my sad balloons...

Question
Hi Chelsey. I am hoping that maybe you are able to give me some sort of answer as to why i cant seem to keep my balloon mollies alive.  I got a tank about 2 months ago from my brother, whom is very into raising all sorts of fish, and it is a 5 gallon tank.  i have 2 brochus coridas, 2 baby albino cory cats, 2 female guppys and 2 male guppys, i have a platy, 2 black balloon sail fin mollies, one big fat white balloon molly, and a baby mickey mouse platy.  All of the requirements in the tank we meet; changing the water, using a small amount of aquarium salt, special feeding times, etc.  When we first got the tank i instantly wanted a balloon molly, so we bought one, and the next day, she died. Then we decided to try again with another, and it died 2 days later as well. Then i bought 2 balloons about 2 weeks later after i decided to let my tank clear up and not to put anymore stress on any of my other fish, and went and bought 2 identical balloons.  One died, and the one big white and yellow balloon is still hovering around like a healthy fatty in my tank.  My other 2 black mollies are doing great as well.  Also, about a month before i recieved my tank, i had a very small, maybe 2 gallon tank, kept in my room to raise an orange balloon baby that my brother had given me.  He grew to be of healthy size and I finally decided to add him into the other tank once we got it.  This little orange guy has been completley healthy, very friendly, and got along great with everyone in the tank. I didnt notice anything odd about him until about 1 week ago when it looks like his little pot belly was getting smaller, but all the while he just kept eating and migeling and being the happy fish he was.  Today when I arrived home from work however, my little man had passed. He was floating in the plant, unharmed, just dead.  I am just writing to ask you if there is anything special to do to keep these unique balloon mollies alive in my tank.  As of right now, it has been an uphill battle trying to keep my favorite kind of fish going.  Thank you for any help you can give me and thanks so much for your time.  Asacia  

Answer
Hey Asacia ((beautiful name!!!)),
You seem to be meeting all of the requirments needed for a healthy tank, but your tank is a little bit over crowded. As long as your fish don't seemed stressed and you do frequent water changes to keep the ammonia levels down ((amount of fish urine in the water... too much can be fatal because the fish breathe the water)). You can get little dial thingers that suction cup in the tank underwater that will tell you if your ammonia is too high or it is safe, and it is especially helpful in tanks that are crowded.
I think if you want more fish in your tank, maybe you could upgrade to a 10 gallon or buy another five gallon for soley balloon mollies. It seems like everything else you have in your five is doing ok, but maybe when you add the new fish the older tank mates stress them out. Mollies are normally very hearty strong fish but while still being docile, which is why they do great with most tank mates, but in my experience they do bad in crowded tanks. They do better with two females per male or at least one female per male, and without many other fish besides mollies and guppies (( male platies tend to be aggressive to balloon males, just a heads up... I'm not sure why they just seem to fight every time I introduce them to each other. Male platies tend to be hot heads. ))
I would try putting your next balloon mollies in the two gallon and see if they thrive in it, I bet you would be successful in raising them! Just be careful with crowding, and remember all your live bearing fish will be breeding, so you will also have the babies to house ((or sell)).

Good luck raising and breeding balloon mollies, and the rest of your fish as well! I hope your new tank starts running more smoothly and you don't lose your future balloon's!
Best wishes, Chelsey