Something killing my mollies & platys

[mslelyse]

Hi

Something is up with my fish. I have 2 adult black mollies, 1 male and 1 female. An adult orange platy, female and her three surprise babies who are about 2 months old. And I had a teenage black molly but she died day before yesterday after a few 2 days - she had a thick white looking poop hanging from her both days before she died.

I already know my 5gal tank is very overstocked, I vacuum gravel and do a 30% water change weekly. I also change out Ammo-Carb every two weeks. My intention is to find homes for the baby platys. The ammonia level was low-0ppm when I tested today.

My other fish also had some stringy white poop so I suspected constipation and suspended feeding and treated the tank with Lifeguard in case parasite were the culprit.

That was 3 days ago. I fed the fish some dried blood worms yesterday but nothing else since.

As of this morning my female molly is laying on the bottom of the tank near death, my male molly seems to being having a little trouble swimming and two of my orange platys have red gills and black areas on/in their abdomen.

What could be making them I'll and what do I do?

I tested the water just now:
Ammonia: between 0ppm-.25ppm
Ph: 6
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm (high I know)

Tank is a fluval spec - 5gal
Water temp: 74

Water changed and vaccines day before yesterday. Tank is well established, no new items added. As mention have been dosing with lifeguard as directed on package.

Here is a pic of the discoloration on my young platys:


Please help!

 

[Delapool]

Hi

Something is up with my fish. I have 2 adult black mollies, 1 male and 1 female. An adult orange platy, female and her three surprise babies who are about 2 months old. And I had a teenage black molly but she died day before yesterday after a few 2 days - she had a thick white looking poop hanging from her both days before she died.

I already know my 5gal tank is very overstocked, I vacuum gravel and do a 30% water change weekly. I also change out Ammo-Carb every two weeks. My intention is to find homes for the baby platys. The ammonia level was low-0ppm when I tested today.

My other fish also had some stringy white poop so I suspected constipation and suspended feeding and treated the tank with Lifeguard in case parasite were the culprit.

That was 3 days ago. I fed the fish some dried blood worms yesterday but nothing else since.

As of this morning my female molly is laying on the bottom of the tank near death, my male molly seems to being having a little trouble swimming and two of my orange platys have red gills and black areas on/in their abdomen.

What could be making them I'll and what do I do?

I tested the water just now:
Ammonia: between 0ppm-.25ppm
Ph: 6
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm (high I know)

Tank is a fluval spec - 5gal
Water temp: 74

Water changed and vaccines day before yesterday. Tank is well established, no new items added. As mention have been dosing with lifeguard as directed on package.

Here is a pic of the discoloration on my young platys:
View attachment 230726

Please help!

Hi there, bear with as a few questions but hoping your fish are improving

I would agree that tank size is a bit small. The mollies and platies will do better in a school and a larger tank if possible will help there.

Can I ask if you are using strips or liquid based tests for water specs? Ph is low at 6, both for beneficial bacteria and for mollies / platies. A ph of 7 and a bit would suit the live-bearers better and above 6.5 will help the bacteria. Below 6 the bacteria stall. Have you tested your tap water that you use for water changes (let stand for 24hrs to degas, etc to get an accurate ph reading)? Also what sort of filter do you have and what sort of media in the filter?

The black marks and red gills suggest recovering from ammonia burns. This could have happened a few days before. However this should not have happened at your low ph where ammonia tends to occur as the less harmful ammonium. Also the ammonia reading is too low (assuming accurate test kit type). How often do you test and does it ever spike around changing the ammo-carbon?

It could be some other chemical burn - had anything been added to the tank or have you cleaned any ornaments? Nitrate is ok, your getting fry.

What sort of feeding do they get? It does sound like constipation in which case I'm wondering if they are getting enough greens in their diet. Do you have any plants as well? Are they generally eating well and not losing weight or have sunken bellies?


Edit - if not parasites, then I'm also wondering if the meds may be knocking them around? If that would match on timing, if try a water change .