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120 Posts
Alright, so here's what happened...
Recently, I decided to add a fifth betta to my tank (five is the limit, since I have a 10 gallon). I kept her in the jar she came in and replaced most of the water with BettaREVIVE (which contains methylene blue) to ensure my other fish's safety. After about two days, I put her in the tank (and I DID make sure the temp was the same as to not shock her). A day later, she died. She was not bullied to death, but her fins were a little bit chewed on. But it appeared that she was chewed AFTER she died.
Then a day later, I lost one of my original fish. She was healthy, active, and had an appetite the day before. She had no marks or white spots or anything. She looked normal. When i found her, she was floating and a bit curved like a "c". I was baffled.
Then after another day, I lost another one of my fish. This one also appeared perfectly healthy just like the last.
I had two left. I was starting to think this wasn't a coincidence and quarantined the other two to seperate tanks, in the methylene blue. Two days passed and another one died. This one was also perfectly healthy, had an appetite, all normal.
And then there was one... I'm more distraught than ever trying to keep her safe and comfortable. She appears healthy and normal just like all the others. She only has a mild swim-bladder problem. I don't know if I should be relieved or concerned. I fear that I will find her dead when I wake up tomorrow morning, just like all the others.
What bothers the heck out of me is that I have NO IDEA what is happening to them! I did not do anything different with their tank- the temp and pH is all the same as it was before. The only thing I can think of is that the new female must have brought in something nasty. But what??
I drained the entire tank, threw out the old germy plastic weeds, and bleached my aquarium stones. I scrubbed the tank out with antibiotics (and I am aware that using chemicals is a big no-no for betta fish but this disease is nasty). I don't know how it was transferred exactly- whether its in the water or if when my fish chewed on the suspected "infected" female, it was transferred that way. Its definitely by some sort of contact, as neither of my males have been affected. Whatever it is, it kills FAST.
I've been searching everywhere to find out what it could be and I've got nothing to show for it. My fish are not old yet and even if they were, they wouldn't all be dying at the same time. This is too much to be a coincidence.
Please help if you can! I need to know what it was that killed them all. I think any advice would be great. I will not start another sorority tank until I know its safe.
Recently, I decided to add a fifth betta to my tank (five is the limit, since I have a 10 gallon). I kept her in the jar she came in and replaced most of the water with BettaREVIVE (which contains methylene blue) to ensure my other fish's safety. After about two days, I put her in the tank (and I DID make sure the temp was the same as to not shock her). A day later, she died. She was not bullied to death, but her fins were a little bit chewed on. But it appeared that she was chewed AFTER she died.
Then a day later, I lost one of my original fish. She was healthy, active, and had an appetite the day before. She had no marks or white spots or anything. She looked normal. When i found her, she was floating and a bit curved like a "c". I was baffled.
Then after another day, I lost another one of my fish. This one also appeared perfectly healthy just like the last.
I had two left. I was starting to think this wasn't a coincidence and quarantined the other two to seperate tanks, in the methylene blue. Two days passed and another one died. This one was also perfectly healthy, had an appetite, all normal.
And then there was one... I'm more distraught than ever trying to keep her safe and comfortable. She appears healthy and normal just like all the others. She only has a mild swim-bladder problem. I don't know if I should be relieved or concerned. I fear that I will find her dead when I wake up tomorrow morning, just like all the others.
What bothers the heck out of me is that I have NO IDEA what is happening to them! I did not do anything different with their tank- the temp and pH is all the same as it was before. The only thing I can think of is that the new female must have brought in something nasty. But what??
I drained the entire tank, threw out the old germy plastic weeds, and bleached my aquarium stones. I scrubbed the tank out with antibiotics (and I am aware that using chemicals is a big no-no for betta fish but this disease is nasty). I don't know how it was transferred exactly- whether its in the water or if when my fish chewed on the suspected "infected" female, it was transferred that way. Its definitely by some sort of contact, as neither of my males have been affected. Whatever it is, it kills FAST.
I've been searching everywhere to find out what it could be and I've got nothing to show for it. My fish are not old yet and even if they were, they wouldn't all be dying at the same time. This is too much to be a coincidence.
Please help if you can! I need to know what it was that killed them all. I think any advice would be great. I will not start another sorority tank until I know its safe.
It was awful. I hated waking up each morning and finding more and more dead. I feel like a terrible fish caretaker. I feel even worse knowing that I couldn't stop it. My last one is dead. She lived a week longer than the others before she dropped.
