Mysterious Illness, Killing Off Sorority?

[roypattonphoto]

ok so i just lost my 2nd girl in bout 2 months, i cant figure out whats wrong....


14g Filtered, Heated 80*, all water conditions are normal, nothing new added..water changed 100% once a month


although nothing new added, ive not replaced the Activated Carbon that i put in there, it was removed last water change and i have not been able to go down and purchase more....

symptons...

what ive been noticing is that, they will get listless and start floating around the top near the water line, and then stop eating and eventually disappear and find them the next day down at the bottom and half eaten......

there are no signs of aggression between the girls they all have enough hiding places...


any ideas?

[Oldfishlady]

If you are only making 100% monthly water changes-its most likely a water quality problem......

What are the water pram numbers: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and type of test products used....

In a 14gal filtered tank...I would let it establish the nitrogen cycle...by making 100% water changes every month you are destroying all the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria...its a balance of sorts and its important for the tank to have both good and bad bacteria for a healthy immune response in the Bettas.....you don't want too clean or sterile like conditions...nor...do you want too dirty....a healthy balance with weekly 50% water changes and vacuum in a closed system should maintain this...

Filter media needs a rinse/swish in old tank water a couple of times a month to get the big pieces of gunk off it to maintain good water flow....you want the filter media to look dirty......
Carbon/activated charcoal (not needed) if you want to use this-it needs to be changed per package direction since it is limited. If the filter media is the type that is carbon and sponge all in one....cut a slit in the media and dump the carbon and use the sponge until it is falling apart-all it needs is the rinse a couple of times a month.
If you want to use carbon and the media is the combine type-cut some of the old sponge off and add to the filter box for a week so it can seed the new media when you change it out.....

[DarkMoon17]

I agree with OFL... it sounds like poor water quality. There is a good thread about cycling in the tank section. You will have to do a "Fish in" cycle.

How many bettas are in there? Are there any other tank mates? As OFL advised, the suggested water change schedule for a 10-15gal tank is 50% per week.

[Pitluvs]

On tropical forums, it's 25% per week on 10g+. That's what we've been doing and it works for us great. Either way 100% is a no no on established tanks, and you need weekly changes no matter if it's 50-25%.

Also, when changing your filter media, good thing is to put a new one in with the old one for a week or two, then take the old one out. We don't use store bought with carbon, we use just the fill and it works well.