Poor Fish. Autopsy Needed :'(

[RobberyinCSharp]

Hi everyone
I'm very sad to say that today my beautiful white balloon Molly has passed away.
I have NO idea why this happened. I know it's gruesome, but please take a look at the picture below and tell me if you can see any particular reason why this would happen I'm hoping someone can use the spots on him to distinguish the COD.

My tank has been cycled for 3 months - I have NO idea why he would pass away
It is a 10 gallon tank. I have 2 sparkling gouramis, 2 platties and (now) 1 balloon molly.

My tank parameters have been perfect since the cycle was complete. I checked my water parameters right after I removed my poor fish's body. The results were crazy!!!
NH4+ = .25ppm
NH3 = 5ppm
NH2 = 2ppm
pH = 7.4

My parameters have NEVER been this bad. Typically, my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0, and my pH is at 7.4. This literally came out of NOWHERE.

I feed my fish once a day, a mix of flakes, bloodworms and veggie flakes. I vacuum the gravel 1-2 times weekly doing 30% water changes, or 60% if I'm feeling picky

Please....what's going on? Are my other fish going to die? I am so discouraged right now!!! I bought fish before cycling knowledge, and their ammonia buildup killed them. I found this forum, learned about the cycle, did a fishless cycle until my tank was ready, and my fish have been thriving happily for 2 months. Now one of them dies and my parameters are terrible. I feel like a fish-killer

 

[tmh0921]

You've had 0 ammonia, 0 NitrItes, and 0 NitrAtes? No NitrAtes at all? It doesn't sound like your tank was cycled. Cycled tanks have nitrAtes. Those water parameters are deadly....I'd recommend a HUGE water change....and repeat daily or twice daily until you get the paramaters back under control.

How quickly did you add these fish? All at once or a couple at a time? For a 10 gallon, I think two Gouramis, 2 platties, and 2 mollies is overstocked.

Sorry about the molly.

 

[tmh0921]

Oh, and please don't beat yourself up....you're no fish killer....these things happen. The key is to use it as a learning opportunity. I lost a few fish early on, and it was heartbreaking. Haven't lost any in a long while until recently when I ordered two dwarf cichlids, and the <not so nice word> seller shipped them to me very ill. They arrived with ich. The stress of being shipped while sick, and the treatment for ich was too much and they both died. Luckily, it didn't spread. I learned a non-medicine treatment for ich from that experience, as well as better research for my online purchases....and in the end got two Spectacular replacement dwarf cichlids online who arrived very healthy, and have spawned already

 

[mark4785]

In all honesty the fish to me looks like its blood vessels have become inflamed in response to the water quality problems you've experienced. The mix of food you use daily may have contributed to the ammonia and nitrite rise; its not conventional to feed blood worms every day and perhaps using one kind of flake per day wouldn't hurt. For instance, I always use the Ocean Nutrition range; I'll use a high protein flake one day, the next i'll use a high-spirulina content one. This would be a better feeding regime than trying to fit as many types of flake into one day as there will be less of an ammonia source being added.

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

Thanks for the responses everyone!!
My guess is that my darn test kit for nitrAtes hadn't been shaken properly. I tested it the other day and my nitrates read 10ppm. Is this a safe range?

Also, about the feeding issue - I have a great veggie flake I feed them but they tend to not finish it before it sinks to the bottom. I have freeze dried bloodworms but those are fatty and shouldn't be used as a staple. I tried sinking pellets and they eat most of it and spit the remains out. Flakes gave been the only food source that hasn't really contributed to my tank waste. Any way I can solve BOTH these problems?