to inhibit such an epidemic. I watch my fish for hours, I adore them, and I catch any strange behaviour or appearances, and I do not have bullies or nippers in my tank. For right now, everyone is healthy, but the ones that have died in the last 2 days looked healthy too. I'll post pictures of some of my other fish as well, just to show.
What is going on with my tank?
