Why are my fry dying?

[Leet_User]

Hi, this is my first time submitting anything on this forum. About 4 months ago I bought a fish tank and began this new hobby. Now, I have ended up with 9 mollies, 1 bottom feeder, a water turtle, and 5 albino rainbow tailed sharks. I have only recently purchased the mollies and a few weeks later a hatchery. Well, one molly gave birth to 20 fry and everything seemed to be okay. A few days later I found some other fry outside the hatchery, so I put them in. I feed them twice a day and only recently I began feeding them 4 times a day of powdered flakes. All was well for about a month until everyday after school, I return and find one or two dead. I now have 12 left, not including another batch of molly fry less than 2 days old. I have a heater, filter, and my tank holds about 18 gallons. My heater is set to 28 degrees celcius and I turn on my filter about an hour a day. I dont change my water at all, but add about 15% every week, due to evaporation.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[mrV]

Do you keep a turtle (literally turtle) in the same tank where are those fishes too? You should buy a terrarium for your turtle, because fishes and turtles (or lizards) don't belong to same tank.

and I turn on my filter about an hour a day.

Never turn off your filter! Bacteria need oxygen and without it, they die and unaerobic bacteria start to multiply.

I dont change my water at all, but add about 15% every week, due to evaporation.

If you don't change water, it becomes old and bad. Fries need very good water to survive. Also if you add water when it has evaporated, hardness and conductivity increase.

 

[jams.alaskan]

Hey Leet,

MrV is dead on. All he says is true, if you can keep your filter up and running all the time, do weekly 20 percent water changes and consider giving your turtle a home of his own... things should perk up. Best of luck.

ALASKA

OH - and welcome!!!!!

 

[Leet_User]

Thank you all for your replies, you helped a bunch.

 

[Leet_User]

Why would the turtle bother anything? Its a water turtle and is usually borrowed under the gravel. Dont think I have an actual 5 pound turtle in my fish tank, its barely 3 inches, still a baby. Would it still harm the fish.

 

[French Fish]

Congretulation for your fry. Look like you already got some very good advise. I would just like to add that them also like to have lots of light.I would say 1/2 the day. Good luck!

20 gallon
3 Corydora Panda
2 Neon Tetra
3 glow light tetra
3 Male Swordtails ( pineaple , green,Marigold Wag tail)
6 female Swordtail ( pineapple , maringold , Black tuxedo , metallic blue ,Marigold Wag tail,red wag tail )
2 Silver LyreTail Molly
3 African Dwarf Frog
2 female fancy guppy

10 gallon
4 female fancy guppies ( yellow leopard, neon black tail , neon red tail ,neon blue tail )
1 silver lyretail molly (just about to give birt)
2 corydora panda
Few fry swordtail

2.5 gallon
fry guppy from 3 female. about 40
1 big snail + so many small one..

2 gallon hexagon
1 corydora panda
fry swordtail about 15

1 betta

4 bully platty. looking for a new home or pet store...

 

[mrV]

Why would the turtle bother anything?

E.g. turtles mess a lot (poo alot and and their poo is more "concetrated" than fishes). Turtles can survive e.g. in higher nitrates level than fishes, they tolerate bad water better etc... Doesn't water turtle still need some soil too? I have thought that they don't live all time in water and that's why terrarium is much better.