# Help!!! Very important!!! Fish mey be dying!!!



## GloFish1999 (May 14, 2011)

*Help!!! Very important!!! Fish may be dying!!! :'(*

My silver lyretail molly is laying at the bottom of my 10g aquarium. She (or he) is laying on his (or her) side. She (or he) is breathing really heavily! I don't know what to do! I am so new at owning my own fish! HELP ME PLEASE!!! :'(


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

try testing the water. The molly may be a female and pregnant.


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## GloFish1999 (May 14, 2011)

*Oh!*

How do I test the water? And how do I know if she (or he) is a girl or boy? She (or he) has been laying there since 6:30 this morning, and it's 4:20 right now in my time zone... :fish:


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Call petsmart and ask them if they have water tests. They'll tell you if your water is good. Try to post a picture of it. If you don't know how, this is what I do... I make an album, title it and then open another tab and click on the pic, hold it and drag it to your post tab. Put it where you type and let go. That should do it.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Just like what I said in your other tank, you added more fish to soon in a tank that wasn't even cycled! 

Do a 20% water change, buy some test kits, and add some Tetra Safestart. (It supposedly works.) 

Good luck!


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## GloFish1999 (May 14, 2011)

*Hmmm...*

I think the PetSmart by me has water testing. They said to bring in a sample of the water... Also, it might take a little bit of time to get the pic. on...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Cool! if you can go soon you should... all you have to do is grab a Ziploc bag and put water in it, and put another ziploc around it. It shouldn't take long to post a pic... If you make an album, tell us the name! Keep us posted...


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## GloFish1999 (May 14, 2011)

*Ugh!*

I can't find my camera!!!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

check to see if he or she has a small pointed fin hanging close to it's "hole".


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

does it have the little fin?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

this sure is an active thread!!!!


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Okay. This is how you sex a livebearer:










A male has a more tube-like fin, so he can impregnate the females. Females just have a normal anal fin, like a fan. 

I don't know why a photo is necessary. Water full of ammonia or dangerous toxins can still be perfectly clear. 

My guess is that the tank is not cycled. Go to your petstore and pick up a reliable test kit. API Liquid kits are way more exact that strips...strips are decent but some are just plain rubbish. Pet stores tend to use strips because they are cheaper...a liquid test kit will pay for itself, though. 

Is the ammonia zero? Are the nitrites zero? Have your store test it too, and make sure chlorine and other toxins are zero. 

Have you changed anything recently? Added a decoration, a new fish, etc? Is the filter functioning? When is the last time you did a water change? 

Do the other fish look stressed? Is this molly new? If so, she may have caught a disease at the store or wholesaler. Are there any markings on her, such as gold-looking dust, looking salted?

It's a lot of questions, but remember how many questions your doctor asks when you are sick!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

The male's is a point.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

how are they???


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

since it is a molly ; put a little salt in the water...


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

This is the same tank where all the glofish just died, right, and then you just added these new fish, right?
Well, that's your problem. This is what is known as "New Tank Syndrome." You have ammonia buildup in this tank but you don't yet have enough ammonia-eating bacteria in it to get rid of this poison.
Like funlad said, change 1/3 of the water and pour in a bottle of Tetra SafeStart. ( comes in different sizes, so use the right size for your tank )
Loha said to add a little salt, and this can also help. 1 tablespoon per three gallons should be enough. Mollies like it, but more importantly in this case, it binds to nitrite and makes it much less of a problem. Nitrite is what you get when the bacteria finish with the ammonia, but it is still poisonous. Still other bacteria will eat that nitrite and turn it into nitrate, which is mostly harmless until it gets to a level too high, but that should never happen if you change some water every week.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

If you know anyone who has a tank that's up and running and been that way for a month! then go to his house and usk for a pint of his water. you could buy nite out but it's really expensive!!!


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

Nah, a pint of your friend's water won't do much good. A clip from their bio-media, however, will.... The beneficial bacteria is mostly in the filter, and a little bit in the gravel.

And TOS is right. Another sign of ammonia poisoning is if you see other fish in your tank with black on them that wasn't there before. Those are healing ammonia burns.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

All he needs is a little bit of bacteria!


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Betta man said:


> All he needs is a little bit of bacteria!


Egorise is right.

There is no ben. bacteria in the tank water... Bacteria likes to form on hard surfaces, mainly on your filter media since thats where most the water flows thru.

You could either do what Funland and TOS recommended or do what Egorise recommended. Either one will help you out tremendously.


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

You should also try to get your hands on some extra bio-media that you can stick in a little mesh back and plop into your filter. It will grow the beneficial bacteria and be ready for you in case you ever have to set up a hospital tank, or, if you are like the rest of us, you get hooked and set up lots more tanks.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Mr. fish said:


> Egorise is right.
> 
> There is no ben. bacteria in the tank water... Bacteria likes to form on hard surfaces, mainly on your filter media since thats where most the water flows thru.


A tank decoration or a fake plant could also be helpful. Not as much as filter media, but things like lava rock have a good deal of surface area, too.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I just rinsed off my bio wheel in my new 2 gal to get the bacteria and ammonia levels in their places.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

that's not going to do it betta man...put some of the gravel in.whatever little bacteria that was in the water will not last long and not enough in it to do anything...
get a small sponge filter for the 2 gallon.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

rats... It was worth a try... I can't afford a filter.


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