What happened to my mollies? They all died at once...?

Question

I had a breeding pair of speckled mollies, and 5 silver mollies (some male, some female) in a community tank with a pleco, chinese algae eater, long-tailed blue danios, giant danios, brass tetras, neon tetras, X-ray tetras, neon danios, and several baby mollies and long-tail blue danios.

All seemed fine, but in the last 24 hours or so, all of the adult mollies have died.  None of the other fish seem affected at all, and so far I think the baby mollies are still okay.

What on earth is happening in my tank?  Can anyone please help me with this?  What should I do to protect the remaining fish?

(I am really freaking out!  I really loved those mollies...)

boncarles · Accepted Answer

When this many fish die at once, it's often the water. Water quality can surprise you -- even if you are cleaning it and it looks clear, there could be nitrites or ammonia building up. Especially if they looked fine and died suddenly, something may have caused a spike. I am so sorry for your loss:( I would take some water to the pet store for them to test just to make sure, and to get advice on how to protect the other fishies or stabilize the water. Good luck.

tatertot3535 · Answer

First make sure they weren't being bullied by any other fish. Sounds to me that it could of been a break-out of a deasese that just attacked the mollies first. Make sure you do frequant water changes and are maintianing a healthy enviorment. If they still keep dying have your nitrite,nitrate, ph, and water hardness tested at your local pet store.

Still learning · Answer

Test the water for ammonia, and due a complete test with a test stip. Also did you buy all the mollies at the same time? How old were they? I had my guppies die all within a week of eachother and found out that it was age that killed them. Had them for 1.5 years :(
sorry to hear about your mollies
if you have anymore Q's just email me at yetitoo@yahoo.com
good luck

Dewi · Answer

Check the scales of the fish, a disease might have broken out in  your tank.

Anonymous · Answer

they mite have had a disease. had you looked closely at them b4 they died maby u didn notice it. look closely at your other fish just incase.

What happened to my mollies? They all died at once...?

5 Answers