Jynxie wrote:
With mollies... I believe you can add a bit of salt - but I'd double check first, but I do believe they enjoy some aquarium salt in their water.
This is correct.
Bunnylova4eva wrote:
well all today he's been like this when he does come out(and last night) I don't know why he thinks the thermometer is so great...? :
You do not have enough gravel in their unless it is just the pic. For a 10 gal, you want 15 pounds of gravel. The problem with a 10 gallon, or even a 20 gallon, is that they are so small that they become prone to water parameter fluctuations that are often enough to cause disease and/or kill the fish outright. If the filter is a Top Fin with carbon cartridges, it is worth noting that: 1) carbon removes any added medication almost immediately and also removes any trace elements that are beneficial to the fish, and 2) that particular filter is a weak model in that it only provides mechanical and chemical filtration, where as other hang-on-the-back models, such as the AquaClear, provides biological filtration as well. Biological filtration is a billion times more important than the other two.
Nancy McClelland wrote:
When you add water, did you also ad something to neutralize chlorine/chloramine? The city changed the chemicals in the water and didn't notify the public for a month--I lost all of my Betas.
When I first started I made this same mistake. It is worth outright noting for others that while letting water sit or heavy aeration neutralizes chlorine, it will not break the chloramine bond. Furthermore, not all dechlorinators will break this bond either and so the chemical needs to explicitly say 'neutralizes chlorine AND chloramine'. Many cities will change up chemicals to 'shock' pathogens, often without public notice. Most (but not all) modern dechlorinators wil break the chloramine bond.
Watermelons wrote:
Most large pet stores will test your water for free as often as you want. Save your money.
May not be anything wrong with your tank or the water. Might just be the fish.
Generally if something is wrong with the fish, it has to do with, or began with, the water. I would say 98% of ill health starts as stress caused from an issue with water parameters. I would not rely on these stores to do testing as a water test is essentially a blood test for fish. I managed one once for a very short period of time and quit because of the horrific conditions fish were exposed to due to ignorance on behalf of the employees. Later I went to become a published writer on fish health and disease. Most people at those pet stores do not know how to properly test tank water. Furthermore, the equipment they have is often tainted and their disease treatments kill the fish more often than the disease. A $30 Master Test Kit can save you hundreds of dollars of lost fish and endless grief. Every fish owner needs a test kit for the basics at least:
-ammonia
-nitrite
-nitrate
-pH
OP, a lot of things affect fish healthâ¦just a few questions in determining tank/fish health would be:
-What is the temp and temp flux?
-What is the heater set at?
-What are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? (the numbers)
-What is the pH and water hardness level?
-When was the last time you introduced a new fish?
-Do you use any type of frozen or live food other than pellets/wafers/flakes?
-Do you have the ability to isolate this fish in a sick tank?
-Are you using carbon on your filter?
-Are you feeding a good food like New Life Spectrum PELLETS (not flakes)?
If you have any other fish than mollies, I would not add salt as it can cause long-term organ damage. Its effectiveness as a 'tonic' and 'disease treatment' is minimal at best. As noted, zebra danios are a good way to goâ¦HOWEVER, if the fish that were in your tank died of a disease, then if you add more fish they will likely contract the same thing. Therefore, letting the tank sit while the sick fish heal or, ideally if all fish died, disinfecting it is worthwhile.
There are two types of fish commonly called glow fish. The ones which are danios and glow in the dark are not injected; they are actually known by the brand name GloFish. The ones which are injected are called Glass Fish, but are commonly (incorrectly) called glowfish.
In this particular case, I do think disease may have occurred. They were susceptible to the disease likely because of an extreme temp flux. Even a small flux is enough to stress even hardy fish to the point of contracting an illness. For any tropical fish, a heater is a must.
As far as water changes, as noted you need to do closer to weekly, especially with a smaller tank like a 10 gal. However, with only a few fish, 2-3 weeks should be fine if your water parameters are good. Unless you have live plants, the only way to remove nitrates is via a water change and so 'matured' tanks need to monitor nitrates the closest. Again, this goes back to the importance of having a test kit.
In order to master the art of fishkeeping, it is important to understand beyond the dynamics behind just the fish. Fish keeping is not as much about keeping fish as it is keeping trillions of bacteria that provide a fish the conditions needed to live and thrive. The nitrogen cycle is only part of this complex relationship. An understanding of the biological filter and what constitutes sufficient biological filtration, as well as bio-load thresholds, is critical. Books on fish keeping and fish health are worth there weight in gold, as they provide care and diagnosis guidelines.
Hope this helps.
Top Fin is just Petsmarts house brand so they product TONS of the stuff so they can sell it WAY cheaper. Now there are alot of products out there that are designed to remove ammonia or treat this or that, that also act as water conditioners. Really you just need something that removes the bad stuff and helps "protect" your fishies. Which they all do. Haven't seen a single "water conditioner" on a pet store shelf around here that doesnt take out Chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals, protects, etc....
