Hello

[Sarahharris22]

Hello everyone, my name is Sarah, I'm from Kansas City Missouri, I'm kinda new to having fish. I have a 20 gal fish tank that I started about a week ago, and I just added fish for the first time yesterday. I added 2 Mollies 1 black and 1 silver, 2 ghost shrimp and 1 Pleco. Sadly my black Molly fish died last night

 

[CraigRets]

Have you done a water change? Did it appear sick when you got it?

 

[Sarahharris22]

No I haven't done a water change yet, and yeah when I got it, all it would do was sit at the bottom of the tank and hide, and occasionally it would float to the top and just act life less

 

[CraigRets]

I would do a water change now, just to make sure whatever he got isn't still in the tank. And did you cycled yet?

 

[Sarahharris22]

Okay, what do you mean by cycled yet? Sorry new to all this

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Welcome to the forum.

What is happening is the ammonia your fish produce is building to toxic levels. You need to do a large water change ASAP.

Please read these articles on cycling.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...-to-Starting-a-Freshwater-Aquarium/Page1.html

 

[Sarahharris22]

I took my water to the pet store to have it checked and they said all my water levels are fine, and that with it being a new tank, that its normal for a few fish to die, and the guy was surprised that only one had passed

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I took my water to the pet store to have it checked and they said all my water levels are fine, and that with it being a new tank, that its normal for a few fish to die, and the guy was surprised that only one had passed

Don't listen to the pets store employees. It's not normal for fish to die during the cycle if you're doing it correctly. What did they use to test? Did they give you any results (numbers)?

 

[Sarahharris22]

The guy used the strips to test my water, no he didn't give me numbers just said myLevels were fine, I went ahead and did about a 50% water change. All my other fish are doing just fine

 

[Rodeo one]

Hi Sarah! Welcome to the land of information! 6 months ago I was in your exact position but luckily my husband found this forum for me & now I have 3 thriving aquariums.
After you ve read the articles, please get an API liquid test kit so you can know what your readings are. Then ask a lot of questions here. You ll be fine, you re just starting on a big learning curve. Best of luck, in no time you ll be on here helping newbies .