i can't keep my mollies alive?

Question

I have had my tank for eight weeks, clean it every two weeks and change plants when they go brown. Had the water tested regularly, with no problems, and turned the temperature up to 30oC when the weather turned cold. I have silver dollars, guppies, barbs, zebra and leopard fish,all are really happy but my mollies die with in a couple of days or within two weeks. I really like mollies, they are beautiful but it is getting really depressing pulling them out. What am i doing wrong?

Answer 1

30c is a little high for most of those fish i would really have thought that 24/26 would be a more comfortable level, molly's as have been pointed out are partial to salt however especially the silver dollars are not, so it may be a case of one or the other.
Plants going brown is due to a lack of correct light, if you have a flourescent tube i would suggest one that peaks in the yellow/red spectrum. Obviously this depends on the depth of the tank but im assuming its no more than 20"

AJ

Answer 2

Well, mollies benefit from brackish (partially salty) water. You may want to consider seperating them into their own tank or just not adding them to your mix.

Also, a tank that is just 8 weeks young is not yet fully cycled, so when you say your water test show no problems, that's not really as much info as you might be able to get. Keep an eye on ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate (in that order) - one should rise and go down, then the next goes up and down, and finally the third. If the nitrates stay high, there is not enough beneficial bacteria in the tank yet (or live plants) to finish the cycle so you need to do water changes. This might be what's happening: nitrates are a common culprit! Do yourself a favor if you want to get a good idea of what's going on, and buy some test kits that check those 3 things (don't really worry about the rest, except perhaps pH once in a while).

Hope this helps some, good luck :)

Answer 3

Hi...lots of info you get from people! We have mollies! So you might want to read mine. We use mollies to warn us if our tanks are getting ready to crash...why? Because mollies are a sensitive fish. Eight weeks isn't enough to finish cycling your tank, but you can still keep mollies IF you do plenty of fresh water changes! You only need a gravel vac (cheap) and fresh tap water. Do about 50% every three days...until you see algae growth. Then do just 25-50% every week to add H20 for the fish to breath. Don't add a chlorine remover unless you are sure your city adds it to your water...it just produces more ammonia and kills your mollies faster. Don't use any chemicals when you clean your tank. (ps...if your mollies fins are bitten off it is because you have some aggressive fish and could be a problem.)

Answer 4

..I hope in some way this might help.When you change the water in the tank always put the water back in around the same temp.When you get new fish make sure you float the bag in the tank for at least 20 min so they can adjust if you have more problems ring the shop where you got them and ask them what the problem could be sometimes that helps.Good luck.

Answer 5

30 is a bit to hot, you rather want your fish on a temperature more like around 24-28, that might be also the problem your plants dying
And the weather has nothing to do with your tank anyway
Have you checked your ammonia levels as well?
I don't know how big your tank is, but try to put some aquarium salt in it when you keep your mollies, like a tablespoon on 10 gallon
They might be also stressed out when you get them home
A very important thing to do is, when you get home with your fish, put them with the bag they came in in your tank for at least 30 minutes, that way they can adjust to the new watertemperature and they don't get as stressed
Try to use special plantfeeder for your plants(forgot the name of it) to grow

Also check out these sites
http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/warm_water_aquariums.htm
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Livebearer,%20Molly.htm
http://www.fishdeals.com/livebearers/mollies/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=326
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=56
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plants/plants.htm
http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=FAP&Category_Code=AP
http://www.aquariumplants.com//Articles.asp?ID=111

Hope that helped you a bit
Good luck

Answer 6

do you comprehend in case you acquire men or women? The ratio must be stunning for the lads to not rigidity the ladies to loss of existence. Mollies choose a minimum of two-3 women according to male in case you have the two sexes. additionally they like greater salt than your different fish and as a rule top off your tank whilst finished grown. what proportion tetras and angels are in that comparable tank? perhaps you basically have been given a undesirable batch of them final time, perhaps the water is off a technique or the different, perhaps the mating under pressure them out. there is various opportunities. good good fortune alongside with your new ones, however, and be at liberty to digital mail me (from my profile) in case you have the different questions.

Answer 7

well you;ll might need to get another tank jsut for the molly because they cant live in the same temp. like the other fish

Answer 8

Get your water tested at an aquarium.
Mollies like a bit of salt as well (brackish water)

Answer 9

Check the water temperature.NOT ALL fish require the same temperature.Your temp. might be too hot.

Answer 10

maybe they need a different tank from the other fish