Hello! I am new to the forum here. Seems like a lovely place!
I have had fish off and on my entire life. We recently got a new tank for our daughter's 4th birthday and it has been a total disaster. I need some serious help, as I don't have any clue what to do other than what I have already tried.
The tank is 20 gallons, was set up for 1 week before any fish or snails were introduced.
The first stocking was: 5 fancy male guppies (I used to breed them!), 1 black molly, one silver molly, and one gold snail.
After the first stocking 1 guppy died the next day and the rest were fine for 3.5 weeks.
We then bought 1 more black molly and 1 more silver molly. Also one pineapple swordtail. I strongly believe that one of these mollies was 'diseased' as everything went downhill from here.
The day after the second stocking, two guppies died. One other guppy developed 'fuzz' on a side fin and one of the black mollies had white on its mouth.
I assumed this was a fungal issue and talked to the fish person at the store, they also thought it was a fungal issue. So I started treating with Pimafix, removed the carbon, etc.
Next day, a dead silver molly. The other silver molly also had developped white spots on its tail, top fin, and its eyes looked weird. Not pop-eye, but like there was a film on its eyes.
I continued treating with Pimafix, kept the water at a constant 78.
The silver molly with the spots started to look better. The guppy that had the fuzz fin also looked better, the fuzz was gone but the fin looked damaged. For 2 or 3 days they seemed to be improving.
THEN...pretty much everything died. I have no idea why. Conditions are all the same, I've tested my water and everything comes up within normal range. We now have only 2 guppies, the pineapple swordtail, and the snails.
The remaining guppies and swordtail NEVER showed any signs of disease or lethargy. However, my snails have gotten a bit sluggish over the last 24h. They are good, more active than average snails, so this worries me.
I did a partial water change today (about 25%) and am wondering what I should do next. I feel like the problem may not have been fungal (?) and am wondering why 3 of the fish have been entirely unaffected. All the other ones, at some point or another, even if they didn't look terrible, showed signs of weakness. The remaining ones are A-ok as far as I can tell.
The tank looks SO empty (was not fully stocked to begin with!) and my daughter wants new fish. Of course, I don't want to put them into a 'sick' environment - so I need some help as to what to do. I also would like some suggestions about what kind of fish to keep. In college I bred guppies for extra money but they are not particuarly hardy. I need hardy fish because my 4 year old doesn't quite understand them dying all the time and having to get new ones. I kind of want to stay away from mollies now! but I did think they were pretty easy fish to keep. Other than breeding guppies, I have always had 'mixed' tanks with one or two fish of each type. I know this is kind of 'un-kosher' but it worked for me.
The one fish I really love and want to have is a dwarf gourami.
BTW - I do have 4 live plants (don't know what they are called). They seem to be doing fine.
So...what do I do? Since the remaining fish have been fine and through a week's treatment of Pimafix, can I go ahead and get new fish? Or do you think this was not fungal and needs additional treatment?
Can anyone suggest what types of fish (I like to have multiple types) that are hardy and can cohabitate with the swordtail, snails, and hopefully a dwarf gourami? I think I am going to move the guppies to an old desktop I have because they don't do well with most other fish.
Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks in advance!
Cayce
I have had fish off and on my entire life. We recently got a new tank for our daughter's 4th birthday and it has been a total disaster. I need some serious help, as I don't have any clue what to do other than what I have already tried.
The tank is 20 gallons, was set up for 1 week before any fish or snails were introduced.
The first stocking was: 5 fancy male guppies (I used to breed them!), 1 black molly, one silver molly, and one gold snail.
After the first stocking 1 guppy died the next day and the rest were fine for 3.5 weeks.
We then bought 1 more black molly and 1 more silver molly. Also one pineapple swordtail. I strongly believe that one of these mollies was 'diseased' as everything went downhill from here.
The day after the second stocking, two guppies died. One other guppy developed 'fuzz' on a side fin and one of the black mollies had white on its mouth.
I assumed this was a fungal issue and talked to the fish person at the store, they also thought it was a fungal issue. So I started treating with Pimafix, removed the carbon, etc.
Next day, a dead silver molly. The other silver molly also had developped white spots on its tail, top fin, and its eyes looked weird. Not pop-eye, but like there was a film on its eyes.
I continued treating with Pimafix, kept the water at a constant 78.
The silver molly with the spots started to look better. The guppy that had the fuzz fin also looked better, the fuzz was gone but the fin looked damaged. For 2 or 3 days they seemed to be improving.
THEN...pretty much everything died. I have no idea why. Conditions are all the same, I've tested my water and everything comes up within normal range. We now have only 2 guppies, the pineapple swordtail, and the snails.
The remaining guppies and swordtail NEVER showed any signs of disease or lethargy. However, my snails have gotten a bit sluggish over the last 24h. They are good, more active than average snails, so this worries me.
I did a partial water change today (about 25%) and am wondering what I should do next. I feel like the problem may not have been fungal (?) and am wondering why 3 of the fish have been entirely unaffected. All the other ones, at some point or another, even if they didn't look terrible, showed signs of weakness. The remaining ones are A-ok as far as I can tell.
The tank looks SO empty (was not fully stocked to begin with!) and my daughter wants new fish. Of course, I don't want to put them into a 'sick' environment - so I need some help as to what to do. I also would like some suggestions about what kind of fish to keep. In college I bred guppies for extra money but they are not particuarly hardy. I need hardy fish because my 4 year old doesn't quite understand them dying all the time and having to get new ones. I kind of want to stay away from mollies now! but I did think they were pretty easy fish to keep. Other than breeding guppies, I have always had 'mixed' tanks with one or two fish of each type. I know this is kind of 'un-kosher' but it worked for me.
The one fish I really love and want to have is a dwarf gourami.
BTW - I do have 4 live plants (don't know what they are called). They seem to be doing fine.
So...what do I do? Since the remaining fish have been fine and through a week's treatment of Pimafix, can I go ahead and get new fish? Or do you think this was not fungal and needs additional treatment?
Can anyone suggest what types of fish (I like to have multiple types) that are hardy and can cohabitate with the swordtail, snails, and hopefully a dwarf gourami? I think I am going to move the guppies to an old desktop I have because they don't do well with most other fish.
Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks in advance!
Cayce
