[Cattitude]

I just lost all but one of my sorority to an unknown cause. I'm still waiting to see if the last one survives. She's in a small tank alone being treated.

In the meantime I have a very empty 26-gal tank. None of the non-bettas were affected so i still have 5 corys and 5 white clouds. I have a mixture of live and fake plants in this tank, so I don't think I can take the entire tank apart and scrub everything. I have so far done 2 50% water changes, 2 days in a row.

I have not yet decided if I will try to start another sorority or just restock with tropical fish. I'm a bit afraid to put another betta in there after what has happened. I'm wondering what I need to do with the tank to get it ready for new fish? Just keep doing 50% water changes daily for a few more days? Some other way to disinfect it? Is there some length of time I should wait before trying to restock?

 

[Bladezero]

Well you can always take out the fish and do a ton of PP and heat it up to 40-50c, then spend a week doing 90% changes(will have to take out the real plants or they will die) Not many things can survive that..(will take you alot of pouring water into the gravel to clean it up..) and unless you wanna kill all your filter bacteria take it out..

As evil as it sounds throw a test guppy in there, if whatever infected the betta is still there high chances he will get it too. Also you will know if you cleaned well enough from the PP.
(Not that I have anything against guppies, just a LPS guppy has low chances to survive from the get go.. I've seen enough of them used as food)
But the way I see it, survival of the fittest. Betta is higher in the food chain, plus the guppy will have a 50/50 chance for a great life.(just know you will be forced to get a few more or 2 females) But your girls might kill them one day, depends on their nature. Some of mine will kill a camera if they get the chance, had one that couldn't care less about another betta male.

 

[BETTACHKALOVE]

I would think like you wrote i would afraid to put another betta in there unless you take everything out and disinfect entire tank. I would think there is possibility that other fish will get it too, never had any other fish besides betta.
Do you have any male betta?

 

[Cattitude]

Well you can always take out the fish and do a ton of PP and heat it up to 40-50c, then spend a week doing 90% changes(will have to take out the real plants or they will die) Not many things can survive that..(will take you alot of pouring water into the gravel to clean it up..) and unless you wanna kill all your filter bacteria take it out..

This is going to sound funny, but I don't know what "PP" is...

As evil as it sounds throw a test guppy in there, if whatever infected the betta is still there high chances he will get it too. Also you will know if you cleaned well enough from the PP.

The weird thing is, only the bettas got sick. I still have 5 white clouds and 5 corys in that tank, and none are showing signs of illness. I wonder if a guppy would be affected? I could certainly try introducing one and see what happens. I will do daily 50% water changes for a few more days before I try it.

 

[Cattitude]

I would think like you wrote i would afraid to put another betta in there unless you take everything out and disinfect entire tank. I would think there is possibility that other fish will get it too, never had any other fish besides betta.
Do you have any male betta?

I have 7 male bettas in separate tanks. They are all healthy and doing well. After this experience I would never do a separated tank. It's weird that the other fish in the large tank didn't get sick. This is why I'm reluctant to tear the tank down to disinfect it, then have to cycle it again when I still have the other fish.

 

[Bladezero]

From my personal experience (death in my community tank) 3 type of fish died, 1 didn't get affected, few others survived as if nothing ever happened.
Still have 3 neons and 4 guppies and 1 angel in there alive and well(4-5 guppies died within 2 days and betta died in the second day, tetras kept falling from 10 to 3 in matter of 3 days)
Now its like a week and no deaths.

Guppies started dying before the betta showed symptoms.

I'm only guessing this but I think most stuff that will hurt a betta will hurt a guppy(long family relatives or something maybe, but less strong for sure).

Potassium Permanganate (PP)