Tank update and more questions :)

[pbecot01]

Well guys, I'm back to tell you how things are going and ask some more questions. Apologize, I love to talk about my fish. If you read it all... more power to you

(note... if you have no idea who i am skip 2 paragraphs lol)

First... since last time i added my neons to my ten with my rubberlip pleco, and added a beta. The 2 male gold mollies and dwarf gourami were added to my 75 with my 2 angelfish, guppy, and 4 cories. I added 2 angelfish, 2 female black mollies, 2 female lyretail mollies.

The bad news... I think I am bad at acclimating fish. When I added the second 2 angels, one died overnight of the same swimbladder problem from before. I took him back to petsmart (water tested good) and got the mollies along with a replacement. The 2 lyretail mollies also died within 24 hours though the replacement molly and the black mollies were playing, eating, and not clamping fins within the same timespan. Those 2 were not replaced.

So my questions... 1. I got some black mollies to give my male mollies something female to chase. They mostly ignore them though. They ARE the same species? Do I need to get the same exact kind of mollies to get the 2 males to stop chasing one another, or can I mix lyretail, gold, black, golddust?

2. My new Beta is in my ten with neons and a rubber pleco. Since I got him I've seen him bully the tetras when they get in his way... but he largely ignores food. It's a beta specific brand and he will eat like 3 mini flakes, spitting the first 2 out. What should I feed him, or is this just a taking his time thing?

3. My cories were the first purchase for my 75. I was on vacation for a week and came back to a dead and decayed cory and bad algea ... the fish feeder didn't see him apparently. The other fish all survived... but then I had another cory die today I cleaned the tank and changed water to get nitrates back down under 20... This cory sat on the bottom with a bloody bottom side, twitching and breathing VERY rapidly. He would swim away from me, but go back to laying and twictching. What would you do if you saw a fish in this condition other then put him down?

4. Finally... except for if I put bloodworms into the bottom of the tank so the cories can get them... they seem to ignore anything I feed them. The pellets that I bought specifically for them get pulled out every time... they won't eat algea wafers... I don't want to dump enough flakes in for them to hit the bottom. What do you guys feed your cories? (and how long would you wait before replacing lost ones to fill out a school?)

 

[Kabong]

The bad news... I think I am bad at acclimating fish.

1.How are you acclimating the fish? Bag or bucket and time you allow to elapse.

Do I need to get the same exact kind of mollies to get the 2 males to stop chasing one another

2. No, but now the females are giving them a reason to chase each other. 1 to 3 is a good ratio.( 1 male, 3 female.)

My new Beta. What should I feed him, or is this just a taking his time thing?

3.Try a Variety of different foods. Bloodworms, shrimp flakes, pellets. Let him take his time. They sometimes bully other while they get used to their new enviorment.

My cories were the first purchase for my 75. I was on vacation for a week and came back to a dead and decayed cory and bad algea ... the fish feeder didn't see him apparently. The other fish all survived... but then I had another cory die today I cleaned the tank and changed water to get nitrates back down under 20... This cory sat on the bottom with a bloody bottom side, twitching and breathing VERY rapidly. He would swim away from me, but go back to laying and twictching. What would you do if you saw a fish in this condition other then put him down?

4. What was your amonia, nitrite and ph? It could be any of a number of poisenings. Did those cories cycle the tank? Melafix, Primafix, repeat. Again and again and again.

Finally... except for if I put bloodworms into the bottom of the tank so the cories can get them... they seem to ignore anything I feed them. What do you guys feed your cories?

5. Corries are scavengers, they will find food on the bottom of the tank even if you can't see it. Other fish are generally messy eaters, this works to the corries advantage. Try dropping one pellet per cory just not all in the same area. They will eat most foods so try feeding all the fish a variety.

(and how long would you wait before replacing lost ones to fill out a school?)

6. I wouldn't add new ones until you are sure that something in the tank didn't kill the first crew. Make sure all surviving fish are healthy, wait a couple of weeks them get new ones.

 

[pbecot01]

i warm the bag in the tank for 15, then add a half cup of water to a bucket every 5 minutes for an hour. maybe i should get a heater... i always figured an hour wasn't much time for the water to cool off, but...

The mollies aren't harrassing each other or the blacks... but the 2 males just play with themselves (swim together eat together etc...) they pretty much ignore the black females. Seems odd.

Thanks for the advice on feeding, reassures me since i feed a variety of frozen, flake, and pellet food to all my fish (except the pleco who just eats algea wafers)

And finally... are you saying i should add melafix now, or if another fish starts looking sick? Thanks for the input... my fish will thank you