Two recent fish deaths

[FishKitty]

Okay, this is long, but I want to try to be as thorough as possible so that you all have the information you need. So, stay with me.

I have had this tank set up for a little over a month now. It is 29 gallons, with a filter rated for 30-55 gallon tank use, and a heater keeping the water at a consistent 77 degrees. Currently in the tank I have 1 male dwarf gourami, 4 male cobra guppies, and a pleco.

My home uses well water, which I then add dechlorinator to and also a bacterial supplement to help with the cycling. It did cycle before I added fish, but I have noticed that now if I go longer than 2 days without changing a bit of the water (maybe 25%-40%) the ammonia level begins to rise to about .25 or even between .25 and .50. Once I change the water, add more dechlorinator and bacteria, the levels are better. It has not leveled off at 0 for an extended period of time though. Obviously something is wrong with the cycling, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

Now,I must also add that I had 3 mollies in the tank. But I think they started to get territorial, as you will see, so they have been removed.

I had 1 male dwarf gourami and 1 male cobra guppy die. Both of the fish that have died did appear slightly lethargic from the time that I added them to the tank. They moved around less than the other fish, but seemed healthy other than that. I assumed this was due to their getting used to the new environment.

A few days ago, I noticed one of my guppies had a nipped tail fin, seemed very weak, and was floating vertically, head up, towards the top of the tank. He did not move his tail fin at all. When he would start to sink he would jerk himself back up, but then he'd fall again. I moved him into a quarantine tank and added some Fish First Aid to the water, which is supposed to help with bacterial infections and injured fins. He seemed to perk up, but then a few hours later he died.

Several days later, I found one of my gouramis acting very similarly. I found him floating vertically, head up, in one of the plants in the back of the tank. His fins appeared slightly ripped. He barely fought when I netted him out. Again, I put him in the quarantine tank, he seemed to do better, but then he started swimming in circles, then he ended up laying on his side at the bottom of the tank, panting. After a few more hours with no improvement and watching him struggle, I decided at that point it would be better for him to be euthanized.

I noticed at that point that the mollies were being very aggressive towards the remaining gourami. I believe there were some definite territorial issues. When I got the gouramis, I was more concerned about whether or not they would be aggressive towards the guppies, but I actually found them to be very peaceful and they all but ignored the other fish. I hadn't expected the mollies to go on the offensive. So, in the interest of the remaining gourami, I removed the mollies from the community tank.

I don't know if the nipped fins were inflicted by the aggressors or caused by stress And because of the issues I am having with the levels in the water, I don't know what to attribute the deaths to, or even if the deaths were caused by disease that they got before I bought them. As I write this, though, I'm starting to think more and more that maybe the problem was fighting. But, because both deaths are so similar, I don't want to ignore the problem. I'm sure an experienced aquarist would have seen this before.

Please let me know your thoughts!

 

[Matt68005]

Gonna need a little more info on their symptoms, do they seem bloated? White stringy poo? Body lesions? (Possibly...) Sitting at the bottom? It sounds to me like a parasite called hexitima but without more info that's just a guess.

 

[FishKitty]

No bloating, normal feces, no lesions, no physical abnormalities. They all seem perfectly healthy, including the two prior to their behavior within the few hours before their deaths. The only thing I could say that seemed unusual was that they were less active than the others, but not so much so as to alarm me. They still ate happily and moved around the tank.

 

[Matt68005]

Meh that's fancy fish for you. If you think it's some kind of disease you van try "paraguard" when you get new fish to help them accimilate.

 

[evil Nick]

Ive been told by multiple stores guppies dont do well in tanks with ANY other fish due to their size and fins. Even in community tanks they will get nipped and stressed to death. Trust me I wanted some fancy gups in my tank but was repeatedly advised against it.

Are your mollies all males?

 

[FishKitty]

Ive been told by multiple stores guppies dont do well in tanks with ANY other fish due to their size and fins. Even in community tanks they will get nipped and stressed to death. Trust me I wanted some fancy gups in my tank but was repeatedly advised against it.

Are your mollies all males?

Yes, the mollies are male. All of the fish seem much more relaxed now that the mollies are separated though.

 

[evil Nick]

Yes, the mollies are male. All of the fish seem much more relaxed now that the mollies are separated though.

maybe being 3 male mollys they were just all trying to establish dominance in the tanks. With no females to occupy them they just harassed everything else.

I have one female molly and no issues with even my little fish with it.

Ive been told/read have usually 2 females for every male in a tank.

 

[trennamw]

Sounds like your tank never cycled, ammonia toxicity sounds like part of the issue.

Over in the getting started section, you'll get a lot of help with the cycling.

The bottled bacteria might not be doing anything to help the situation. Sometimes it doesn't.

The fin damage could be fin rot.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[trennamw]

When you say the tank cycled before you added fish, what do you mean?


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[FishKitty]

I ran the tank for a week using the bacteria supplement and regularly monitored the ammonia level. But I didn't monitor the nitrite/nitrate levels - that's my problem. I have been adding a few fish at a time since then, but the bacteria obviously hasn't built up enough to handle the waste.

Now that there are fewer fish in the tank, that will at least lower the ammonia production. I have purchased a small sponge filter and some prefilter sponges for the large filter to hopefully encourage the bacteria growth.

I'll definitely wait until I see that all of the levels are appropriate before adding any other fish!

Thanks for the input, everyone

 

[trennamw]

Ok so the tank never fully cycled. It'll be important that you go learn about "fish in cycling" and follow those instructions. Pet stores often refer to running the tank as cycling, but cycling means you have enough bacteria that you never see ammonia or nitrite anymore.

It's critical to check nitrite and nitrate, sounds like you know that now.

I'd strongly suggest you go over to getting started and ask for help with fish in cycling. This conversation happens a few times a week and people will be kind and helpful.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Matt68005]

Ive been told by multiple stores guppies dont do well in tanks with ANY other fish due to their size and fins. Even in community tanks they will get nipped and stressed to death. Trust me I wanted some fancy gups in my tank but was repeatedly advised against it.

Mollies can be agressive, guppies are just curious and "pester" other fish, i have my kids beta living with my guppies their just fine in fact he acts like them after awhile, LOL begging for food.
Mollies and guppies can be kept together, as can cardinal/neon tetras and guppies
Mollies are poecillia guppies are poecillia In fact they can mate and produce offspring (infertile)
I wouldn't say that they CANT be kept with any other fish, just that you need to deal with it on a Situational Level, like is this fish old and peaceful, then sure, is it a young alpha male mollie, then maybe not.