Im confused about my Mollys

[Shellii]

Hi im only new to this site, i have recently bout a 96L tank with live plants and have gotten some starter fish, mainly neon tetras and some black and orange mollys.....i find all my fish are acting normal apart from my orange mollys,

They are huddled down in the bottom corner of the tank right under the heater, they just hover there endlessly, the other fish come over to look every now an then but generally go off to do there own thing,

they have only been in the tank a day, nearly two.....maybe im just being overly worried....but i dont want any of them to die on me!!

if anyone knows more id much apreciate it

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA! For starters how long has the tank been set up and how many fish in total in there? Do you know your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? Can you tell if they are female and possibly pregnant?

 

[Shellii]

well iv had the tank over a week and the fish have only been in it 2 days, i have 13 fish in the tank, i dont have a testing kit yet, so i dont know any of the levels.......and im not sure if they are female or male.....they all kind of look the same to me
so i guess noone can really tell me whats wrong when i dont know anything

 

[mfdrookie516]

Well first off, youre going to have to cycle your tank. The tank has to go through a cycle to build up bacteria... Basically the bacteria that builds up is to take the ammonia built up my excess food and waste from the fish, and in a nutshell, get rid of it. Here are two articles, one on "fishless cycling", one on cycling with fish. Obviously, if you dont have anywhere to put your fish, youre going to have to go with the cycling with fish method. Basically, what youre going to have to do is keep your ammonia and nitrite down as low as possible. Youre going to have to do alot of partial water changes.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ady-have-fish-what-now-116287.html#post983258

Hope these help.

 

[meegosh]

I would really look into returning those fish or giving them to someone (even temporarily) with an established tank. You are going to have to do tons of water changes over the next few months if you have 13 fish in it. I did the same thing when I first started (cycled w/ fish) and I regretted every minute of it.

Along with the links mdfrookie provided, I would HIGHLY recommend you read this one first:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/24/1/Nitrogen-Cycle-/Page1.html

 

[Shellii]

ok thanks both of you for your help....ill look into fixing up my tank, although i did have my tank running with water in it for a full four days before putting any fish into it.....

 

[mfdrookie516]

well 4 days running without ammonia wouldnt do any good. the bacteria that has to grow feeds off ammonia. with no source of ammonia, no bacteria will be present. Basically, and thanks for the link meegosh, ill add that to my collection, the ammonia feed bacteria that convert the ammonia in to nitrites. Then another type of bacteria feed off the nitrites and make nitrates. So ammonia is basically converted to nitrate which as long as it doesnt get real high, is safe for fish. normally, a cycle will take anywhere between 3-6 weeks. it can be more, usually not less. With fish, because you have to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels so low, it will take longer, sometimes 2 months or more. I think most of us have been in your position before... Just hang in there, decide whether you want to keep the fish or either take them back or stick them in somebody elses tank for a few weeks, and get that tank cycled. We will be here to answer any questions you have through the process