Corydora and Molly Gone?

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sparkle145

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Hey guys extremely new here, no clue what to do and Iā€™m just looking for help. In the past week Iā€™ve put four mollies and a corydora in my tank and about three days ago my corydora, Bobo, just disappeared. This morning my speckled molly, Polly, disappeared as well. Iā€™ve just done a 20% water change and lifted up all the decor and plants and checked under/in the filter and gravel and even the floor and furniture around the tank. I have no idea where they could be, and my other mollies left are acting very differently to how they acted the first few days. They used to congregate in a circle around the light at the top of the tank and now they tend to hide in the back or the sides of the tank where it is most heavily planted. Iā€™m really panicked for my little guys and I really really hope theyā€™re ok. Help please!
 
I have them in a five gallon at the moment. My cory is barely an inch long right now but I plan on putting these guys in a bigger tank at some point in the next few months so he and the mollies do not outgrow the tank. Itā€™s just a medium-size filter, I guess, I keep it on the lowest setting and thereā€™s barely any suction actually. No chance they got chopped up by the filter.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Do you have a dog or cat?
Is the tank covered?
Fish can jump out of the tank and pets can eat them off the floor.

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Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Post the results in numbers, here.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Post clear pictures and video of the fish so we can check them for diseases. You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
 
Welcome to TFF. :hi:

Just looking ahead here, before you acquire any other fish, make sure you research their needs. Corydoras for example must be in a group, 7 or 8 being absolute minimum, and I've no idea as to your tank size. Substrate is also critical, it must be smooth sand for cories.

Do you know the water parameters? These are the hardness (GH), pH and temperature. Obviously temperature can be adjusted, but the GH and pH can affect fish, and you have mollies that must have moderately hard water, while cories are soft water fish. When we know the numbers we can sort this out for you. The website of your municipal water authority may have this data.
 
Iā€™m away from home right now, Iā€™ll do the tests when I get back. Thanks for the advice guys šŸ‘šŸ»
The tank is covered. No chance the dog ate the fish. I have a video I can link later that I made to show off my new little fellas. Itā€™s cringy but cute šŸ˜…
 
Mostly mystery solved. Found two mollies outside tank. One was dead and the other dead not long after. I donā€™t expect my cory to be in the tank either. I will honestly say I donā€™t think I will be keeping any more fish after the ones I have left live their lives. I donā€™t think Iā€™m cut out to be able to provide for our finny friends after the mistakes Iā€™ve made with these guys. Yā€™all have fun with it tho, Iā€™ll love them from afar šŸ‘‹šŸ»
 
If you post a picture of the top of your tank, we might be able to work out how the fish got out.

Most fish don't jump but it does happen sometimes. Just because a couple jumped, doesn't mean you have to give up. However, if you can't deal with it, then the choice is yours. But we are here to help you and everyone, including me, loses fish from time to time. The number of fish I have lost probably outnumbers most of the members here put together.
 
Mostly mystery solved. Found two mollies outside tank. One was dead and the other dead not long after. I donā€™t expect my cory to be in the tank either. I will honestly say I donā€™t think I will be keeping any more fish after the ones I have left live their lives. I donā€™t think Iā€™m cut out to be able to provide for our finny friends after the mistakes Iā€™ve made with these guys. Yā€™all have fun with it tho, Iā€™ll love them from afar šŸ‘‹šŸ»
I'm sorry that you've had a rough intro the hobby! It is very tricky when you first decide to set a tank, it's a lot more complicated than many people expect, and SO. MANY. THINGS. can go wrong. Sadly, it's common for fish to be lost when that happens. It's sad, but I really hope this experience doesn't put you off the hobby altogether! We'd be very happy to help you get the set up running well for your remaining fish.

This really doesn't mean you're not cut out for the hobby! There isn't a fishkeeper alive that hasn't made a mistake, and I suspect we've all made a mistake that ended up killing a fish, or even a whole tank. I know I've made fatal mistakes before. But I was doing my best, and we learn from our mistakes, and then learn more in order to keep a successful tank and any survivors in the best conditions we can provide.

Would like to see that video - we won't be mean to you! Just want to share constructive advice, if you're open to it, and to help you keep the remaining fish thriving, and how to remain in the hobby if you decide you want to later!
 

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