Molly Tank Crashing? Help!

[FallynLeigh]

Yeah, it was a sad day... but when I go to the lake I still sometimes see one or two.
 
UPDATE
 
I tested the water and...
Nitrates: 160ppm
Nitrites: somewhere in between 5 and 10 ppm maybe like 8 ppm?
pH: 6.5
KH: 80 ppm
GH: 180 ppm
 
All fish still seem okay, no white ammonia burns or red gils (from the nitrites, I think), breathing seems good, appetite seems good, fry are fine, and water is clear.

 

[FallynLeigh]

Okay, so my mom is home and we have talked about what to do and here is our complete plan of action:
 
For the ten gallon- put 1/4 tablespoon of aquarium salt in each morning, put recommended amount of ammo lock in tank every other day.  Do a ~20% water change this weekend... maybe.  Add a few more plants.
 
For the incoming thirty five gallon- when it and it's filter and everything arrive, set it up.  Add media from 10 gallon.  Plant it on the second or third day.  After about a week, add one or two fish.  Then, in ~4 days add the other two or three fish.  Leave the fry in the 10 gallon to grow.  My mom wants some gouramis, angels, and glow light tetras, so a few of those may find their way into this new tank as well.
 
Once the fry have grown up, we'll be breaking down the 10 gallon most likely.
 

 

[Sophie]

You can't do this and keep the fish healthy without water changes..
Water changes are an essential part of fish keeping. You must must must! Even if it's a 50% every two weeks. How would you like sitting in a bath of your own filth constantly? It's not fair and it's cruelty to the fish...
Anybody on here will agree.
You wouldn't let a dog sit in his own dog mess for 6 months - just unheard of.
Fish are like any other pets and deserve to be treated so.

 

[FallynLeigh]

I understand that, but the soonest we can do a water change is this weekend.

 

[Meeresstille]

Okay, so my mom is home and we have talked about what to do and here is our complete plan of action:
 
For the ten gallon- put 1/4 tablespoon of aquarium salt in each morning, put recommended amount of ammo lock in tank every other day.  Do a ~20% water change this weekend... maybe.  Add a few more plants.
 
For the incoming thirty five gallon- when it and it's filter and everything arrive, set it up.  Add media from 10 gallon.  Plant it on the second or third day.  After about a week, add one or two fish.  Then, in ~4 days add the other two or three fish.  Leave the fry in the 10 gallon to grow.  My mom wants some gouramis, angels, and glow light tetras, so a few of those may find their way into this new tank as well.
 
Once the fry have grown up, we'll be breaking down the 10 gallon most likely.
 

The aquarium salt that you were recommended to add was to help your fish with the nitrite toxicity. The best thing to do is to remove those nitrites is doing water changes, just gently over time. Meaning gradual water changes so you don't shock the fish and replenishing the correct amount of salt for the salt you've removed with the water changes. Adding more and more salt without removing it will not help your fish, it will stress them more!
 
Also, once the new tank arrives, and you transfer the filter media from the 10 gallon over to the new tank you need feed the bacteria in the filter with ammonia or your bacteria will die off, or at the least become dormant. It will be safe for the fish if you transfer them with the media over and to keep on top with the water changes to remove the nitrites. Once you see no longer any nitrites it would be a sign that your filter is completely cycled and can handle the bioload of the fish. To be really sure you would need to do an ammonia test, since tanks that are cycling can stall, or lose the cycle and you would then need to start all over. A cycled tank reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and readings of nitrates. The nitrates can get to very high levels which can become toxic if not enough water changes are being done. This, combined with lower pH than from the tap usually is a sign that you are dealing with old tank syndrome.

 

[FallynLeigh]

Look, I'm sorry but water changes just aren't happening more than maybe once a month.  Until now we've never had any problems with doing one 20% water change bi-anually.  This is all that is possible right now.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I don't understand... I simply don't understand.
 
 
Secondly, continually adding salt every day is NOT a course of action under any circumstances.  Continually adding salt without removing salt (with the water change) will just turn the tank into the DEAD SEA, literally.  The salt is a SHORT TERM solution to the nitrite issue, not a long term solution.
 
Proper fish care includes weekly (or at most biweekly) water changes.  Doing it semiannually just isn't fair to the fish.  If you are unable to properly care for the fish, meaning unable to do weekly or biweekly water changes routinely, then perhaps you should consider giving the fish to someone who can.
 
 
Semi-annual water changes will lead to 'old tank syndrome'.  And while you believe that it worked in the past, it really didn't.  In the past, you had angelfish, which can tolerate much lower pH.  The nitrate buildup causes the pH to crash.  The angelfish could handle that, so a certain extent.  Mollies, on the other hand, cannot.

 

[Sophie]

Well fish loss is to be expected then. We can't help if you cannot carry out our advice - I'm sorry, I know you have problems but this is the only solution..

I think I left my tank for around 4 weeks once and that was awkward timing with my baby arriving. The tank was a mess! I had to do a large 80% water change to see any kind of improvement.. 20% is, I just can't, what. Surely it's really dirty? Especially when you syphon?

 

[FallynLeigh]

My fish have always been fine.  The tanks have always been pristine and even when we change the water it barely kicks anything up- and we mix up the gravel to get to the bottom.  The levels of nitrates, nitrites, and pH in the tanks have always been great with only minor fluxes.  I've had all sorts of fish from angels, to gouramis, to guppies, to a jack dempsy, to betas, to bala sharks, to pretty much everything else.  They've always been happy and the tanks have always been self-sustaining.  My main problem with this tank right now is the over crowding, which the new tank will fix in a week or two.  I wouldn't mind doing weekly water changes, but I don't have 40+ hours a week to dedicate to a fish tank and my illness won't allow it anyways.  It's never been necessary before, so why is it necessary now?  I'll just let the fish be and tweak as necessary until the new tank is here.  Thanks for the advice anyways everyone.

 

[daizeUK]

One or two buckets, one gravel cleaner or hose siphon. 
Siphon out 2 gallons of water from your tank into bucket.  Chuck water down an outside drain or water your plants with it.
Add 2 gallons of tap water to bucket and add enough dechlorinator for 2 gallons of water.  Empty the bucket into the tank.
That will take about 10 minutes max.
 
You can only afford to spend 10 minutes to do this twice a year?

 
Right now you need to do this every day or all your fish are going to die horribly.  They are swimming in a poison nitrite soup.

 

[the_lock_man]

Until now we've never had any problems with doing one 20% water change bi-anually. 

 
I'm sorry but you are deluding yourself with this statement. Old Tank Syndrome is something that happens to old tanks. It is when bad maintenance builds up and up and up until it reaches a critical point. This is why you are having issues right now, because what you assumed was no problems was just building up in to a huge problem.
 
It's like building your house on the edge of a volcano crater, and then being surprised when it's blown away by the next eruption. You'd been alright for a while, but it was something that was always going to happen. Same with bi-annual water changes.

 

[Sophie]

 

Until now we've never had any problems with doing one 20% water change bi-anually. 

 
I'm sorry but you are deluding yourself with this statement. Old Tank Syndrome is something that happens to old tanks. It is when bad maintenance builds up and up and up until it reaches a critical point. This is why you are having issues right now, because what you assumed was no problems was just building up in to a huge problem.
 
It's like building your house on the edge of a volcano crater, and then being surprised when it's blown away by the next eruption. You'd been alright for a while, but it was something that was always going to happen. Same with bi-annual water changes.
 

 
+1
 
I'm not going to waste my time typing after this message, it's clear what decision OP is going for
 
My final statement though, I'd like to point out I know a few with severe disabilities that still manage one way or another to clean their fish out regularly whether it's adjustments in equipment or moving the tank to a more convenient location to even having major renovation done on the house in order to make water changes possible.
Not saying you should do this but they do it because they took on the responsibility of keeping fish and therefore uphold the obligation to take care of them correctly.
 
Just sayin'
 
Good luck with it all.
Btw TLM - Nice morse code Could've been a bit more inventive though

 

[FallynLeigh]

I just don't have the time or the money.  I'm just going to leave the tank alone and let it sort itself out.  If they die then oh well I guess.  This is my final post.  I'm 99.9% sure they'll live because they're doing just fine and some of the levels are actually down on the tank.  I won't be logging back on here again because my mother thinks you all are "fish nazis" and doesn't want me to come back on here.  My fish and tanks have always been fine with bi-annualy water changes, and they will continue to be okay with it.
 
Goodbye, and thanks for the advice anyways.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

My fish and tanks have always been fine with bi-annualy water changes, and they will continue to be okay with it.

 
So you won't even come back to tell us how successful you've been? And what you did/didn't do?

 

[daizeUK]

She has already stated what she intends to do, and we know what will happen.  I would suggest this thread has run its course.