Foot in mouth... long story

[sandystar]

Pretty much what I'm doing now.

Starting from the beginning...

August 14-27 i was out of state and asked my dad to feed my fish for that time. I did 100% water change before I left and did a 100% water change when I got home. Unfortunately one of my girls contracted dropsy. Nox died in the first week of September.

This caused my girls to re establish the pack placement and Kasey was picked on to the point of loosing a pectoral and ventral fin. So I moved her to a 1.5 gal. her color brightened up and she ate... started treating her for the fin loose with melafix. Followed the directions but she stopped eating and two weeks after Nox, Kasey died. I don't know from what because she wasn't bloated, no pine coning, no white spots, no yellow spots, no white fuzz... etc. She was just pale and stress stripped when I found her.

And a week later Coral died. I have been back on my normal water changing cycle, 25-50% water changes. I move around everything to make sure I get all the waste... once a week. Everyone was acting normal, no signs of illness. Still eating like little piggies... but anyways I went and did the girls water change, and then later that night fed them. Everything was fine. I went to work and when I came home, Coral was dead. Her fins were shredded, when they were in perfect condition less then 24 hours ago.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have a ten gal tank. 78 degrees, I use tetra aqua safe water conditioner with bio extracts. I added some api aquarium salt because I had put a new fish in when I moved Kasey to the 1.5 gal. I do 25-50% water changes weekly and after Nox got sick I did a total tank cleaning. Cleaned the tank with vinegar and hot water. Then cleaned the gravel, plants and pots with just hot water. I changed the carbon in the filter. I just don't know. Everyone has a bit of fin loss due to establishing the alpha of the tank. No one is bloated, or lethargic. I'm worried because Coral died without warning, so now I think I could have a problem. I'm treating with melafix for the fin damage and all the girls have regrowth. There are 5 girls in there, and I'm not going to get another because I don't want to introduce another girl if I have a parasite or fungus.

Hoping for some light to be shed on this situation. I use a multi strip test and my chlorine is none, nitrate is zero, ph is good, my water is a little hard ( I have an aquatic plant in a vase I use as a control. ) I know strips are not as reliable as liquid drop tests but its what fits my budget.

[sandystar]

OH! one more thing. My new girl Honeydew still hasn't eaten. She tried a pellet two days ago but spat it out. Its still her first week and her color is amazing. Interacts with the other girls... I just hope I didn't introduce her into a infected tank.

[Adastra]

Dip strips are actually quite expensive per test compared to liquid tests. In a bottle of strips, you usually get 25 strips for $11. For the cost of 50 strips, you can get hundreds of tests out of a test kit like this one: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...54&pcatid=4454

$23 isn't expensive at all--what many people don't understand is that they're really screwing you out of a lot of money with those strips, and they're not even good, accurate products. Trust me, you're going to save money with a liquid kit!

How many girls did you have in that 10? 7? That's kind of pushing your stocking, not ridiculous or anything, but not exactly playing it safe. Was the tank cycled before you added your fish?

I'm guessing that the main problem is that the 100% changes probably caused a mini-cycle, which caused one of your girls to get sick, which disrupted the hierarchy and threw already stressed out females into conflict with one another, which snowballed into the situation you have. When you cleaned the 10G after Nox died, I'm sure you really killed all your beneficial bacteria--which is definitely a problem for your existing girls.

The girl you separated probably did not fare well in such a small uncycled tank with melafix. Some studies have shown that fumes produced by the ingredient melaleuca in melafix is harmful to the betta's labyrinth organ, so I do not recommend using it. How often did you change the water in the small isolation tank?

[sandystar]

I had 6 in my tank, and it was cycled before. I had it divided with two girls for a month or so and before that I used it for my males. Its not like I just dumped all of them in there... my sorority has been fine since April I want to say.

The 1.5gal I did my 1x weekly change because it too has a filter with air pump. I was trying to follow the directions saying dose one week then water change. It was recommended to me... And it too was cycled because I originally kept Jezebel in there, then it housed Scarlet, Coral when I first got her, Sirena then I moved Sirena into the sorority so I could move Kasey into there. I started using it to keep my fish in to make sure they were healthy before putting them with the others...

I only have three tanks so I have used them all constantly. Currently though I stopped using the 1.5gal. I just want to make sure my remaining 5 in the sorority will remain healthy and grow back all the nipped areas. And I would really like to see honeydew eat. Tuesday will be 1 week with no eating. Its just disconcerting because she is lively and will see the food and swim away or just spit it back out.

[Adastra]

Was there any gap between the time that you kept the girls in the 1.5G and when you put the sick one in there? Bacteria need a steady food source, so unless you continued to feed the tank when the girls were absent, the bacteria almost certainly died off, unfortunately, since the tank is so small.

If you just got her, it's possible she has internal parasites due to her time spent at the pet store. Treating for internal parasites isn't very harsh on the fish, and some people do it as a precaution. If you're interested in a possible treatment, look for a tablet with the ingredients praziquantel and metronidazole. I've had success with Jungle's Parasite Clear tabs.