Newbie - Postmortem

[stubby_knight]

I just started my tank, 11 days ago. The first day I just ran the filter and bubble thing all day just to let the water stabilize.

The second day I added 2 fish: a black molly and a dalmatian molly. The black molly was very shy and would hide behind things, but the dalmatian molly was not shy, would proudly show off his rather larger dorsal fin, and aggressive during feeding time.

After 7 days both were doing great, so I added 2 neon tetras, 1 silver dollar, and 1 plecostomus. All the fish were doing well. The temperature was hovering between 74-76F. No problems. The dalmatian molly was also the largest of all these fish and appeared to be by far the healthiest.

Day 10, I get up in the am. All the fish are fine. Come home and my dalmatian molly looks dead. His body is wrapped around the filter intake. I turn the filter off and he is still breathing. I note the water temperature is almost 80F. The other fish seem fine. But I can't run the filter because he gets drawn right back into the intake. So I remove some of the aquarium water and put into a bowl, then I put him in the bowl to isolate him from the other fish.

He did not make it through the night.

Day 11. I did a postmortem on my molly. His death appears to be trauma induced.

Questions
What could cause trauma to a little fish?

Also where can I buy a water test kit? I don't want the pater strips I want the liquid chemicals and primarily want to test for PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates, maybe water hardness.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[fort384]

Welcome to AA!

Take a look at this article, it should help explain things:
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

For a test kit, search google shopping or check petsmart for the API Freshwater Master kit. It has everything you need to get started.

[stubby_knight]

fort384

Thank you for the advice. I already read a similar article to that one. The only difference being I thought one had no choice but to use "live fish" to cycle the tank. This article suggests that one can use chemicals to do this. My question to its author is where does the bacteria come from? I thought only by using live fish does bacteria enter into the tank from the colon/stool of the fish.

I took a sample of water to the pet store and they tested it. The ammonia level was elevated but not in the stress range (although this is 24 hours after my fish had his fish attack). They said it was 0.5 but don't know what those units are!

So I won't be adding any more fish for now.

I will be getting a test kit

I will be doing a PWC

PS. I miss identified one fish, my silver dollar is not a silver dollar but is a gold skirted tetra.

[fort384]

The stress range is really anything above 0 ppm. 0.5 is enough to cause issues.

Bacteria are present everywhere in insignificant quantity. Once there is a food source and conditions are right they multiply rapidly.

[Andrew McFadden]

to AA!

[stubby_knight]

Hi all

It is day 14 of getting my tank started. No more fish have died and I have done 2 PWC (50%). I purchased an API freshwater master test kit. The ammonia levels still are too high. It was 1.0 this morning and so I did PWC. Lastly the ph is 7.6 and is a bit higher than I'd like. Can I use any source of acid to lower the ph or stick to the products recommended in the test kit?

So is this going to be an ongoing thing for 1-3 months until the tank is cycled?

The man at the pet store says to change the filter early for a new tank, but it seems to me the opposite ought to be true.

Isn't there a way to buy aquarium bacteria? Like buying yeast for making bread?

Does adding plants help with bacteria?

[fort384]

Adding plants won't help with bacteria but they do help with ammonia as they use it as a source of Nitrogen.

I wouldn't try to adjust the pH. Stable is more important and you can keep most fish at 7.6 without any issues.