Fish Deaths One A Day :(

[hayleyendersby]

Hi,
It seems something must be going wrong in my tank, I seem to be getting roughly one fish a day dying! I can't test the water at the moment, I've got some test strips ordered but they haven't arrived yet. I thought we had some but my mum hastened to tell me she had given away what we had left!! god only knows why lol!! The fish don't seem to show any symptoms of illness before death but I'm no expert.
The tank has been running well with no problems for months so i don't know what has changed.
My tank is a 75 litre, I did a 50% water change yesterday to see if this helps but still one guppy died today, and i normally do about a 25% water change every week. What i have left now are: 4 mollies, 2 guppies, 2 neon tetras, 3 rummynose tetras, 1 pakstani loach, 1 harlequin. The last addition to the tank was one of the guppies who was donated to me, I'm wondering if this could have been the start of the problem, but why are they dying at only one a day if there is a disease or something? Any help appreciated as I don't really know what to do, this is the first time i've had any kind of problem and don't have any ideas. Thanks
 

Also, i forgot to add, after doing the 50% water change is when i noticed some little baby fry as discussed in another topic, so a pretty stressful time in fish keeping for me!!!!

 

[Ninjouzata]

Any chance you can cancel that test strip order? They're very inaccurate. You should really get a liquid test kit.
 
Imagine you're right on the guppy bringing something in. Sorry I can't help much, not very experienced with the different illnesses.
Just make sure you're keeping the water very clean until you can get a kit, and hopefully someone with more experience will pop in here soon.
 
I'm sure you know that your stocking is not quite ideal, but I will still touch on it anyways.
 
What kind of mollies? I think some may be okay in that size tank, not sure, havn't really had them. I know sailfins need a 30g though.
The tetras, loach, and harlequin all need groups of 6+, the loach is not suitable for your tank size, they can get up to 6in.
 
Again, sorry I couldn't be of much help :C And sorry for your losses 

 

[ncguppy830]

all mollies are unsuitable for anything under 20 gallons, they need space to swim, even the balloon mollies.

 

[Ninjouzata]

all mollies are unsuitable for anything under 20 gallons, they need space to swim, even the balloon mollies.

Maybe it was balloon mollies I was thinking of that need 30g..hmm..
Her tank comes out to be almost 20g but you're right with substrate, decor, and whatnot it's probably not quite suitable.
I'm more worried about the deaths though, just wish I knew enough to help.

 

[ncguppy830]

 

all mollies are unsuitable for anything under 20 gallons, they need space to swim, even the balloon mollies.

Maybe it was balloon mollies I was thinking of that need 30g..hmm..
Her tank comes out to be almost 20g but you're right with substrate, decor, and whatnot it's probably not quite suitable.
I'm more worried about the deaths though, just wish I knew enough to help.

 

me to, the balloon mollies are the smallest mollies, which have been puffed up somewhat.

 

[fm1978]

Stocking issues aside, you would always tend to look at the last change/addition you made to your setup if a problem starts out of the blue.

In this case it sounds like the donated fish is the culprit, however, we might need more info to say why it's happening. How did the guppy look and behave when you added it? Any signs of ill health?

As said by Ninjouzata, try your very best to get a good liquid test kit. The test strips can be terribly poor. Can you take a sample of water to your LFS in the meantime?

 

[Nikki77D]

Is your fish tank cycled? If it is then maybe there was a spike in ammonia or nitrite somehow, how are you cleaning the filter media?

 

[hayleyendersby]

The test strips weren't too expensive so I think I'll just go and buy a liquid kit too. The mollies are sailfins. The shop didn't advise me on minimum tank size for them or anything the same with the loach, who is around 3-4 inches at the moment. I did have a group of the tetras but their numbers have dwindled to what is left now. So it sounds like I might be learning a few lessons here about fish keeping! Thanks for all your help, so do you guys think i should just keep doing regular water changes for the time being until i can test the water?

 

[Nikki77D]

Daily water changes would be good.

 

[hayleyendersby]

The guppy seemed fine in appearance and behaviour when i got it, It since had its lovely flowing fin nipped and has a chunk of it missing now. I will definately get a liquid test kit, and i'll try to get a sample to the shop as soon as possible though I'm working tomorrow. Typical! The tank was fully cycled and has been fine for several (7-8) months.

How much water should i change if doing daily? 

 

[Nikki77D]

Maybe from over stocking there is a mini cycle, try doing good 50 percent changes if you can to see if that helps. But no noticable things on the fish like white dots or sucked in tummies anything different?

 

[hayleyendersby]

ok thanks, no nothing noticeable on the fish, they seem to just die suddenly or look a bit weaker for a few minutes or an hour or so before they died. Should i try to find alternative homes for some of the fish to decrease stock levels? would this help?

 

[Nikki77D]

Its probably not a good idea to have that type of molly in a tank that size, maybe the 4 mollies are causing a lot of wast, but when my tank wasn't cycled my fish died how you were describing so that's why I'm thinking maybe ammonia spike. But I can't be forsure until you get the test kit. So its your choice to wait for the test kit and see or change up your stocking list but water changes are always a good start

 

[hayleyendersby]

ok great, you've given me some great advice, thank you. I'll post with any updates i can, thanks again

 

[Nikki77D]

No problem! I hope everything works out! And when your ready you can always post on here for help with stocking your tank, everyone has great ideas. Goodluck!