Sad Beginner.....

elizabeth5555

Hi
I am not doing very well with my tropical fish. As a beginner, i purchased a 105 litre tank, put 3 minnows and established the water etc., water tests have been fine. Then I added 3 mollies, and each week or 2 i have added a few more fish. The last batch i added were l catfish, 3 Clown Loach, l silver shark. Then within the week my minnows started to die, one each day, then one of my mollies, the 2 guppies, and each day i am losing my fish. Went to a specialist he told me to try putting in myxazin for 5 days, I am now on the 2nd day. My guess is "maybe i added too many fish"? actually, I have no idea as I am a beginner My fish that have died, have not been hurt, no spots? I am left with:- 2 catfish, l Clown Loach, l ty fighting fish, l guppie, 2 mollies, 1 silver shark, 2 Black Phantom Tetra, 3 angel fish. Would welcome any ideas? Thanks.
Lizx

ryann

You need to do some research for each species in your tank. To start, your tank is too small for a shark. Clown loaches get to be over a foot long sometimes and need schools so you can not fit that in. 3 angels in that tank will not work. 1 pair is absolutely the most, I would recommend only 1 angel.

Did you cycle your tank before you put fish in? What are your water parameters?

elizabeth5555

Yes, I did cycle the tank, and right now they are only small, however, my plan was to enlarge to a bigger tank as they grew. Water tested spot on with nitrate, nitrite, ammonia. Do you recommend only one angel because they fight?

ryann

Yes I only recommend 1 cause they can get aggressive. I know they are only small but you really shouldn't just plan on enlarging. I would recommend a bigger tank immediately.
Posted via Mobile Device

elizabeth5555

Thanks for your advise.
Liz

thekoimaiden

Glad that you have a test kit and the tank is cycled. However, you have some major problems with you stocking list. This is causing stress on the fish which is not helping their recovery/adjustment period. If you can, most of these fish should be returned. You're going to see some fish names highlighted. You can click on those links and they will show you a lot more information about the fish.

2 catfish - What kind of catfish? Some are suitable for your tank and others are most certainly not.
1 Clown Loach - This fish is not suited to your tank. They are schooling and become nippy and aggressive without the proper sized school. They also grow around a foot long. A school of these guys will eventually need a 6-foot tank. I highly recommend returning him.
1 ty fighting fish - I think you mean Siamese Fighting Fish. These are not recommended with angelfish because angelfish can't always resist the temptation to nip at their long fins. This fish is best kept by himself in a 20 L tank.
1l guppie, - This single Guppy could be fine in your tank. For right now, I would leave him alone and focus on getting some of the major problems out of there.
2 mollies - Again, not an immediate problem.
1 silver shark - Oh dear. Another name this fish goes by is the Bala Shark. It's not suited for your tank. Like the Clown Loach it grows over a foot long, needs schools, and will need a 6 foot tank.
2 Black Phantom Tetra - These sometimes go by the name of Black Widow Tetra and have a nasty reputation to match that name. They are not recommended with angelfish or the fighting fish because of this bad habit of nipping fins. It's exacerbated when these fish are kept in groups smaller than 10.
3 angel fish - Again, will outgrow the tank. They also need groups of 5 or more. A mated pair can be kept in your size tank, but they chose thier own mates. Just because you put two together doesn't make them a pair.

I know you had planned to upgrade as you go, but this is never a good idea. A lot of things happen in between when you buy the fish and when you have the room/financial ability to get a larger tank. It's always best to buy fish that can live in your tank for the rest of their lives. It's a lot less stressful on you and your fish this way.

elizabeth5555

Black molly fish died today. He was so strong, swimming around, whereas the loach was quite lifeless and now is swimming around content. One can never tell. I hope not to loose all of them. Keeping up the meds, water change today and new filter, and water test tomorrow. I hope that my catfish will survive, have been told they do not grown large, ok, for this size tank. One has wonderful spotted markings, and seems to hide in the cannon, the other apparently is the best eating algae catfish.

Byron

Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum, and to the hobby.

First question, how exactly did you cycle the tank?

Second, I agree with others that there are too many fish and they are largely not compatible for various reasons. Please read up on them in the profiles section. If the name is shaded, click that; but profiles are under the second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the page, and all fish mentioned are there with info on minimum numbers, minimum tank size, compatibility, etc.

Third, what are your water parameters? Meaning hardness (GH) and pH? Some of the fish listed are very demanding, the molly need hard water, some of the tetra do not.

Fourth pint, no matter that you plan on a larger tank, various things can occur to delay this, and fish need sufficient space and numbers from day one in order to develop properly.

It is possible to find suitable fish in suitable numbers for your tank and water parameters, and they will live.

Byron.

elizabeth5555

If it states community fish, what does that mean then?

elizabeth5555

The fish that have died are the ones that require hard water, we live in london where the water is hard. The tetra which require soft water are happy. All our fish are community fish, there is no sign of any agression. The fish that died today were swimming happily and then just stoppped swimming and died. One black molly and one clown. They are all playing happily, the tetra are playing their mock fights etc,. why are they dying? water change done, new filter fitted, meds added for bacteria contamination, stress coating added for improved water quality, and stress xyme for extra beneficial bacteria. also during the water changed we thoroughly c leaned any excessive particles from the filter and medium.