I got some molly babies from the pet store yesterday. There were ten. Today, there are only four left. I am trying to figure out what's killing them and what I can do to keep the four remaining ones alive.
The babies seemed healthy last night, no symptoms. Ammonia is 0, Nitrites 0, nitrates I don't have a kit for yet, not sure of ph. The tank is a five gallon with a sponge filter. It was a betta tank before, and I have been using it on and off as a fry tank. There are eight platy fry (a week old) in it, and all are doing fine. There are also several dozen small snails. It has clumps of java moss. I've been keeping the temperature at 80, but last night I left the window open and it dropped to 76. Now it is back up to 80. I am thinking the temperature change stressed out the fish too much, its the only thing I can think may have happened. I have been feeding hikari first bites to all the babies. I've been feeding them about five times a day by dipping a toothpick in the food and putting it in the water, trying to be careful not to overfeed. I acclimated the baby mollies the same way I acclimate all fish- by floating the bag for fifteen minutes, letting in some water, waiting a little while longer, then removing the bag after letting the fish swim out. I last cleaned the tank on Wednesday, but didn't vacuum the gravel because I was afraid I'd vacuum up the fry with it.
I know sometimes fry just don't make it, but I really feel terrible. Any ideas on how to keep the remaining babies healthy?
The babies seemed healthy last night, no symptoms. Ammonia is 0, Nitrites 0, nitrates I don't have a kit for yet, not sure of ph. The tank is a five gallon with a sponge filter. It was a betta tank before, and I have been using it on and off as a fry tank. There are eight platy fry (a week old) in it, and all are doing fine. There are also several dozen small snails. It has clumps of java moss. I've been keeping the temperature at 80, but last night I left the window open and it dropped to 76. Now it is back up to 80. I am thinking the temperature change stressed out the fish too much, its the only thing I can think may have happened. I have been feeding hikari first bites to all the babies. I've been feeding them about five times a day by dipping a toothpick in the food and putting it in the water, trying to be careful not to overfeed. I acclimated the baby mollies the same way I acclimate all fish- by floating the bag for fifteen minutes, letting in some water, waiting a little while longer, then removing the bag after letting the fish swim out. I last cleaned the tank on Wednesday, but didn't vacuum the gravel because I was afraid I'd vacuum up the fry with it.
I know sometimes fry just don't make it, but I really feel terrible. Any ideas on how to keep the remaining babies healthy?
