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I added a Siamese Fighting Fish and 2 Dwarf Gourami's the fighter was dead within a day (told by lfs my water was to clean ?) got replaced by 2 kissing Gourami's... 2 days later 1 Dwarf Gourami and 1 molly died.. next day 1 high fin sword died. there is plenty of plant cover for fish i think it may be stress but would like someone who knows better to tell me.

110 ltrs
temp - 78
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 25mg/l
ph - 7.2
Added salt --1 tablespoon per 25 ltrs(1 per water change every 2 weeks)

3 mollys
2 swordtails
1 Dwarf Gourami
2 kissing Gourami's

also if they keep dying i was thinking of changing to angel's , loaches and shark's... are they more hardy than the one's i got also do they like salt in the water

First of all, how long has this tank been set up?

Quite simply, gouramis and bettas (fighting fish) don't really get along. They're closely related and bettas can see gouramis as rivals. In this case, he may have attacked the gouramis, but the gouramis outnumbered him? Bettas are pretty dang hardy when you consider how most people mistreat them.

It's also possible that your newly added fish were carrying some sort of disease and were stressed by travel.

You've got an issue now, because kissing gouramis can reach nearly a foot long. Way too big for your tank. (And for those of us like myself who have to look up the equivalent, it's a 29 gallon tank.)

I'd figure out what's going on before you try adding anymore or you'll just be throwing good money after bad.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Hello martinh,

I'm no expert but there are some things that would make it easier to assess your problematic situation:

1. What is in the tank? (i.e. Gravel, plants, type and size of filtration, decorations, etc) Dimensions of the tank?

2. How old is the tank? How long has it been cycled?

3. What was your original stock? What size are your fish? What size are the fish you added and in which intervals? What type of mollies do you have?

4. Behavioural symptoms of fish or physical description of dead fish? Prescence of Foreing growths on body or fins?

5. Water Change schedule? When was your last Water Change?


The more information you provide, the more assertive will be the diagnosis resulting.

Mollies are quite finicky to nitrate levels so are gouramis IME. Gouramis render a large bioload to the tank as well. Mollies, swordtails and Kissing gouramis can get pretty large causing pressure on your tank's system.

I will have to aggree to the utmost with kitten, better figure out what's going on before making any stocking plans.

Also fish like angels, some loaches and some sharks can get pretty big for a 29 gallon, so research heavily before making any purchases to ensure that you can house them accordingly.

Focus on posting as much additional information that you can on the tank's specifics. I'm sure our local hero will soon come and save the day, setting us all straight on the status of your situation.

Sympathizing with your grief,

J.

my tank is 3 months old i ts the second time i've cycled this tank--used biomature for 3 weeks... its got natural gravel ,4 artificial plants ,1 castle.. i do 25% water change every 2 weeks .. i started with 3 swords 2 died replaced them. 3 mollys 1 died replaced it all over 3 weeks . all fish are small to medium the 2 kissers are slightly bigger than the others also when i put them in they were a bit erratic swimming really fast all over the place.filter is fluval 3 .. no carbon..airstone is 30 cm..water is crystal clear and readings are fine..
no whitespot..dead fish look ok apart from being dead..the molly and sword were sittng at the bottom for a day before they died..
HELP HELP HELP....WHAT AM I DOING WRONG

Just a thought. Lift that castle up. Presumably its hollow inside, sniff it and tell me what you smell. Rotten eggs perhaps? Sometimes hydrogen sulphide gas builds up underneath hollow ornaments, as stuff rots in them and the water within is deprived of oxygen,the gas builds up, this them leaches out slowly and invisibly, poisoning the fish.

This seems too quick in terms of deaths for it to be a disease, i has to be a gas or a toxin. Id also stop adding salt, theres no real need for it in this tank, and combined with various gases it can make some very nasty acids that wont show on a test kit. If it was me id take out the decor, stir up the gravel, and try a 30% water change without adding salt. Use a carbon filter insert if you can find one, they help a great deal in removing toxins.

Oh yes and for the love of god , stop replacing the fish until the problem is sorted, its like sending fish to the gas chamber! STOP!

Sort the problem first, then get more fish. And in your case that means not adding salts, infact id get as much of it back out as possible for now, releasing trapped gas and detritus, running carbon etc.
Then leave it at least a week before adding new fish if not longer!

And if it is the decor causing the problem, either stop using it or drill that little sucker full of holes so foul water cant be held within it again.

Is there anything you might have done accidentally that might have caused a toxin to get in the tank? flyspray, furniture polish,air freshener, scented candles ,used flea traps in the house, done any gardening and got plant fertiliser on your hands, hair gel? Have you checked all your fish foods were unopened and in date before use? Been giving the fish live bugs from the garden? Anything like that you can think of or eliminate as a possibility might help.

In your case id also ultimately consider getting the tank up to speed with fishless cycling.

I think unless you can find the problem in time,its highly likely youll need to strip it down and start from scratch, you cant really just keep adding more fish and hope the problem resolves itself.If your down to the last few fish and they are likely to die, do not buy more , give the fish away and let the tank die a death. Then swapout the gravel, all the filter media etc, give everything a thorough cleanout, ditch the plants, and scrub the hell out of the decorations etc.

Its not a happy circumstance, but it happens.