3 Dead Fish In A Week!

[Meggie :)]

Hey all so about a week ago, my guppy died (a few days after she tore her tail). And I thought everything was fine until one of my female balloon mollies died a few days ago...I figured it could have just been because she was weakened from having around 5 rounds of babies in my tank...(because after every drop she lost a little more color, but was otherwise fine). But then I woke up this morning and another female balloon molly was dead! As far as I know she has never had babies...So of course the first thing I did was check my water temperature and test the water...here are my results:

(This is a ten gallon by the way, typical dimensions. It has been set up for nearly 4 years.)

Temp: about 78* ferenheit
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7.6
Physical issues with the fish: none that I can see. Except my black balloon molly started losing color around her gills...they started turning silvery but not in a fungus way...just coloration change...my last adult female balloon molly also looks tattered...But it's hard to explain...because her fins aren't torn, nothings torn, no fungus that I can see she just looks...tattered...I cannot explain this very well...maybe it just looks like she is "tattered" because she is losing color where her body meets her back fin?

Also forgot to mention that after my mama female died (the second dead fish) I did a water change...about 30%. Water changes I try to do every week, sometimes it ends up skipping a week here and there but I keep it clean...It is a planted tank. I add liquid ferts every other day. Sand substrate. I only have one female balloon molly left and a handful of balloon molly babies. What baffles me is that: if there was something wrong with the tank, wouldn't it have affected the babies first?

Thanks guys for any help...
Megs

Edit: also in my tank, I forgot to mention, are two cherry shrimp, two ghost shrimp, pest snails, and assassin snails that are killing the pest snails

 

[thegabzzz]

What surprises me us that both your nitrates and nitrites are 0. Is that surprising to anyone else??

 

[Man of fish]

If you think 3 dead fish is bad in a week try 14 in 3 days.

 

[Meggie :)]

wow I'm so sorry Man of fish! And oh yea I forgot to mention I use liquid API test kit.

And I did a huge water change a couple of days ago, redid the tank. Everything seems to be going a bit better. My last full grown adult is looking better. Thank you for your responses

 

[This Old Spouse]

What surprises me us that both your nitrates and nitrites are 0. Is that surprising to anyone else??

That does surprise me as well, especially considering the tank's been set up for 4 years. The nitrate test on the API is a bit tricky. You really need to shake the bottle, smack it on the tabletop a few times to loosen the reagent. Your nitrate reading shouldn't be 0. If it is there might be a mini cycle happening.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

if the tank has been set-up for 4 years, how old are the fish that are dying?

3-5 years is generally considered the normal lifespan for both guppies and mollies. So, if these fish have been around for 4 years, then it could be that they are just all reaching the end of the life span at the same time. It doesn't necessarily have to be an issue with the tank, but just one of those "circle of life" things. Especially is the younger ones all seem fine.



Agree with TOS regarding the nitrate test. It is odd that your nitrates would be zero. I'm guessing that is a false reading. WIth the nitrate test, you can get false zeros, but won't get false highs. Shake it to the end of what your strength is, then let someone else shake it for a bit. This will give you a better reading on the nitrate. There is no way that your nitrates are zero if you are adding ferts. One of the main things in the ferts is nitrate! (Remember the numbers for fertilizers, N-P-K are for Nitrogen, generally in some form of a nitrate, Phosphate and Potassium.)

 

[Meggie :)]

Yea I have had misreadings before so I shook the bottle like crazy and I still got 0 nitrates...and all of the babies are still fine. So is the last adult. But the first fish that died (the guppy) had ripped her tail about a week or two before she died. The second fish that died (the balloon molly) had had about 5 or 6 drops of babies in my tank alone...and after every drop she had lost a little more color. Could that have been it maybe? And the final fish I have no idea...I think I already listed all of these symptoms in the first post...But I don't know how I could have gone through a mini cycle...

 

[eaglesaquarium]

When I had live bearers about 20 years ago, I noticed that some of the females who seemed to spend their entire life pregnant would die close to their last drop. I think it is extremely taxing on them if they are constantly having fry.