ARRGGHH Good Deed gone wrong!!

[aloaring]

well i went to one of local LFS's on Friday and in one of their tanks they had some female bettas, two were being picked on by their tankmates so i decided to do a rescue attempt. I took them home with me i don't have a hospital tank so i double checked for disease when i bought them but they seemed fine. So they were introuduced into my 20 UK gallon betta female community.
Next day they both had clamped fins and fungus growing on them and one of guppies in that community had died!! So i put the two girls in a breeding net to keep them safe. and added some anti-fungus and finrot medicine. On sunday one the bought females was dead as well as one of my old ones and two more guppies .
By this morning my three extra large Betta females were dead, Goodbye Malibu, bacardi and Vodka you will be missed, you weren't fat, just big boned!!

On the good side the second rescued female has completely recovered and my little blue female and white female are fine but they are picking on the new one.
I realise three females is not a good number and i should have more to disperse the anger but how long should i wait to introduce new females in the tank?

 

[aloaring]

Hello can anyone advise or am i in here all alone!
How do i know whatever casued the fungus is gone? and when will i be able to introduce new female bettas to my community?

 

[Dubby]

Its good to hear that the spread of fungus has finally come to a halt.

Suggest you quarantine the new fish until you are sure about their well being.

IMO you should wait for a week or two before introducing any new fish.

 

[aloaring]

thanks Dubby, i'm glad it came to a halt too, though i was confused at its spread because in my book it said that fungus is only contagious if the fish are weak or ill. My 3 big boned betta females were in prime condition and i really looked after them, so i was gutted at their loss. while a black neon who swims at a funny angle is perfectly fine! but i wonder if becuase they were abnormally large they were genetically weak anyway and susceptable to disease?
Will try and set up a quarantine tank on the weekend will have to search for some females now they are quite rare around here !!

 

[Ben]

sorry for your losses
when you buy fish like that in bad conditions you must always quarentine them just to make sure they dont have any diseases.

HTH

DD

 

[Dubby]

aloaring:

I dont believe its only the weak fish will catch fungus. I suppose its like us - after a time we lose immunity to certain diseases.

It would have been cool if we could vaccinate fish

 

[Cali]

you weren't fat, just big boned!!

I'm so sorry for your loss, I know we love our fish like we love all of our pets. Regarding QT, I heard you should QT for a month.... just to make sure NO diseases are present. You cannot tell if a fish has disease by looking at it.

I've killed many a fish, by not using QT. I killed my favorite two angelfish this way.

Also, I wanted you to know that your "big boned" comment made me crack up laughing here at work. You're a funny guy (..gal?)


All the best!!