Advice would be much appreciated. I'm a novice at keeping a tank but in the six months I've doing it, I've already had an outbreak of ich that even though i treated aggressively (with two rounds of ick treatment, aquarium salt, heated water, and water changes) EVERY fish died except for three mollies and a pleco.
So, I waited almost two months. I keep the tank filtered well.
I waited until everything looked very happy. the mollies were thriving. pleco was growing. things seemed settled. then, i added some new fish. two honey sunset guaramis, two red minor tetras, two black neon tetras, and a pictus catfish. Each of the pairs has an agressive one that won't stop nipping at the less aggressive one. I read online and discovered that the tetras should be in groups of six per species. My tank is 20 gal but several experts on another forum said overpopulation of schooling fish might help them calm down.
Several people said I was feeding them too much (every day) and it would lead to a spike of ammonia in the tank, so I scaled back on feeding them and made a major water change. Within a week, all the mollies all died. The fish that are getting picked on are starting to suffer and look ill. The guarami that gets picked on is starting to darken in color and look dull/dirty. The red minor tetra's tail fin is all jagged from nips. And the black neon tetra has two suspicious black spots.
The guy at the local pet store told me the mollies that died had fin rot, so I started treating the tank with melafix. what else can i do? I swear I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. I'm treating the water. I'm reading up. I'm taking the advice. And, I still can't seem to keep fish alive in this darn tank!!!
Help! I don't want another mass death of fishies on my hands.
So, I waited almost two months. I keep the tank filtered well.
I waited until everything looked very happy. the mollies were thriving. pleco was growing. things seemed settled. then, i added some new fish. two honey sunset guaramis, two red minor tetras, two black neon tetras, and a pictus catfish. Each of the pairs has an agressive one that won't stop nipping at the less aggressive one. I read online and discovered that the tetras should be in groups of six per species. My tank is 20 gal but several experts on another forum said overpopulation of schooling fish might help them calm down.
Several people said I was feeding them too much (every day) and it would lead to a spike of ammonia in the tank, so I scaled back on feeding them and made a major water change. Within a week, all the mollies all died. The fish that are getting picked on are starting to suffer and look ill. The guarami that gets picked on is starting to darken in color and look dull/dirty. The red minor tetra's tail fin is all jagged from nips. And the black neon tetra has two suspicious black spots.
The guy at the local pet store told me the mollies that died had fin rot, so I started treating the tank with melafix. what else can i do? I swear I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. I'm treating the water. I'm reading up. I'm taking the advice. And, I still can't seem to keep fish alive in this darn tank!!!
Help! I don't want another mass death of fishies on my hands.
