Dying Fish...

[attibones]

If you can move around the mollies, that may help. I had a male who was a terrible nuisance, and when he died, my female became the nippy one. You should look for more gph on your filter, yes. Somewhere around 360, but also be sure that the filter you get will handle your tank plus some.

By the way, I live hatchetfish.

 

[fyrefaerye]

Don't get me wrong they are pretty nifty. I just didn't think they would be the greatest idea in a 10 gallon tank. I'm not one to really discriminate against fish, except maybe glofish but that's because I had a bad experience. I'm looking at adding an aquaclear 30 to the tank (150 gph) and it has the type of filter I was honestly looking for when I bought this tank. It just came with the quiet flow and I was too lazy to modify it. I figured I would give it a chance and see what happened. Do you think a single male molly would be okay in the 10 gallon? I'm concerned that he would go after the betta or vice versa. Since I added the two females that tank has been pretty harmonious. 

 

[attibones]

I believe your ten gallon is already too stocked to add the mollies, now that I'm thinking about it. Do you think you could set up a quarantine tank for the purpose of eliminating any aggression? Even a 10 gallon Rubbermaid container will do. You could put the mollies in there and observe them and the other tank.

 

[fyrefaerye]

I wouldn't even know how to begin to eliminate aggression. I can see about isolating him though. But so far today *knock on wood* no more fatalities. Maybe he just didn't like so many of them? I don't know. I'm just throwing stuff out there now. lol. I feel horrible for the two that are left. I just wish I knew why he only went after the rasboras and not the guppies.

 

[b3cca]

awww wish i could help more, but I'm still learning as well.
 
Luckily I have never had a fish die yet, am dreading finding one dead someday, hope you get it sorted soon it must be horrible to go through that

 

[CoryLover95]

In regards to the pH, it will stabilize as your tank runs.  7.4 is really not a big deal and was certainly not the cause of the fish death (unless the fish are REALLY stressed & weak). Glad you're getting this sorted...

 

[fyrefaerye]

Okay so an update. No more dead fish!! I'm still not sure what in the world happened, but it's since stopped. I have only two rasboras left. pH is still the same but I'm not as concerned about it. Everything else has been the same as normal. I'm kind of afraid to put any more small fish in there.

 

[CoryLover95]

I'm so glad this has all stopped!  

  I might want to wait a week or two before adding any more fish, just to make sure no more fish are dying.  Great job!

 

[fyrefaerye]

Thanks hun.I'm definitely waiting. I'm not even sure what I will add at this point. I'm afraid if I add any more rasbora they will just die.

 

[fyrefaerye]

Okay so I have a question. I was asking for some stocking ideas in another thread and in the process checked my levels again. The 36 gallon has a slight ammonia rise (0.25 if my eyeballs are right). I know ammonia is a major issue so I'm trying to work on it. but someone told me that my nitrate level should never be as low as it is. Btw my nitrate level is still sitting at 0 and I'm testing the water again now to double check. Is this really as big of an issue as people are making it sound or am I okay?

 

[jarednsteph]

Are you certain you are following the instructions for testing Nitrate down to the last detail?  Is it a liquid API test kit?  If so, don't follow the instructions on the bottle...I had the same issue when I started out, just following instructions on the bottle and was consitently getting 0 readings with no idea why.  I gave the book a read and found out the exact instructions which are:
 
Fill test tube to line
Shake Nitrate test bottle for 30 seconds
Add specified drops
Cap test tube and shake vigorously for 1 minute (the colour develops as you shake).
 
This *could* be where you are going wrong?

 

[fyrefaerye]

That's what I'm doing. exactly. I'm even timing it (with the stopwatch thing on my phone) to be absolutely certain. and yes its the api freshwater master test kit. Tbh I haven't even looked at what it says on the bottle. I follow the directions in the book.

 

[fyrefaerye]

Update time. Have a small ammonia spike going on (with this tank and my 10 gallon). This one is sitting between 0.25 and 0.5 even with several water changes. I've slightly revamped the stocking here as 2 of the 3 hatchetfish in my 10 gallon have died. The single hatchetfish I have left is in the 36 gallon now. I'm at a complete loss for the ammonia issue. I've done water changes, there's no change in fish patterns, everyone seems as lively as was before. I bought a bottle of prime and dosed the tanks with that to at least keep them safe while I try to figure this out. From what I have read this turns the ammonia into ammonium which isn't harmful to them and will keep them protected for 48 hours (so I'm supposed to dose the tank every 48 hours right?). I was also reading somewhere (not sure where, I've blinked more than three times since then) that sometimes the test kit can't differentiate between ammonia and ammonium and could be giving me false readings. Is that correct? If that's the case am I freaking out over nothing? 

 

[CoryLover95]

Are you reading the test results in natural sunlight?  A very common mistake is viewing it in artificial lighting - this give the yellow 0 ppm the faintly green tinge of .25 ppm and freaks out a lot of people.

 

[fyrefaerye]

I have to test them again today (today is cleaning and laundry day Haha) so I will post new results in just a bit. thanks for tip. I can't remember if I have always been using natural light. I know sometimes I've been using overhead lights because a few times I tested at night. update soon.