newbie with tropical tank

[darren-gibbs]

hi, im a newbie, picked up 4 fish today, 2 mollies, black spotted both, and 2 sword tails, i have a 45 litre tank, with 1 plant and 2 ordaments, put in a 12ish roughly, and i think 1 of the mollies was sick, for about 30 minutes 8:30 tonight, it was just staying at the bottom of the tank, under the heater, what do you think may be wrong, or am i just panicking for no reason.
Maybe new tank syndrome?
Different Scenery?
Suggestions.
Thanks

 

[misterking]

How long was the tank set up? Did you properly cycle the tank before adding fish? (note, this is not simply letting the tank sit for a week or 2).

Do you have a test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and can you post these water parameters if you do? This will help determine what was wrong.

 

[darren-gibbs]

thanks for your speedy reply.
5 days cycle, cleaned once, went to swallows and the bloke recommened it would be fine if i added 1 whole bottle of (Tetra Safe Start) - Enables a safe aquarium start, and i got told a testing kit wasnt needed at this time

 

[darren-gibbs]

now both my mollies look like they are hiding in the corner near the plant? is this normal?

 

[jingles]

mm read up on cycling and a test kit will help to make sure your tank is fully cycled. I highly doubt the tank is cycled but since you added "tetra Safe Start" the ammonium levels might be ok for your fish...but I'd watch out. As for the mollies being scared, it's most likely the new environment but I wouldn't worry about the fish being scared. I'd worry about the chemical levels.
on a side note, you have livebearers(mollies, platys, guppies) like a little bit of salt (only aquarium salt) in their water.

 

[littletankbigworld]

Cycling can take up to a month and a half. Even if your fish weren't sick, fish sometimes like to rest on the bottom of the tank if it's dark. But I would say your fish are sick because your tank is not properly cycled.

 

[misterking]

It's probably a water quality issue, what you did was "fish store" cycling, most fish stores don't tell newbies about real cycling because it can get quite complicated and get them out of making a sale.

Test kits are needed at all stages of keeping a fish tank, because if suddenly your fish become ill for no apparent reason (gasping at the surface, red gills, lethargic etc) you can't thoroughly decide what it is without a testing kit. I'd suggest buying an API master test kit, they can be quite pricey but are cheaper online. Therefore, you can check your water parameters and make sure it isn't high amounts of ammonia/nitrite which are causing you problems. A test kit helps to foresee problems and sort them out before they get worse.

Cycling is actually getting the nitrogen cycle going in the tank, by establishing colonies of beneficial bacteria in the filter system and on rocks/gravel/decorations, which convert toxic ammonia into toxic nitrite, then into harmless nitrate.