New fish keep dying.

[anna11]

So I haven't had any New fish for 6 months. I have a pleco, and a ghost cat from about a year ago. I got some various mollies, and snails, and ghost shrimp. 5 mollies have died in 3 days. 2 snails have been eaten. I have kept fish for 10 years I cannot figure out the problem. I have a 55 gallon tank. My water is 0 amonia, 0 nitrites, 20 nitrates. Only problem I can think of is my high ph I have had for years. Which is 8.4. Now what is going on with the mollies. And right now I can't figure out who is eating the snails. Temp is always at 76.

 

[skradtim]

So I haven't had any New fish for 6 months. I have a pleco, and a ghost cat from about a year ago. I got some various mollies, and snails, and ghost shrimp. 5 mollies have died in 3 days. 2 snails have been eaten. I have kept fish for 10 years I cannot figure out the problem. I have a 55 gallon tank. My water is 0 amonia, 0 nitrites, 20 nitrates. Only problem I can think of is my high ph I have had for years. Which is 8.4. Now what is going on with the mollies. And right now I can't figure out who is eating the snails. Temp is always at 76.

That PH is a bit high for fresh water fish but I would think they could still survive in it. Are you sure the snail are not escaping? Do you quarantine new fish before adding to the general population? I find most new fish I get come with ick. Look for it's symptoms like white spots about the size or a grain of sand. Get some PH down, it is very inexpensive. If you have any friends into aquariums, horticulture, or pools, they would probably give you enough to fix it for free. I know I would for how low the price is and how little you need.

 

[Coursair]

Don't mess with Ph unless you plan to breed. Ph Down will just bounce your ph, it's NOT a long term fix. You can add driftwood. Peat (to you filter), or Indian Almond Leaves if you want a gradual change.

Did you test the water at the store they came from ? if it's a lot different than your home tank, you will need to do very slow trip acclimation, so that any new fish do not get overly shocked from the change.

You might check TDS as well ?

Mollies typically like hard water.

 

[anna11]

No snails are not escaping they are being eaten. As in insides are shredded. I have battled ph for years ph down does not work I have used bottles upon bottles and quit a few years ago.
I didn't think about testing the water they came in duh.

 

[anna11]

The fish are healthy no signs of ick or anything like that.

 

[Sambo7475]

No snails are not escaping they are being eaten. As in insides are shredded. I have battled ph for years ph down does not work I have used bottles upon bottles and quit a few years ago.
I didn't think about testing the water they came in duh.

Ask for a sample of water without fish in it to test as the fish drastically can change the chemistry in a transport bag over a small amount of time.

 

[anna11]

I have also discovered in the last week the water stinks. And the light went dimmer until it craped out. More fish died. I can't figure this out. So obviously we are ordering a new hood I'm thinking of completely redoing the tank I'm obviously missing something. What frusterates me more is the fact that I am not a novice I have kept fish for 10 years had at one time 5 tanks going with no issues.

 

[54seaweed]

are you using a canister how often do you clean it , if your water stinks like rotten eggs or worse the tank is most likely going septic , a 50% water change along with a good cleaning of canister or filters (with tank water . your gravel most likely needs a good cleaning as it hold 90% of the waist in your tank , and your most likely seeing bubbles coming from the gravel, that would be all the built up gasses escaping and yes they stink
I went through something similar but only in a saltwater tank fish were dropping like flies , when I cleaned the canister it looked like mud pudding just as thick too . now I clean bi-weekly to prevent this ever happening again.

 

[Subha92]

So I haven't had any New fish for 6 months. I have a pleco, and a ghost cat from about a year ago. I got some various mollies, and snails, and ghost shrimp. 5 mollies have died in 3 days. 2 snails have been eaten. I have kept fish for 10 years I cannot figure out the problem. I have a 55 gallon tank. My water is 0 amonia, 0 nitrites, 20 nitrates. Only problem I can think of is my high ph I have had for years. Which is 8.4. Now what is going on with the mollies. And right now I can't figure out who is eating the snails. Temp is always at 76.

Mollies are quite sensitive fish when they are introduced newly to a tank. Do an immediate water change of near about 50%. Add a heater and maintain the temperature at 28℃. Try to add some cave of hiding places for your Molly. Clean you substrate whatever you have. Don't mess with your filter if it is not more than 2 years. Even don't mess with pH. If you are buying fishes from your local fish stores, then the pH will be as similar as yours. So don't be worried about the pH. Further you can add some drift wood to lower your pH, if you have some doubt.

Feed them daily, with live foods. You may offer them some slices of Cucumber. They will enjoy the treat. The Snail and Ghost shrimp are scavengers as you same as your Molly. So you have to feed them regularly to avoid starvation, because there will be a constant competition between Snail and Molly for the algea in your Aquarium.

 

[anna11]

I did a 50% change last week I have 2 hob filters. I think the light has been going out for a while. They get plenty of food I'm not getting much from the gravel when I vacuum. I check the water ever few days for amonia, nitrates, nitrites etc. I use water conditioner when I change my heater is keeping at 78.

 

[nirbhao]

Your ghost shrimp is eating your snails.

 

[anna11]

Your ghost shrimp is eating your snails.

No I just got those. The snails died before that.

 

[anna11]

Well I feel stupid. I just cleaned the filters. Vacuumed the gravel and checked for any dead fish etc. I figured out the smell is not from the water or filters. The snails were pooping in the corners on top above the water line and that was the smell. I cleaned the lid and above the water line and the smell is gone. Thank goodness. Now just to lower my nitrates a little.

 

[Fresh2o]

What kind of snails do you have? Snails generally do not defecate above the water line. Mystery snails will lay their eggs above the water line, though.
If the nitrates are at 20 ppm, then I would not be too concerned about it.

 

[skradtim]

I forgot to add, I recommend using a reputable brand when using a PH meter. The good ones are not cheap. I also like the idea of drift wood better for regulating ph. I just use tap water which I dechlorinate with aquasafe by tetra. If I had more space I would just leave the buckets out overnight to dechlorinate. Then I add easybalance by tetra. Says it balances PH and reduces water chances. I've read mixed reviews about it. I'll probably find a cheaper alternative eventually but it seems to help reduce water changes. I don't even bother checking my ph anymore since I only had a single catfish and neon tetra die within the last year.

 

[nirbhao]

Snails generally do not defecate above the water line.

My mysteries do. Hopefully that doesn't mean something is wrong. Theirs falls into the water after they go, though.

 

[ToxicFly]

Hi Anna!
Couple questions, which I might have missed the answers. What kind of snails are we dealing with and what size tank?
Also a little confused by the first couple lines of your post ( might be because it's 3am). Is all the fauna at least 6 months and your tank just crashed?
I agree with Coursair. pH doesn't matter so much unless you're breeding. As long as it's stable you should be fine.

 

[Coursair]

Mollies like hard water. So the ph should not be the culprit. When you are at the store ask them to test their tank water so you can see the results. 8 would be better than 8.5ph for the Ghost cat, but yours is still alive.

Using a QT tank for new fish is always a good idea.

What species is your Ghost Cat ?

Can we see a pic ? Of the whole tank and then the fish ?

Are you testing with strips or a liquid test kit ? The API Master test kit is the most accurate that is still affordable.

What size tank ?
What is your water change & maintenance schedule ?
Are you changing out filter media or rinsing it in tank water ?

Walk us thru if you would, maybe we can spot something.

Snails trying to leave is often a water quality issue. Not always, but...

I would not add any fish until you get a handle on at least possible causes of death.

Hopefully everything will be back on track and no more losses.

 

[anna11]

Snails are not leaving. That was someone else commenting. I have a 55 gallon bow front set up for 7 years I have 2 hob filters. I use the master kit. I gravel vac every couple days and I barely get anything. Filters I just completely put New in a couple days ago. Yes I rinse them in old water. I discovered my light was going bad. I just replaced with full spectrum led. 2 days ago. Water change every week in the winter it evaporates a lot so I add instead of changing once in a while. I will get a picture.

 

[Coursair]

I forgot to add, I recommend using a reputable brand when using a PH meter. The good ones are not cheap. I also like the idea of drift wood better for regulating ph. I just use tap water which I dechlorinate with aquasafe by tetra. If I had more space I would just leave the buckets out overnight to dechlorinate. Then I add easybalance by tetra. Says it balances PH and reduces water chances. I've read mixed reviews about it. I'll probably find a cheaper alternative eventually but it seems to help reduce water changes. I don't even bother checking my ph anymore since I only had a single catfish and neon tetra die within the last year.

Leaving buckets out overnight only works for Chlorine. My area uses Chloramines which will not off gas like reg Chlorine. Just be careful offering that advice...


Prime is the cheapest and best water conditioner as it only needs 2 drops per Gallon and can be dosed up to 5x recommended strength in emergencies. It also binds heavy metals. My club only uses Prime or the powdered super concentrated Safe for doing ponds or really big tanks. People can use whatever they like, but a majority of us use Prime for good reasons. So if money is tight, consider Prime.

I have planted tanks, so water changes are the best thing for them.

Ok, I'm not the OP, I just wanted to point out a couple of things.

Here is a pretty fish to look at as I run away [emoji6]