Longtimers? Higher than usual number of sick labyrinths?

[Christmasfish]

I have not been on the boards but this year,
but does it seem there has been an unusual amount of sick labyrinth fish?
Especially Bettas?

Newbies..
Experienced fishkeepers..
people with lax change schedules..
people with ridgid standards...
mini tanks..
community tanks..
it doesn't seem related to any specific cause..
and all the secondary infections are confusing the issue worse (which thing was the first thing)

The symptoms are fungal/bacterial but unspecific
And it seems when you lose one you lose all.... survival rate is low...
I think I'd prefer an ich out break to all this..THAT I can treat for!

I am getting really paranoid!

 

[MrsPeel]

I don't think you are getting paranoid one bit. I personally think it comes back to the whole breeding issue. I believe poorer breeding practices are resulting in weaker fish, that don't have a chance in H-E-double hockey sticks in surviving.

To tell you the truth, this is the one reason I refuse to purchase bettas from any LFS no matter the reputation, since they don't always know where most of their fish came from. I wonder if people who have bought their fish straight from breeders are having these problems?

 

[smallfry]

Mrs. Peel, where do you buy bettas? (I'm looking to purchase one again - my first one died of a parasite) The first one I got at a LFS, and now I'm looking to buy a better quality betta...
Thanks! (Christmasfish may have some suggestions too...)
*Oh and I'm sorry to hear about all your fish troubles, Christmasfish. It can be very disheartening. I hope things start looking up soon - hang in there!

 

[Christmasfish]

I normally don't plug..but every betta that my daughter bought from BC Betta
is full size, healthy, happy and they were affordable! Her pet colored fish are prolly QUITE reasonable even with shipping if you are West Coast.

The other breeders we have fish from have great, stupendous SHOW betta reps..and the animals arrived healthy, were stellar in point values, but ended up all with weak constitutions, smaller than the rest and dead.
I am not sure what I think of it all.

 

[krap101]

yeah every gourami and beta i bought died. i bought 3 dwarfs (2/3 were in a uncycled tank [didnt know) and the last one died of unknown causes. and both betas died from popeye.

 

[William]

My girls and boy were very healthy, However a infected betta came in and just ravaged my tank.

I'm still unsure if it was the same thing that killed my male, since he was quite old, but the timing makes me question.. Oh, and there was no cross contamination between tanks.

Other than my male having popeye [ Which was cured ] I've had no problem with my bettas in the year and a half I had him, and the 8 or so months I had the girls.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I already had a male and a female in the 55gal community tank.
I went out and bought two more males last weekend.
After hearing of the problems yall are having here I started changing water every other day.
I hope this will keep mine alive and well
We'll see.

 

[oscarbreeder]

By the way,
I put the female from the 55 in a 10 with one of the new males and he has built a bubble nest.... 8O

She is still kinda running from him but we'll see what happens.
*keeping fingers crossed*

 

[QTOFFER]

Knock on wood, but my three boys have been healthy except for Moe's finrot which seems to be getting better. I agree with MrsPeel that inbreeding and poor breeding has weakened the stock out there. Add to that the willy-nilly use of powerful antibiotics by our society (for viral colds, in our food, etc) and their eventual release into the environment - creating stronger strains of bacteria.

The problem of poor breeding stock extends across the hobby. I've lost lots of tetras and zebra danios over the months and it's not due to poor water quality or bad husbandry! My tanks are cycled, water parameters are fantastic, and I do water changes and gravel vacs weekly. What more can I do or what am I doing worng? I believe the answer is nothing - buying fish from the lfs is just a crapshoot nowadays. Quarrantine is more important now than ever. I just hope that if they're gonna die they do it before the return period expires!

 

[Deitta]

I totally agree that QT pays! I have even planned for the atrition of new fish.
I purchased 10 (but got 11 tee hee) of my danos expecting a few to die. I did have one small guy die after what seemed like cotton mouth. Treated the whole tank and waited for 6 days after treatment (since it is so contagious) and no further out break before they were released in the big tank. Boy was I surprised when he was my only loss! Pleased, but surprised.
Then a few days later they were unusually slow for long enough to count... and I had 10! That is when I figured out we must have got a freebe!
That experience was the first time I held onto QT proceedure. Normally I would buy them and only hold them in QT for a day or two. Then their sickness would infect the whole tank and I would lose others as well! I hate being patient, but it does pay off!

 

[TankGirl]

I don't think it is paranoia - I have noticed this trend myself. I have had no fishy losses in a while and my two DG's are hale and hearty, now almost 3 years old. I have not introduced new fish in a good long while, though.

The last betta I had did very poorly and has put me off them, but I have been leaning toward getting one again in the last couple of weeks. I have heard about lots of illness and disease in the Asian breeding circles for various fish, with labyrinth fish high on the list lately. I think Bettacove has a good local breeder - I will say that is the absolute best bet. It is so tempting to rescue the PetsMart betta in the cup but the ugly duckling at the store will likely remain an ugly duckling, unfortunately. There are certainly exceptions, like when they dump themselves at your feet *winks at Christmasfish*

 

[CiRXSi]

Fortunately, I have not had many probs. All my bettas have been good, and have never had too major of a problem. Actually, I think the couple betta probs I've had were eventually traced back to me not being careful enough. A couple years ago, I did have a problem though. I could not keep my dwarf gourami's alive. They all died with what was apparently fin rot. I contributed it to non-suitable water conditions (of my tap water) and stopped trying. My line of platinums and opalines though have thrived. Not sure what's going on. I can say that most of the LFS here in town take terrible care of their fish. One place has had ich in the neon tank for seven weeks straight. (I just found this out from my friend who's been watching). I think I'll have to go in there.
He's the one that says chick-lids)

 

[bettacove]

I thought it was just me!! About 2 months ago I lost half my breeding stock, and i couldnt' figure out why. I do have shitty water but all my bettas are in tip top shape. It was really odd, it only affected certain fish and they weren't even in the same tank....

ashley

 

[Christmasfish]

This all stems from a few months ago. The last of the exposed and saved fish, re-infected and died this week. Anna is striken becuase she was so careful after the first round. All the fish from the one side of the room are now dead. Only on made a full recovery and back to normal. It was the only one from other bloodlines. A half-giant plakat (who had killed 8 fish to this point..5 were betta)
The others were all opaque or royal blue solids (and wouldn't ya know they were nearly all the pricey ones).
Our water is great as far as most measurements. It had the KH raise for a time and it currently has a nitrate reading. But the chocolates and liqourice that live in her brother's room are all thriving.
And my fish...in the livingroom, I have 29 fish over 1inch in a 40 gallon. And my betta in there..is ..um...thriving
As is the featured desk bowl betta... it was very random since it jumped tanks.

I think it is a new version of a previously ignored bug, and that it is hitting animals that are susceptible through certain things like inbreeding, or the bugs origination point maybe

 

[krap101]

yeah i havent been able to keep alive many labbys. my gouramis died in the 1st week and my betas 1 lasted like 3 weeks and 1 2 weeks

 

[bettacove]

I want to get a UV sterilizer but they are so expensive! I don't know if that would have helped with my previous prob but I'am told they help prevent other problems

ashley

 

[TankGirl]

I wonder if you could rent one for a day every once in a while from your LFS?