Can someone help me save my mollies?!??!?!

Ok, I am a bit desperate at this point...I have a 26 gallon flat back hex aquarium that just seems to have THE worst luck holding fish.About 3 months ago my 2 year old fancy goldfish passed due to an unknown ailment(still have not been able to pin down the culprit)I figured after much research, the best thing to do to ensure a successful start to a new tank, was to break my entire tank down, clean with bleach water, dry and re-start.I did the process over a week(to ensure all chlorine was evaporated ect)filled it, added a bit of salt, conditioner and let it run for a few weeks.It looked GREAT and I was in good standing with water tests, so to the pet store I went with my 3 year old to get him some fish to look at.I picked Mollies (4 females, a creamsicle lyretail, 2 dalmations and a plain white/silver)They were all beautiful healthy fish all the stock in the same tanks looked good, so I thought I'd be golden.I had 2 golden dojo loaches, 2 kuhli loaches and a peppered cory cat.(they were in a safe holding tank while I cycled the tank)I added them one by one to the cycled tank and everything was going good......until I switched the tank to sand substrate, and thats when everything seemed to go to heck.My loaches stopped burrowing and would just lay on the plants or float around and the dojos mouths turned red.I was(and am)confused as to why they did this, considering I changed to sand so they could be happy!! :(.. Well I have lost ALL of my loaches and now my mollies are hunched and swimming very wobbly, along with not eating.My cory cat will periodically lie on his side (and scare the bejesus out of me)which he has never done before, while by contrast the baby albino cory is happy as a bug in a rug, along with my bristle nose pleco.I tested my water and the results are this:

nitrate: 20ppm
nitrite:1 ppm(same as tap)
hardness:300(same as tap)
alkalinity:300(same as tap)
Ph: 8.4(same as tap)

Now you'll all have to bear with me..I've never really been a "water tester" I've always had a lot of success with my aquariums until this tank without testing(whether it be bad juju or not..idk lol)I have read some things that make me consider TB....but since it's rare I am thinking maybe I'm over reacting.I am looking for some advice on what I can do to have a successful tank, whether that be another fish species(to suit the water conditions) or something I, as a fish mommy, am doing horribly wrong.I do weekly water changes with a "python" so there isn't a worry about contaminants and I ALWAYS take care to make sure my hands and arms are nice and clean before doing anything with the tank.If you can help, please do...my fishies may not make it much longer :(...

What's the ammonia? Also Nitrite should be 0 which could be the cause of your problem. Seeing how you have a Nitrite reading you may also have an ammonia spike and tank may not yet be fully cycled. I am by no means an expert at this stuff, but I know there should be no Nitrites. I hope someone else with more knowledge can help more.

Have you checked for ammonia? A tank can take months to cycle.

Ya I would check that, your nitrites should be 0, and if ur ammonia is high then that will be ur problem

Please correct me if I am wrong...salt and loaches is a nono right???

Is this a new tank or did you buy it used?? If it was used someone might have "cleaned" it with soap which would kill your fish over time. Also most of your fish like lower pH 8.4 is extreme most of your loaches are 7.0 pH fish. Corys also like the water 7ish pH and they do not do well with nitrates...most fish can hande 20ppm for a while but can kill them after a while.

And what type of sand did you use?? Aquarium sand, pool filter, playground, paver sand some of these sands can carry unwanted material into the tank. Did you switch to sand after the fish were already in the tank? If so that will cause the tank to cycle again and all your fish cannot take ammonia live bearers and scaless fish ammonia is a killer.

It really sounds like your tank is going thru a cycle. If I am reading your post right you have put 11 fish into the tank within two weeks of setting it up which is when the cycle happens...goldfish died 3 weeks ago..clorinated tank for a week..set it up added 4 mollies 2 dojo 2 kuhli peppered baby albino and pleco which could cause the nitrites and nitrates. Nitrates are usually the end of the cycle once they get below 10ppm and nitrites are 0 you should have a cycled tank.

Ways to fix it...unfotunatley there is no miracle cure I would step up your weekly water changes to 25% every couple of days ..keep testing If you see ammonia or nitrite keep with the 25% every 2/3 days till it is gone.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes also please post if you do have ammonia

they sound like their on the right if you have an estblished filter in another tank use it do a water change if no avabile filter add a bacteria boster you can get at lfs might help alot mollies like 0 tolerences in water paramatures

Upon discussing this with my mom(who keeps Malawi cichlids and arrowhead puffers...she also does not test and never loses fish) we have come to the horrible conclusion that it's all my fault :(( I didn't consider the bacteria balance that the gravel held.In short..Elrollo, you were correct.While I didn't change the substrate while they were IN the tank I didn't let the tank re-cycle....thank you all for trying to help!

Nizz we all have made mistakes. Glad you figured it out. I test my new tanks for 6 weeks after they are established it's usually if I observe something strange.

I do have a question for all you...would I be able to fix the situation by adding some of the old gravel back in?(a thin layer over the sand) I would LOVE to be able to save my mollies....

I doubt it as the damage is done if they are hunched.

Ok, well where should I go from here? Should I let them die? How long should I wait to get more fish? Do I need to do any chemical or physical matinence besides weekly water changes? The sand has been in there for about..oh...3 weeks now.

The best thing you should have done....and now you know for the future. If a tank is cycled and you want to change the rocks to sand. Put the old rocks in a stocking/sock and keep in the tank. Also. 8.0 ph is a little high for mollies and most other fish. They prefer 7.3ish. Dojos are related to goldfish so if the tank is too warm, they can die or get very ill. Dojos also can not have salt in their aquarium. They don't have scales only skin and mucus. Salt will eat thru the mucus and kill the dojos. Mollies do well in salt added water. Try some ph down and maybe some stress coat. I do agree most of the damage is done and all you can do is wait it out unless you have a cycled tank and can borrow some subsutrate from it.

You could try using Seachem Prime as well. It helps lower the ammonia and nitrate levels. You can also use the tubing from a gravel vac to suck any and all debris off of the top of the sand. I say just the tubing because it works better at getting more debris and less water so you can do it more often. Decaying food, fish waste, and other yucky stuff is just going to compound the problem. I would do this everyday and just hope for the best. You can also try using Fishkeeper. I use it weekly for my mollies as preventative care and they've never had any problems. I add it to the fry tank too and I haven't lost a baby yet! Good luck hun! It sucks playing the waiting game, but hopefully they will come around and get better soon!

You can lower your ph by adding driftwood and leaves Oak leaves works well. rinse the leaves and let them dry out and place them in your tank. chemical PH down only lowers it for awhile and causes instable ph levels. Get some used (at least 3 weeks old) filter media from your Mom. This will have BB (beneficial bacteria) growing in it and place it in your filter or in your tank for about 6 weeks. Prime does not remove but alters ammonia which is what you want. You need ammonia to complete the cycling process. I would leave them in the tank while it's cycling since they are already affected by ammonia. Some may live some my pass but you learned a lesson we all had to learn. Cycling, not to over crowd during cycling, and beneficial bacteria. Your going to be great in this hobby.

Another way to bring down pH (do it gradually!) is to change 1G water every two days and replace it with distilled/bottled. Now, since these purified gallons will be extremely soft - you'll need to add a dash of 7-7.2 buffer with each change. Try to bring the pH down to the 7ish range over a 2 week period. I always add a tablet of 7 buffer to all of my tanks that need neutral pH with each water change.

The next thing is to make sure that you have no shells, limestone or marble in your tank. These contain calcium carbonate, which will slowly leach out and raise your pH.

The every-other day minor water changes will allow the tank to cycle, but keep the levels from going totally extreme. This will help your fish out.

One other thing you didn't mention was the tank temperature. I've had issues when the tank became too cold or too warm. A good temp for those species is 74F.

I did a 90% water change and the mollies are un-hunched and eating again.....

the tank is kept at 79 degrees
I am getting some java moss today and I only have fake plants(I have horrid luck with live, always have) :P There is NO rocks or anything, I actually removed the large centerpiece when I changed water yesterday(but it was fake, so...lol)no calcium or limestone.....thats just how my tap water is(which is well water) my tank water parameters are EXACTLY the same as my tap except for the nitrates which are also NOW at tap level again.

Thanks

you can add very little salt into ur tank, my horse face loach hides under the sand when i do salt in my 55 for my discus and he has never been hurt or eaten, just keep in mind do the salt wait for 2 days the most, then water change. my dojo has never given me problems with it either just small quantities is the key. but beware of the med called clout,THAT WILL KILL YOU GUY! never done it but i read and says no scaless fish. melafix will help too to get more slim back for ur dojo, moderation is a key to these guys, i lived and learned lol plus beware of filter and dojos. they dont mix lol. watch out for decor, ive lost 2 good loaches from a piece of decor( plus a kuhli)

If your well water is kicking out nitrites and nitrates and 8.3 pH wow...sounds like you will need to do chemical maintance on the water to make it suitablefor fish. Is there any type of filter on the well itself?? A carbon Filter( I am talking about the large 15" carbon filters made for wells) and water softener would take care of a lot of your problems.

My tap water is pretty bad here. 7.8 pH and ammonia is added along with chlorine to the water. I usually age the water; I put it into a 50 gal trash can (only used for fish tanks) use pH acidifier to get pH right to 7 and prime to remove the chloromine. You do not want to use pH exact stuff it contains phosphates which usually result in an algae bloom. I do have wood in alot of my tanks but the water out of the tank is buffered by the city so this does not help lower my pH...You might want to try taking a piece of wood and some leaves and see how long it takes in a bowl or a jar to lower your pH. It sounds like you live in Florida or along a coast made of seashells and coral. I have never had a problem with pH "crash" as long as I keep up with my water change schedule.

Glad to hear your mollies have straightened out. Best of luck to you and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

I murdered all the fish I put in my aquarium I got at good will. I power washed every thing. It really sparkled. set it up. let the water age ect. Finally got me some fish. Thought evrything looked great. But with in a few days all my fish croaked. tried again, same thing, I was frantic. had the water checked. Seemed OK except for nitrates, bought stuff to reduce that. Kept buying and losing fish. Took to cleaning and quarting my tank every few days, Fish continued to croak . FINALY one of the fish people said may-be your tank is TOO clean! Showed me to the bacteria, I bought this, let my tanks bubble for a few days. My 1 surviving guppy and snail are happy, and I have lost none of the replacement fish, My molly has even given birth, I saw a baby this morning.
today My guppy was swimming under my male Lyertail asking if he used extends. ( OK I'm kidding here.) Any way. I had no idea how important bacteria is. I had fish as a kid, Don't remember having this much trouble. But then I didn't clean my tank often, or well. Hope you save your fish. good luck.

lmao .. sorry for your loss..

but that is funny story... Yes.. don't kill your bateria!!

hugs..
Juliet