I Give Up.

[AnimalHouse36]

Thank you all for your support. It means a lot

I'm still working on getting the test kits. I may have to order them online.

I've been doing water changes regularly and not feeding a lot and so far the three survivors seem happy. I hope it stays this way

 

[twodoctors]

Do you have a heater? You didn't mention you bought a heater. These are tropical fishes afterall.

Glad you read up about cycling. Without a test kit I would advise you to do at least 25% water change daily for at least a week. Dwarf gourami and corys are not the hardiest of species for complete novice, but don't give up. If you really do want to keep fishes then read up and ask questions here if you have any. Most of us would be able to answer. Also 10G isn't very big, and molly can get quite big, and probably eventually outgrow you tank. In any case see how you go and persevere... they are more likely to survive in your tank than down the toilet/drain!

Adrian

 

[Neomeris]

Way to go, not giving up!! I agree on the heater, tropical fishes can "survive" without one, but they THRIVE when they have one. Plus, you won't get hypothermia when you stick your arm in the tank to clean it.

 

[Blubble37]

I am very sorry for your loss. your tank was not cycled from what I saw

 

[HayzH]

due to my lack of knowledge and experience, i lost my first 3 mollies. I am now doing a fishless cycle on my 2 tanks to ensure i can have happy healthy fishes in the end. I got lots of great info in the new freshwater tank forum..

 

[Paul70]

I cycled my first tank (a juwel rekord 800 98l) for 4 weeks before my readings got down to a respectable level and then added fish. Lost one fish a week later but then nothing for 3 months. I added fish steadily up to a normal stock level then bought some plants. added these plants and lost 4 fish 2 days later (i presume an ammonia/nitrite spike due to substrate being disturbed).

I then cycled another 60l tank and have lost no fish in this at all. I am now on my 3rd tank in the house and cycled it like all the others. so far no more deaths.

the moral of the story is to get a good quality test kit. be fanatical about your water testing regime during the cycle and also your water changes once you have fish. Here I am 6 months on from my first ever fish tank and I am keeping discus quite happily in my 91gal tank (granted I use RO water and discus code mix) but the knowledge I have gained and the fun I have gleaned from my fish have made all the hard work and dedication worthwhile. I also received lots of help on this forum and found the fishless cycling instructions to be invaluable.

stick at it animalhouse and the knowledge and satisfaction will come. the only thing you need watch out for then is a serious case of B.T.S (bigger tank syndrome) on your part lol

good luck mate

 

[AnimalHouse36]

Do you have a heater? You didn't mention you bought a heater. These are tropical fishes afterall.

Glad you read up about cycling. Without a test kit I would advise you to do at least 25% water change daily for at least a week. Dwarf gourami and corys are not the hardiest of species for complete novice, but don't give up. If you really do want to keep fishes then read up and ask questions here if you have any. Most of us would be able to answer. Also 10G isn't very big, and molly can get quite big, and probably eventually outgrow you tank. In any case see how you go and persevere... they are more likely to survive in your tank than down the toilet/drain!

Adrian

Yes I do have a heater sorry for not clarifying!

The fish seem to be doing great which I'm very happy about. My cory has grown a lot and is eating better than ever. Tomorrow I'll be getting test kits for the tank so hopefully that will help.

I read up a lot on mollies and all the information seemed to say that regular mollies were okay but sailfin mollies would get much to big for a 10 gallon. Was I misinformed?

Paul-Before I kept losing all my fish I had already been interested in a bigger tank

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I cycled my first tank (a juwel rekord 800 98l) for 4 weeks before my readings got down to a respectable level and then added fish. Lost one fish a week later but then nothing for 3 months. I added fish steadily up to a normal stock level then bought some plants. added these plants and lost 4 fish 2 days later (i presume an ammonia/nitrite spike due to substrate being disturbed).

I then cycled another 60l tank and have lost no fish in this at all. I am now on my 3rd tank in the house and cycled it like all the others. so far no more deaths.

the moral of the story is to get a good quality test kit. be fanatical about your water testing regime during the cycle and also your water changes once you have fish. Here I am 6 months on from my first ever fish tank and I am keeping discus quite happily in my 91gal tank (granted I use RO water and discus code mix) but the knowledge I have gained and the fun I have gleaned from my fish have made all the hard work and dedication worthwhile. I also received lots of help on this forum and found the fishless cycling instructions to be invaluable.

stick at it animalhouse and the knowledge and satisfaction will come. the only thing you need watch out for then is a serious case of B.T.S (bigger tank syndrome) on your part lol

good luck mate

That and M.T.S. (Multi-tank syndrome) I started with one tank and I am up to five, and about to invest in a 125 gallon

 

[Blubble37]

i have to say that i am the same. I now have 2 tanks and a pond and i am planning on another pond pretty soon as well!

 

[AnimalHouse36]

Another questions guys! I don't think my tapwater is very good water. So I've been using gallons. But I've read online that one way to make the water safe is to let it sit over-night. Does this actually work?

Dieses Madchen-That is A LOT of tanks! That would be so great to have that many!

 

[fluttermoth]

You're far better off using a dechlorinator than letting water sit for 24 hours (that's what we used to do before dechlorinating solutions were available); a lot of places add chloramine as well as chlorine now, and that won't gas off like chlorine does.

There's no other reason for letting the water stand. What makes you think your tap water isn't good?

 

[AnimalHouse36]

You're far better off using a dechlorinator than letting water sit for 24 hours (that's what we used to do before dechlorinating solutions were available); a lot of places add chloramine as well as chlorine now, and that won't gas off like chlorine does.

There's no other reason for letting the water stand. What makes you think your tap water isn't good?

Ever since I've switched to bottled water there have been no more deaths! And it comes from a well so I was thinking maybe it was so harsh?

 

[twodoctors]

Difficult to say. Maybe there's too much nitrate in the water if it is from a well... or maybe your tank wasn't matured yet. Who knows! Tap water with dechlorinator is what most people do here. Use Seachem Prime. It's by far the most economical one on the market.

Adrian

 

[Paul70]

I agree with twodoctors. seachem prime is great and it goes a really long way. Letting tapwater sit overnight will get rid of chlorine which kills filter bacteria but most tapwater nowadays contains chloramine which will not gas off and just sits in your water if left untreated. chloramine will also kill filter bacteria quickly so best to get rid of it. bottled water is ok but you need to be careful of how much dissolved solids it contains (minerals) as this will buffer pH up. In my area (doncaster, uk) the general hardness of the tapwater is 16 so pH generally sits at around 8.0. it also contains 0.31ppm of nitrates so it isnt particularly good.

I now use 100% RO water re-mineralised with discus mix for my tanks and I get a pH of around 6.4 which is good for my fish. However most people who use RO (REVERSE OSMOSIS) water generally mix it with treated tap water in varying proportions depending what they want their pH to be. I know this sounds complicated and indeed it is a lot of work but once you have your source of RO water your fish will appreciate it.

There is nothing at all wrong with treated tap water but just make sure you treat it with a good de-chlorinator such as the prime that twodoctors mentions. it works instantly and it also gets rid of a lot of the other nasties in your tapwater.

Another positive about having an RO machine to produce my own water is that I no longer have to use a dechlorinator which means the machine will pay for itself in around 1 year.

I think that taking good care of your tank and cleanliness is important in preventing deaths also as a build up of old food and rotting plants can cause ammonia and nitrite problems which will kill fish quickly. (i lost 4 female siamese fighters in 12 hours some weeks in my wifes tank due to an ammonia spike) not good.

good luck mate and stick at it.

sorry for long post. if you want to pm me please freel free buddy

 

[AnimalHouse36]

The tank finally seemed to have settled down. Tomorrow I'm getting water tests (hopefully), all the fish are doing great too. In fact they seem even happier then a few weeks ago! However, I have 1 dominant Molly who keeps beating up the other Molly. I feel bad because he's always hiding behind the filters. I feel so bad for him. I moved all the fake plants into a bunch so there's a tiny little forest for him to hide in, hopefully that will help.

For today's water change I had no more bottled water so had to use tap, hopefully it'll be okay....

Paul- I've never heard of RO water, could you explain some more? I use Tetra water conditioner, almost everything fish related in the U.S. is by Tetra! And don't be sorry for the long post hah I LOVE all the information you're giving me!