farmchick Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Hey all Can someone please give me some insight as to why all my little wee mollie kids died? I managed to catch about 25 of them before everyone else in the community tank had them for brekkie. I put them in the breeding net while setting up the wee nursery. All were happy and looking forward to moving into the playground. I had them in their own tank for about 2 weeks and all were eating, drinking (!) and generally being merry but a few days ago now, I got up in the morning and all of their lifeless wee bods were on the baottom of them tank. What could have killed the whole tank? Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Aww, how sad! The sudden death could have been a result of a few different things. Have you tested the water? Young fish are sensitive to too few and too frequent water changes (too many with untreated water, that is) but you might also want to keep an eye on the heater and perhaps check the filtration for the tank, if any. Be diligent and figure out what went wrong so you can avoid it next time. By the way, mollies really enjoy salty water - even more than the standard livebearer. They can even survive in brackish water, which results in less bacteria (so I've heard). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 We need a few more details here Farmchic.. like.. Was it a newly set up tank you put them in.. or one with established water and filter..? What have you been feeding.. and how often..? What size tank..? Temp of tank..? What water changes have you done..? Read what you said... but did they "all" die at once overnight...? Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Hey guys, thanks Was it a newly set up tank you put them in.. or one with established water and filter..? ............... I siphoned some of the water from the big tank to fill the wee bubs house rather than new stuff. What have you been feeding.. and how often..?........... They were getting the livebearer liquid fry food 4 times a day What size tank..? .......... Just a wee 20l one with filter etc Temp of tank..? ............ 26 What water changes have you done..? About 10% every couple of days Read what you said... but did they "all" die at once overnight...? Yeh, all of them. Like a doting mum, I got up and went straight to the tank to find them all dead on the gravel. what did I do wrong?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Water.. Food.. Tank size.. Temp.. all seem good... plus water changes.. provided you took care about the temp of the water being added. Fry are more sensitive than adult fish. At two weeks they really should be onto more solid food though. Bit of a mystery.. but for something to kill them "all" off in one hit.. must have been something sudden.. like shock/stress.. or a poisoning of some sort.. maybe really high ammonia.. but real hard to pinpoint. Were they hollow bellied.. or did they look full or swollen..? Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 a wee bit pot bellied come to think of it. i checked with all other 2 legged beasts in the house and they all swear that nothing was sprayed near the tank or anything along those lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 When you say "pot bellied.." I presume you mean swollen.. is that right..? You said: I had them in their own tank for about 2 weeks and all were eating So unless something "real" drastic happened.. (which it seems to have done).. the tank and the feeding was ok.. but try getting them onto something more substantial than Liquifry before two weeks next time. So.. What you have to do now is sit back and think of every detail that you did with the tank, between the night they were ok.. and the morning they wern't. Was anything added to the tank.. apart from Liquifry..? Did anything happen that might have stressed them out..? Something changed the conditions so rapidly that it took them all.. not just the odd one or two that may have starved.... but the whole lot.. so it seems that over the night and morning something occured that you have to think hard about. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 thanks Bill I think next time I will set the tank up in the bedroom so I can lull the babes to sleep with the sound of snoring. :oops: Hopefully it should keep them out of harms way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Sounds good Farmchic. Normal rule of thumb is to move fry into "small" quarters, so that they are not constantly hunting for food.. then as they grow.. move them onto larger quarters. Mollies and salt.. (see above).. good idea to add a bit to keep them happy. Newly hatch Brine Shrimp would go down well.. and they can take it from day one.. no sweat.. then Microworms after around a week.. and gradually weed them onto crushed flake foods and things should be sweet. Mollies are also "grazers".. so the like a bit of fresh alge to nibble on. Real sorry about your losses btw. Take care now, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 hey BlueandKim Can I still put salt in a 3ft, 156 ltr community tank? At present it is housing: Gouramis (dwarf, golden and 3 spot) Mollies pleco bristles Kribs black widow tetras How much do I put in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I would say that the water is polluted with the Liquid Fry food. Feeding 4 times a day and doing 10% waterchange every two days is not enough in a fry tank . JMO. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Just got back to see this thread. Agree with discusguru, water probably was too polluted and your fry passed from ammonia shock. Water testing will confirm this. You should be doing daily water changes to avoid this from happening with aged water or water from your big tank - making sure that temps are the same in both. As for salt, all those fish will be fine with a BIT of salt but don't go over one rounded tablespoon per 20 litres (as per directed on the epsom salt pack you can buy from your LFS) unless you have a tank for mollies and other brackish fish only. There are a few fish out there that are easily killed by salt and that includes elephant noses (which you don't have, just an FYI). But salt isn't your priority right now. Get your fry water tested asap and find out what happened! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I've just read this thread and after reading your initial post my first thoughts were toxic poisoning. Then after your answers to Bill's quistions that confirmed it. 1 of the 3 main culprits ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, but probably the first Why- your filter was not established = no way to brack down the ammonia to less harmful (at low level) cemicals. 4 feedings a day of a highly polutant food(also unnecessary for mollies, they will eat finely crushed flake just a tine bit at a time) all the above was going on in JUST 20lts of water = bad things happen fast, like fry dieing over night. I hope you don't think I'm being critical, I've been in this game a why'll and learnt my lessons my others mistakes or the hard way . I remember exactly what you have said happening to people breeding angel fish and guess what, angel fry have a very low tolerance to ammoinia. Ways to fix for the future, 20lt tank is fine as long as :- 1, have an extabished spare filter hidding somewere for just this event. 2, syphon uneaten food daily this will cut down the waste the filter has to deal with AND give the little guy and gals a small water change. I hope you have better luck next time having your fish breed is so cool and a great way of getting MORE FISH :bounce: :bounce: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted June 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 Hey everyone. Thanks for all the advice. The mollies seem to be very fat again already but I think I will leave them to it this time. It is a heavily planted community tank they are in so best left to nature I think. The kribs however are doing a marvelous job with their new family. I got home on Friday to see about 20 wee babies out for what seemed to be their first excursion round the tank. Heres hoping for more success next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 I have just (over 4 weeks) got a tank full of 30 + baby lemon tetras (see topic unexpected breeding lemon tetras), I have done nothing bar the weekly 30% water change, in a planted aquarium. my tank is suited for the acidic soft conditions apparently liked by these fish, but otherwise i have left them alone and watched and wahlah, babies. they fend for themselves hiding in the driftwood and eating flake like the rest of the adults... maybe somehing you could try. Just a thought, P.S I am newly back in the fish hobbie so not an expert or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyc Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Could have also been a nitrite spike? With over feeding? test for levels and do larger water changes. Cut back on feeding, 3 times a day is sufficient. Do you have any scavengers in the bottom of the tank? they help clean up the rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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