Help Please

[Delbert]

Hi to everyone.

I have 80 ltr new tank
I took advice from the shop where I purchased and also from a friend who has had fish for a few years,
I bought 10 mollies of which the black started dying and now the blue tails,white are also dying
O
I only have 2 swordtails and 2 silver.? Mollies left
They are feeding well and I have recently part changed the water and done a water test
The result shows 260 which is 13 drops x 20 which means very hard water I think

Any suggestions before it,s to late

Please help

Thank you

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to TFF Delbert.
Your mollies will appreciate very hard water so that is no problem at all. Swordtails don't need it quite as hard but should do fine in hard water.
It sounds to me like your fish are suffering through a "fish-in cycle" and you are not equipped with the necessary test equipment to do that. I have a link in my signature area to a thread on a fish in cycle because this comes up so often. Please have a read of that thread and come back with any questions. As a short term first aid measure, I would do at least an 80% water change, with proper dechlorination and a reasonable temperature match. If the fish respond by looking much better, as I suspect they will, you should continue to do about 50% daily water changes until you can obtain a liquid type test kit that tests for at least ammonia and nitrites. A test for pH and nitrates are also handy but not quite as critical. Many of us use the API master test kit but other manufacturers make decent test kits that include the required elements. If your description of hardness is correct, you may well need a "high range" pH test to be able to measure pH at all.

You are in a position many new fish keepers would envy. Your friend with the established tanks can be a great service to you and your fish. He/she can be a media donor to jump start your cycle. By using some of the media from a well established tank's filter, your own filter will mature very quickly. I often clone a filter for one of my tanks when I am first setting it up. Using a sample of the mung from one of my established filters gets the new tank's filter ready to go using a fishless approach in under a week instead of the usual 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with OM47, you are probably in a Fish-In Cycling Situation and need to perform the emergency water changes just as he's described. Once you get a good liquid based test kit, you can learn to adjust your water changes based on test results and the things you learn reading the article cited and and by interacting with the members here.

~~waterdrop~~