Something bad is happening to my Bettas!

[Sakura8]

Hi Kitty Whiskers. I'm so sorry about your girls. :(

I agree with OFL that at this point, it doesn't make sense to quarantine. In fact, it probably wouldn't have made sense to quarantine in the first place because if the whole tank is sick, it makes sense to treat the whole tank.

Bifuran is the same as Furan-2, more or less (it's nitrafurazone, plus another ingredient). This is an antibiotic so it will most likely have killed your beneficial bacteria and your cycle. When you are finished with medicating, you will need to do a mini-cycle where you monitor the ammonia and nitrates on a DAILY basis. You may want to add a bacterial supplement such as Seachem Stability.

I think what may have happened to your girls is ammonia poisoning. Although your tank was cycled, it had only enough beneficial bacteria to handle the current bioload. When you added more fish to the tank, that bioload went up and the beneficial bacteria couldn't handle it. Don't worry, it's a common mistake.

Regarding the otos and quarantine. It is usually best to quarantine all new fish before adding them to the display tank; some books and articles even say to quarantine up to 6 weeks! What often happens is the new fish may be carrying pathogens that they themselves are resistant to but when they are introduced into the tank, your current fish are NOT resistant and they are the ones that get sick. Thus it can be that all the old fish are wiped out and the new fish are just swimming around happily. It's weird, I know, but this has happened to even the most seasoned aquarist who doesn't quarantine. In some cases, the poor aquarist loses expensive and irreplaceable fish when introducing a common fish like a guppy!

Your tank isn't overstocked as long as you keep up with water changes and monitor water quality.

Can you describe the current symptoms of your fish now and which fish are sick? Also, what is the name of the current med you are using? That will help us to know how to better advise you.

Don't be discouraged. These things happen to everyone. Fishkeeping is an ongoing learning process. Hang in there, hon.

[finnfinnfriend]

You know what? Everyone says that "no ammonia is safe" but you know what? I'm sure 0.00001 ppm is safe....

[Sena Hansler]

bwahahah My tap water is at 0.25 naturally. Hence, conditioner is your friend <3 and water changes.

[Sakura8]

And my guess is any ammonia that shows up in tap water is ammonium, not ammonia. Therefore, while still toxic, it's not AS toxic and it takes a higher level to be harmful. Unfortunately, using our conventional tests, there's no way to differentiate from ammonia and ammonium . . .

[Sena Hansler]

That's true

[Sakura8]

I never have been able to figure out my tap water. Sometimes it reads .25ppm ammonia and sometimes it doesn't. Bah, even my water likes to mess with my mind.

[callistra]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

I never have been able to figure out my tap water. Sometimes it reads .25ppm ammonia and sometimes it doesn't. Bah, even my water likes to mess with my mind.

My tap water fluctuates wildly with phs between 8.? and up to 11! I don't know what cities do to all of our drinking water... but I don't think it's healthy.. LOL

[Sena Hansler]

Fish water is more healthy than chemical boosted water ;)

[Kitty Whiskers]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Can you describe the current symptoms of your fish now and which fish are sick? Also, what is the name of the current med you are using? That will help us to know how to better advise you.

Don't be discouraged. These things happen to everyone. Fishkeeping is an ongoing learning process. Hang in there, hon.

I have 3 female Bettas left (Angel, Misty, and Violet), 1 Cory Cat, and 5 Otos.

The symptoms are that Misty looks a tiny bit pine coned with clamped fins, she eats only a pellet a day because that is all she wants. Angel just stays floating in the corner in back,she is not clamped up anymore but will not eat anything. Violet eats a pellet then spits it out, she is not clamped up either but she swims around more than the others. All 3 Bettas go into the caves to hide when I am not near the tank, even then, they are very slow to come out of hiding.

The 1 Cory Cat is now eating again, there is no fuzz anymore but he mostly sits on the bottom all day and does not swim around like before. Maybe that is just because he misses his other Cory friends and feels insecure now?

One OTO died the 2nd day of the Fungus treatment, but all the others are still going strong and eating etc.

Today I did a 50% change of water and have stoped the Parasite Meds. It was Parasite Clear by Jungle.

What do you suggest I do now?

Thank you for your encouragement :) This sure is depressing :(

[Sakura8]

I think it's possible your girls have internal infections as well. I cannot remember, did you try the Bifuran at all? If you haven't, you may want to quarantine your girls in a smaller tank and treat them with that.

I'm hoping your cory is just a little lonely. I'm so sorry you lost all the others.