They Are Dropping Like Flies And I Don't Know What To Do

[Salam]

I just wish I knew what it exactly it was, because at the moment I can't think of any medicine that I got buy to try and save the remaining ones. That's the most frustrating thing. And if it's dropsy, I thought there were no cures for it?

Pern, this sounds just like mine. Them looking fine, then suddenly on the surface and then dead. The treatment you recommend seems to be non UK. Is there anything similar here in the UK? It looks like you had a happy ending, so if I somehow knew how to stop this tank of doom killing them, I would do it in an instant.

 

[Salam]

Just googled the origin of Pygmy cories. Madeira River in Brazil... Would make sense if they were the carrier of the disease and the girls just can't fight it. The remaining four look fine at the moment, swimming around well. Should I just remove the pygmies for now and see what happens? And if, can I safely add them to another community tank or just in their own tank?

 

[FishBlast]

I just wish I knew what it exactly it was, because at the moment I can't think of any medicine that I got buy to try and save the remaining ones. That's the most frustrating thing. And if it's dropsy, I thought there were no cures for it?

Pern, this sounds just like mine. Them looking fine, then suddenly on the surface and then dead. The treatment you recommend seems to be non UK. Is there anything similar here in the UK? It looks like you had a happy ending, so if I somehow knew how to stop this tank of doom killing them, I would do it in an instant.

Dropsy being a symptom, the only cure is the cure for the disease that started the dropsy, which is hard to find because there can be many diseases that cause dropsy, so by the time the right disease is identified, the fish may be already dead.

I think it's worth a try to see if the Cories are the carriers.

 

[Salam]

Yes, I'm also thinking cories at the moment as the next step. Where to put them though? I got two community tanks where they could live, but would it be ok to add them?

 

[FishBlast]

Yes, I'm also thinking cories at the moment as the next step. Where to put them though? I got two community tanks where they could live, but would it be ok to add them?

They do well with most fish, as long as the other fish are not aggressive (like oscars or giant cichlids).

 

[pern]

Salam, here's what I did in more detail. Again, I can't guarantee that my problems were caused by a carrier - may have been something 'bad' in the tank that didn't affect the corydoras and bristlenose. Personally, just in case, I wouldn't mix any fish from the infected tank with any other fish until I'd sorted out what might be happening.

I think that Maracyn Plus is the UK version of Furan 2 (Maracyn treats gram + , Maracyn 2 treats gram - and Maracyn Plus treats gram + and gram -). Is this right UK people?

Sadly I tried everything to treat the girls that showed signs of illness but nothing worked.

The steps I took were:
Euthanizing all the girls that showed any trace of the illness (not nice)
Treated the girls with no signs of illness with one course of Furan 2 in a hospital tank (just a 10 litre plastic box with heater, filter and a bit of java moss)
Put the corydoras in another hospital tank and treated them with Furan 2
Each course of antibiotics lasts 4 days so, while the fish were being treated I:

Threw out the filter media. Cleaned every bit of the 'infected' tank incredibly thoroughly with bleach/water solution, rinsed thoroughly with fresh water then rinsed with quite heavily dechlorinated water (instructions for using bleach readily available on internet). Also cleaned every single bit of equipment (heater etc. etc.) and threw away very cheap things and replaced them (e.g. glass thermometer). Let the tank and equipment dry thoroughly.

Bought new substrate

I had a large (expensive) piece of wood covered in java ferns in the tank, if I'd just had plants I would have thrown them away and started fresh as disinfecting wood is a major hassle. This method of disinfection will kill some plants. Disinfected my wood and plants in potassium permanganate solution in an old, chemical free bucket (I used a mix of 10 mg/liter of water for a 10-minute soak) be warned potassium permanganate dyes everything purple instantly including skin!!! Rinsed, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed and then soaked overnight in fresh water.

Reassembled tank. Used cycled media from other tanks.

Added treated Siamese females to 'new' tank setup

Treated corydoras with their second round of Furan 2. When finished, I put carbon in the filter of the hospital tank as per the medication directions but left them in the hospital tank for another few days after medication finished

Added corydoras to 'new' tank setup

Now I've written a book - sorry folks!

 

[Salam]

I could add them with my South American community, they would actually fit in well there. Will do that. They lived with them before and I had no problems, so they shouldn't be any threat now, right? It was just the bettas that couldn't resist the unknown parasite. (Correct me if I'm wrong please)

 

[Salam]

Sorry, just seen other reply from pern, should have checked 2nd page.

Will it be totally unsafe adding the pygmys to the other community? As I said, I had them there before and all were fine. I could set up a hospital tank, but would have to do it later as I need to go now and won't be back til late afternoon. Could try and locate that medicine though, just in case.

 

[pern]

Yes, just my betta girls were affected.

 

[Salam]

I'm back with more bad updates. Pygmys were removed into the other tank and all is well with them.

But the bettas are virtually wiped out now. One of the original batch dead yesterday and the remaining of the original batch dead today. Two left now, one looked fine this morning, but is now sticking to the surface like the others, I think I have to ask my husband to do the kindest thing as I'm a wimp and can't euthanize. One left who seems very happy and she is the only one not crowntail (just normal betta splendens). What to do with her if she survives? Can I add her into a community tank if she stays healthy?

I'm giving up on the sorority. No other tank has given me so much heartbreak. Am in tears after losing 14, almost 15 now. Once they are gone will sterilize the tank and start afresh, but I don't think I can handle female bettas again, it's just breaking my heart

 

[FishBlast]

I'm back with more bad updates. Pygmys were removed into the other tank and all is well with them.

But the bettas are virtually wiped out now. One of the original batch dead yesterday and the remaining of the original batch dead today. Two left now, one looked fine this morning, but is now sticking to the surface like the others, I think I have to ask my husband to do the kindest thing as I'm a wimp and can't euthanize. One left who seems very happy and she is the only one not crowntail (just normal betta splendens). What to do with her if she survives? Can I add her into a community tank if she stays healthy?

I'm giving up on the sorority. No other tank has given me so much heartbreak. Am in tears after losing 14, almost 15 now. Once they are gone will sterilize the tank and start afresh, but I don't think I can handle female bettas again, it's just breaking my heart

I won't go with a sorority tank anymore either, had plans for one, but then decided to just go with sparkling gouramis, some galaxy rasboras or crossbands and a bunch of bronze cories. A somewhat calm tank, even though some said the rasboras will be nippy.

 

[Salam]

This experience has just been to disheartening. Yes, I could try again, but I still can't 100% say it was the pygmys, so I'd rather not get more and try it again. Thinking either rams or apistos. A pair and that's it. Might see some nice spawning behaviour.

Do I need to sterilize or should it be ok for any other fish bar bettas?

What to do with the remaining one???

 

[FishBlast]

This experience has just been to disheartening. Yes, I could try again, but I still can't 100% say it was the pygmys, so I'd rather not get more and try it again. Thinking either rams or apistos. A pair and that's it. Might see some nice spawning behaviour.

Do I need to sterilize or should it be ok for any other fish bar bettas?

What to do with the remaining one???

Just curious, were all the bettas that died crowntails? Or the disease affects all?

 

[Salam]

Well, all dead now, didn't even have to euthanize, when coming back from the garden she was dead too

Yes, they were all crowntails and the final remaining one is a 'normal' one. What to do with her? Can she pass on a potential disease or not? Could add her to community tank.

 

[FishBlast]

Well, all dead now, didn't even have to euthanize, when coming back from the garden she was dead too

Yes, they were all crowntails and the final remaining one is a 'normal' one. What to do with her? Can she pass on a potential disease or not? Could add her to community tank.

It may be a genetic error that makes them lack a certain defense against a common pathogen, in the crowntails.
If the final one survives, I guess you should give up on crowntails and either get veil or halfmoon, or just move on to other fish types and add the female to a community tank, but make sure she won't get nipped.