Melanie

My fish knocked their filter down off of the wall to the bottom of the tank. Strangely enough, the fish seem to be more active with it sitting on the bottom! What level should a filter be set at in an aquarium?

I think that they got eaten. I haven't seen them in 24 hours.

I did wait a week before putting any fish in, but I'll wait another before I add any more fish. Everybody is looking fine. The guppies haven't gone back up to their favourite corner again, despite the lamp being on. I'm probably worried about nothing; I just don't understand most of these fish's behaviours. I have never seen fish hide so much when they have so much room to swim!

Oh and that's not to say I'm not going to grab the test kit for the water or bring some into Animates for a test. I should have done that when I bought the fish, but wasn't really thinking. Will my remaining molly be lonely? Does he need a mate? He actually seems happier without the other one in there, but I'm not a fish, so I don't know if he's actually happier or not.

Water temperature is 26. I did use chlorine remover. I did use Cycle. And nobody else has died, not to mention everyone is moving around normally now. Go figure why they were all in the corner above the filter. I did notice that they all left the corner as soon as I turned out the lamp that's on that side of the tank. Silly fish.

I'm enjoying it. I've never had such an elabourate tank set-up before. I've kept guppies and goldfish without a heater. I've got another issue now. All of the guppies have chosen a spot and I really wish they hadn't. They're up above the stupid filter, hanging out in one corner. I don't know what this means. They leave occasionally, but they always seem to return to that one spot. The molly looks happier and the tetras and the little minnows don't have any issues, but do fish really hang out in one spot for extended periods of time? :-?

Okay, so is there any point testing now when I know the levels will be high? Should I just change the water twice a week and wait? No more deaths, thank goodness, but some of my fish seem so lazy. Like they find a nice place to rest and have a nap. I've never had fish nap so much before!

I had the tank set up for a week before I added the fish. I put the "good" bacteria into the tank and let it run. Would animates have the Nitrite test?

He seems more active and less nappy now, so we will have to see. Maybe the addition of the guppies and minnows scared him, but would that be enough to kill his friend? He actually seems more active now that his little friend is dead. Would putting salt in the tank harm my other fish?

I call it a 10 gallon cos I'm from a backwards country that still uses gallons. Not sure what that is in litres. Couple guppies, couple tetras, and two of those little mountain minnows. Erm.. I actually don't know how to test those things. I found it outside of my house. But I didn't clean it with soap or anything, I'm a good fish momma. It's got to be fairly old though. Just put the fish in on Saturday. I have not changed the water yet.

No ideas? The remaining Molly seems depressed. Swims fine when he's out, but he's only coming out to feed and otherwise has camped out under the plant, not moving.

Dead leaves don't sound good for the aquarium water. We'll see what happens with mine. I thought it was something different when I bought it, something I'd had before. I have never seen anything like this one. So if it starts to die, I'll scoop it out.

Thanks for the advice. They're stuck in my tropical tank for now because I only have one tank. They seem extremely happy, are eating well and swimming well and getting along with everyone else, so I'm glad I got them. It will be interesting to watch them grow as I don't know what they will look like as adults.

I got two mollies from animates. One was always more active than the other, but they both sometimes seemed to take little "naps" at the bottom of the tank. But then they'd get up and be swimming around just fine for a long time until their next nap. Now, the less active one has died and I'm worried there's something wrong with the other. He looks fine; the only symptom is he has found a few nice places to nap--i.e. below where the filter is, below the plant, on top of the filter... and will stay there not looking particularly healthy for long periods of time. Any ideas?

Animates at Wellington went from 100+ guppies to like less than 20 in a matter of days and they don't even know what's wrong. I decided not to get guppies from there if that was their rate of death. Sorry I can't help, but if the same thing's happening to the pet store, maybe it isn't your fault.

The lady I bought from also had those minnows. I bet two sneaked in. Looks like I got some free fish. I hope they grow up to get along with everyone else. And thanks for the advice on the plant. The fish seem to like it but the first sign I see of it dying, out it will go.

Three of the six were females. I've had a closer look. The funny thing about these fish is that they have a straighter back than any baby guppy I've ever seen and the same red and blue colouring as the tetras. I wish it was easier to photograph them. But if they're guppies, they're guppies. They should look cool when they grow up!

Well, they have different colouring than any guppy I've ever seen. But I'll take your word for it.

I have had the following fish in my freshwater aquarium for two days: four neon tetras and two gold-coloured mollies. Today, I added six fancy guppies. When I bought the six fancy guppies, I noticed that three tiny baby guppies were also put into the bag. After putting all of the guppies into the tank, I sat watching. I noticed that there were not three baby fish, but five. I looked closely at some of the baby fish and saw a neon stripe on them. Are these tiny baby tetras, or are they very pretty guppy babies? I did not know that tetras had live babies. I thought they were egg layers. I have one picture of the strange baby fish. If you look just by the mouth of the molly on the right, there are the two baby fish. Does anyone know where they came from?