Help Plz.

[paul_219]

I have a 29 gal tank with a filter and lights and a wand. My question is. I have some moll yin my tank and platies and 3 clown loaches and 2 goldfish. Always my platy and mollies dies? Now i just read an article and i saw that if i keep goldfish in tropical tank they can carry disease and spread it to the other fish? Can the goldfish be killing my fish? I mean spreading disease to them?

 

[TylerFerretLord]

I have a 29 gal tank with a filter and lights and a wand. My question is. I have some moll yin my tank and platies and 3 clown loaches and 2 goldfish. Always my platy and mollies dies? Now i just read an article and i saw that if i keep goldfish in tropical tank they can carry disease and spread it to the other fish? Can the goldfish be killing my fish? I mean spreading disease to them?

Goldfish should not be kept at tropical tempuratures, as it speeds up their metabolisms, making them ammonia and poop machines. You really only have enough room for the goldies, the general rule for them is 20g for the first, and an additions 10g for each other, because of the amount of waste they make.

I'm not positive, but the clown loaches may become too big for your tank, IIRC, they need a 55g tank for a minimum.

How long has this tank been set up? If it's still cycling that may be the cause of the deaths.

Use those things as an excuse to buy a bigger tank. You know you want to.

 

[paul_219]

Well now the temperature eis 26 degrees celcius. I have the tank setup for 9 month now. When they grow big i will upgrade my tank. U mean it can be that goldies are producing alot of waste and so they ammonia is rising and killing my fish.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

If you've had the goldfish in for more than a week your bacterial colony should have caught up, however there may not be enough room in your filter for all of the bacteria needed. What media do you have? If you can, add some more bio-media(ceramic, bio-balls, etc), that may help.

You could just be having bad luck with the livebearers. Kind of a good thing, as you don't need anymore fish.

How exactly do they die? Do they just pop up dead or get ich or some other illness?

Water stats would help; Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph are what is needed.

When you upgrade keep the goldies in the tank on their own, and remove the heater. BTW, do you know what kind of goldfish they are? The different types have varing needs.

 

[ibbledibble]

you can't wait until they grow bigger. you are having the problem now! if you wait all that will happen is that more fish will die. also fish release hormones into the water, which control and limit their growth. if you have too many fish they will not grow properly, and this is NOT a good thing. stunted fish are unhealthy and die prematurely. its cruel and unfair to your fish to keep them in these conditions.

goldfish should not be kept in heated tanks really. its not necessary. buy another tank for your goldfish. don't bother putting a heater in the tank unless you want them to breed and then only take temp up to 16 C but you should provide good filtration and aeration.

tyler is right your clown loaches will also grow much bigger.

and if you have male and female mollies and platys, you will end up with much larger quantities once they are healthy. if you only have males or only have female this should not be a problem. the temperature you have at the moment is great for the platys and mollies.

 

[paul_219]

Well they become ill and then die. Thats how they are dying. ABout the water test i dont have test kit available here. Is there anyway to test my water.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

if you only have males or only have female this should not be a problem.

Females are often pregnant when you buy them, and can store sperm in order to have more pregnancies.

Paul, if you don't want babies, get males. They may be a little more aggressive towards each other, but if you get enough(I'd say 6) they will be fine. Just don't get multiple male swordtails, they can be very aggressive towards each other. And don't get them until you upgrade.

 

[ibbledibble]

Well they become ill and then die. Thats how they are dying. ABout the water test i dont have test kit available here. Is there anyway to test my water.

most LFS will test your water for you if you take some in to them. some place will charge for this service. test kits are also available from most LFS and its well worth buying one so you can keep an eye in on things.

forgot to say about pregnant females, thats very true and they can store the sperm for a least 5 batches of eggs! with broods of between 10-80 babies a time thats a lot of new fish!

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Well they become ill and then die. Thats how they are dying. ABout the water test i dont have test kit available here. Is there anyway to test my water.

Could you be a little more specific about how they die? Any white spots, cotton like growth, tumours, bloating, open sores, detereorating tails, pale/pink gills etc? Or do you mean they just start to do nothing and eventually die?

Most stores will sell a liquid drop test, kind of expesive but it will last years and is very accurate.

 

[paul_219]

Yeah they some times gasp for air then die. I knwo what u mean Ibbl. But here in lebanon they arent available. I go to the lfs he alway tells me that the water is fine. Well i have 1 male and 2 female platy. and 2 male sailfin molly and 3 female sailfin molly and 1 male balloon molly,

 

[ibbledibble]

it might be worth looking on the internet for a test kit. most places will send to other countries. so that should be ok and they do last for ages. unfortunately if you get the fish shop to test it you have to trust that they know what they are talking about, and they sometimes don't! hope you manage to get things sorted soon

and with that mix of platies and mollies you will soon have babies!

 

[paul_219]

Well i saw online shops they dont send to lebanon.