Mollies keep dying

[Matthew King]

Hi there,

I have a newly established 25L aquarium. I started it off just before Christmas and added two mollies (one male, one female) after a few days. By the end of Jan, the readings were all looking right, i.e. 0g ammonia, 0g nitrite, 0g nitrate and a pH of 8.0 (same as shop I bought from). These readings have remained consistently zero (with proper measuring kit) over the last month and a half and I do weekly water changes and diligently hoover gravel. The temperature has always been around 26 degrees Celsius.

Ironically, it was just after the readings reached zero that the male died. I immediately cleaned the tank and performed a water change before adding a replacement male, but he died within hours, after being very listless as soon as he entered the tank. The next one lasted about a week. I have just added one more and it doesn't look like he's going to last the night either...yet the original female is and has always been in rude health (but seems painfully lonely poor thing!).

I'd obviously be wasting my time adding anymore replacements, but can't bear to see my lone female so alone! What an earth can be wrong with the tank? I was assured it was really easy to keep mollies if I followed the simple rules, which I have!

Please help!

Matt

 

[Folobop]

Is your water treated? How long are you keeping the bag in the tank with the new fish in it? What type of mollies?

 

[Tifftastic]

If you're nitrates are reading zero your tank isn't actually cycled and mollies can be sensitive to this. When you cleaned the tank out, how did you do? Just a partial water change or full overhaul? I would highly recommend doing some research on cycling before you add more fish. This is really important. Additionally, don't worry about the female being alone, new studies have suggested that live bearers don't actually require being in groups and in fact some of them don't like being in groups.

 

[henningc]

That is the problem with pet store mollys. Most are sunken or wagging. This is because they are held in huge holding tanks and are packed in way too tight.

I'd try getting a female platy and see if she lasts.