Too much action, not enough planning. You're going to need to take control of the situation quickly if you want things to improve.
First, Water changes, water changes, water changes. Say it with me now. Like lisa said, do an 80% right away and keep up with 50% or more daily for a while. The tank is still cycling and is pretty toxic to the fish. The neon could have easily succumbed to the poor water quality. A couple weeks without a water change in an establishing tank is pretty rough.
Second, stop adding unnecessary chemicals. The only things that should be going into that tank right now is water conditioner (preferably prime), 1 tablespoon of salt/5 gallons, and the recommended dosage of melafix and pimafix. No other medications for now.
If you can get some biospira, use it asap. Follow the directions closely.
And stop changing all the filter media so frequently. A decent aquaclear HOB would probably be a good idea and cheaper in the long run. You could then use a combination of sponge, floss and biomax to make the most of it. Right now it seems liek any bacteria that establish themselves are being discarded.
Try and maintain a steady temp in the 78-80 range. And add an airstone temporarily if you have one handy.
The situation is bad, but it's not hopeless.
Please Help - Molly with Infection?
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
-
XxDRangerxX
Thanks for moving this over. I gotta say thanks for the help. Ill take over now kevin. okay I called amazonia and they said they dont have any in stock right now. sorry about changin the bags, i just wanted a really clean tank. Im going to try and add an airstone tonight. So i added about 4 teaspoons, that means just about 1 table spoon has been added right? i think dolly is pregnant too. shes been sittin in her hole she built for awhile now. im worried. the snail is boring little guy that just sits and eventually moves around. the other neon is less active without the other one. i might be able to do another water change tomorrow. do i really need to do 80 percent everday now?
-
Phaedrus
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1402
- Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:34 pm
- Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Contact:
80% to start with and 50% daily for a while afterwards. It can be a chore, but it's the only way to dilute and remove the toxic organics in the water during a cycle.
I highly recommend you seek out some bio-spira to cycle the tank instantly. Then you won't have to do as many water changes. Just one 80% water change before adding the bio-spira to the filter, and then another 50% change 2 or 3 days later. After that you can do normal 40-50% water changes once a week.
I highly recommend you seek out some bio-spira to cycle the tank instantly. Then you won't have to do as many water changes. Just one 80% water change before adding the bio-spira to the filter, and then another 50% change 2 or 3 days later. After that you can do normal 40-50% water changes once a week.
-
hobbes
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:19 pm
- My Puffers: T suvatti
- Location: Austin, TX
Molly died while doing a WC. He returned snail. For some reason DRanger can't log on to the site anymore. He can't even see it. It says forbidden domain or something. Hes going to try to start a platy tank next, you know where he got the inspiration 
. He got bio-spira at the last second too, poor molly. R.I.P. Dolly.. 
. He got bio-spira at the last second too, poor molly. R.I.P. Dolly.. -
Phaedrus
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1402
- Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:34 pm
- Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Contact:
That's too bad.
This time you'll know to plan ahead and take your time, and you'll know what needs to be done to keep it running smoothly.
As for platties... You can't blame me! :p
Decide if you want to bother with fry before you commit. If given a healthy tank, they will multiply and you'll need a place to put them. You can either go with all one gender, or have a mix and deal with the fry in some way, meaning selling them, or killing them.
If you go with a mix, try to get more females than males to limit and spread out aggression, because the males will chase the females relentlessly, and will chase any other male that gets too close.
good luck
This time you'll know to plan ahead and take your time, and you'll know what needs to be done to keep it running smoothly.
As for platties... You can't blame me! :p
Decide if you want to bother with fry before you commit. If given a healthy tank, they will multiply and you'll need a place to put them. You can either go with all one gender, or have a mix and deal with the fry in some way, meaning selling them, or killing them.
If you go with a mix, try to get more females than males to limit and spread out aggression, because the males will chase the females relentlessly, and will chase any other male that gets too close.
good luck