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What can be killing my Black Mollies My sucker fish has holes in its fins Have checked acid level ok2007-11-24 23:40:36

I have checked ph and acid level only. At one time my fish were thriving! They were having babies and they were growing up and having babies. All of a sudden I can't seem to keep any mollies or platties. Should I empty the tank, clean it, and start all over again? If so where do I keep my 8 in. long sucker fish while I am doing this?

Answers:

How often are you doing water changes and how much do you change out when you do?

It sounds to me like your maintenance plan is a little off. No need to completely empty your tank (though knowing how long it has been up and cycled would be helpful).

Your pH is your Acid/Alkalis levels, but have you checked Ammnonia and Nitrites?

Also - how large is the tank, and do you use straight tap water when you fill it up without some sort of water conditioner?

Lots of questions - feel free to write to me directly, and I will be more than happy to try and help you narrow this down.

Good luck regardless

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I think you ought to do a good clean of the tank. I don't mean take everything out and restart the tank. I mean, do a good water change and siphon the crap out of the substrate so that there's nothing building up decay in your tank. It may be that you've not done enough of this in the past and that's why things are bad now. Only do 35-40% for now. Then do that again in a week. After that keep doing water changes at 25% at least once a week. Changing the conditions too drastically can stress your fish to the point they'll die.

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If you're water temp. is too hig or low it could kill them. try keepeing the water temp. between 70 and 78 degrees.

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Also, in addition to all of the great answers, please do keep in mind that black mollies are naturally more brackish. . . They tend to develop velvet disease when salt is not kept in the water. However, your hypostemeus plecostemus may not like salt in the water. I know from experience that it's very hard to keep most livebearers happy and healthy without a little salt in the water.

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Most likely it was bad water conditions brought on by overcrowding. Also a pelco and algae eater of that size will eat anything that will fit in it's mouth. pH while of some importantance isn't very important to molly health. They like 7-7.8, but I've had them in 6.8. The most important things to test are ammonia, and nitrate levels. Also KH should be at least 10 if not in the high 10s, or low 20s. If your water is very soft you might consider raising soft water fish like angels.