Sick Females

[NinjaSmurf]

About two weeks ago I went out and got three females to add with my other female in my twenty gallon. They got along pretty well, no big fights or anything. Then one of the new ones mouth started to look like it was rotting, with some fungus attached. I didn't have anything but Melafix so I added that (though not as much as the directions said). Then I noticed another of the new females had a huge gash down her side, it looked like someone had taken a knife to her. That had me really upset, because I was already worried about the first one. On top of all that, the last new female started swimming violently in tight circles, so bad that she would run herself around in the gravel on her head while she was spinning. I have her in a fish net right now, she's been floating on her side for almost a week, and now my original female is looking strange, not eating, darting around the tank, looking like she can't keep herself from floating up sometimes. The one with the mouth problem got better, but now she seems to have ick, she keeps her fins clamped. The only one who seems just fine is the one with the gash, which healed up nicely.

Does anyone have an idea what I should do? I can't add salt because of plants, a pleco and my adf's, I turned the heater up a little higher and did my weekly water change ( I have to do another today), but I'm really to the point that though I have a 90 day return on the new ones if they die I think I might just give the rest of the fish to the fish store and close up my tank for good.

 

[jollysue]

Sorry for the troubles. Sounds like the ladies had a few spats and lots of stress.

I know how you feel and have been ready to chuck it once or twice myself.

I am inclined to suggest that you get a few critter keepers and isolate the worst girls out to treat.

Rereading your post, it sounds like you have 4 girls in the tank. Adding new girls to a tank is a complex problem, and 4 girls are in most cases too few. 5 or 6 is the minimum recommendation. Separate the girls; take the sick girls out. Do frequent water changes and get the water tested. Get a test kit if you can. I think your tank cycled, and you have an ammonia/nitrite build up. If so, change the water often--at least daily--until it tests right

I have ADF's, plants (though young), and Botia straita (loaches) in my sorority tank. I frequently add some aquarium salt. They all do fine. I have one girl in the sorority who has some kind of "something" on her head that gets bad without salt. Her sister died with it, but she maintains as long as I keep some salt in her water. I don't add lots of salt because of the other inhabitants. It is a twenty-five usg tank. I add 1 tsp or 2 to a cup of hot water, stir it up and dribble the salt that disolves into the tank. If I don't see improvement I add a bit more the next day or so. I know, it is very "wing it," but that's what I do to add salt. The ususal recommendation is about 1tsp to 2.5 usg. I never use that much unless I am doing a dip or bath or an isolated sick fish. As you probably know, salt will stay in the tank until water changes and only diminish by the % of water changed. But it will diminish each time the water is changed, so you can use it for immediate treatment and is an excellent combatant of Betta fungal infections.

My guess is that there is a fungus and a bacteria in the tank. I use Maroxy for fungal infections and salt. I like Mardel Products because they do not kill the good bacteria or require the removal of carbon from the filter ususally. These are not available in the UK.

Keep the water very clean and change it often. A mini cycle may have started, when the new fish were added.

I will let others address the bacterial infection if any. The girl on her side is in serious trouble and may not recover. I would most definately remove her from the tank in any form. The sick fish need to be separated and the water changed very frequently. Therefore they can be in smaller unfiltered containers.

For a new and minor case of ich, I use Aquarisol, which is mild enough to be used with i=other meds. Once the other infections are cleared up, you can switch to a stronger ich med if it has not cleared up . You may need to add an air stone to the tank.

Now to sum up: There are several infections in the tank stemming from several possible events. They are: water quality from the new fish and a mini cycle (this assumes that the tank was already fully cycled); fungal, bacterial, parasite infections resulting from the water quality deterioration and a possible fin nip/damage; stress from the new fish and habitat changes and deteriorating water quality and increasing sickness.

To do: remove the Bettas to separate containers that can have frequent water changes and be treated individually. Do major and frequent water changes in all tanks. Get the water tested and get water test kits. Treat the main tank and all the Bettas with an anti fungal and an anti ich med. (Mardels's CopperSafe can be used safely with Maroxy.) Treat the Bettas with salt. Add a little salt to the main tank to improve gill function with an air stone.

I will not address the possible bacterial issues. If treatment for bacterial infection is needed, Mardel's Maracyn and Maracyn II are a frequent choice. Mardel is one of the most expensive medication choices and is milder that some other medications.

There are different effective treatments. Others may suggest another regime and it may be cheaper and stronger. These are choices you will need to make.

I'm sorry this was so long and complex with some contradictions. I was tinking it out while trying to address and understand your problem. Please believe me when I say, that any experience fish keeper has had these types of problems. Also if I have said to do something you are already doing, just realise that I am starting from the most basic requirements, and am answering w/o much information about your understanding and experience.

You could read the Betta care and Betta health sections at this site here

Our pinned sections are also good.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

So far the one with the previously huge gash is fine, she's a pig about eating now. The original one still isn't eating as much, but over all seems okay. The one with ick swims with a slight wobble now, and while she does eat occasionally the other two are chasing her a lot. The one in the net still floats on her side, I've put some pellets in with her and I think she eats them after they sink, but she looks extremely skinny. I held her in my hand in the water under the lights and they're doesn't look to be anything wrong with her on the outside, so it looks like something internal. If it wasn't for the floating bit she wouldn't look sick, she doesn't even clamp her fins. I've had the tank up since September, and while I had some algae problems and plants weren't doing so well the fish seemed fine until I added these three. I'll go home and seperate them, hopefully they'll get better. Thanks for the help JollySue.

 

[jollysue]

Good luck, NinjaSmurf. I know you have experiemce. I was probably tired or I would have seen it was you. I try to answer if I see a post falling and 0 replies. Sometimes I'm rushed and out there when I do.

My emperor Tetras are crashing, and I have no idea why. My big community tank has been losing fish slowly, and I'm not sure what is happening. I probably did something to make it cycle. I am very bad about water testing--I just change it when I can rather than take the time to test it.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I appreciate it. Well, one female has died, the others seems to be alright, upside-down girl is still upside down, but eating well. I think I'm going to throw in the towel though, I just don't have the ability to deal with trying to keep a community tank together right now. I have someone who might be interested in the remaining females and frogs, I'll keep UD girl and the bristlenose, and look into a large single fish. I am really thankful that I could at least save two of the girls, so at least that much could be done...