Pwc's with Melafix?

[dkpate]

Ok, so 3 of my fish (HR's) showed signs of fin rot, so I dosed the tank with Melafix. It it the tank with the HR's, DG and loaches. I also took the carbon out of the filter, which is not very easy lol, and ended up just cutting the blue part off and throwing the plastic and carbon away (the"filter" now looks like a pair of pants lol). Well I squeezed the "filter" out in a bucket of tank water cause it was looking pretty gunky and when I put it back in the HOB my tank instantly clouded. I should also note that the suction cups on the heater have this white junk on them which look like mold spores. I came home from work yesterday morning, and one of the HR's, and not the one who looked the worst, was dead. Now last night I get home, and one HR's is struggling to right itself! He is trying to swim, but not having any luck. If you guys saw the video a guy put on here a while ago, with his spinning fish, he kind of does that. I made a little "QT" basket that I put him in which is hanging in the tank. I have looked all over online, and all I can find is SWD as a cause of his weird swimming. I am not convinced that this is what it is, since he is not bloated and has not eaten since I gave them peas on Thursday afternoon. Any ideas on what this could be? The loaches and DG are perfectly healthy. I should also tell you that I started out with 7 HR's and am now down to 2 1/2...2 of them died within a day of bringing them home.
My other questions are, the directions for the Melafix says to do a pwc after 3 days of dosing. Should I do one every day instead? I feel like I am OD-ing them on meds, smells like it anyway. And when I am done treating should I clean all the stuff in the tank? Will the Melafix kill my live plants (I am assuming yes, and that really bums me out)?
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[dkpate]

Also, if I do water tests, will the readings come back normal (like they were) or will the Melafix mess those up?

 

[Blueiz]

Follow the directions on the bottle. I think that you got bad stock more so than you are doing anything wrong. The cloudiness from the filter most likely came from mulm in the bottom of your filter that was stirred up when you removed the cartride. Sometimes when fish are dying they lose there ability to swim properly, I wouldn't consider that a disease, just the final hours before death.

If you can get stock from a different store, do that, and qt if you can for a minimum of 2 weeks.

I'm unsure what the white stuff on the suction cups is, but I get it as well sometimes on new suction cups I put in my tank, such as I have it right now on the spray bar cups for my new xp3 filter. It seems harmless.

The melafix won't alter your water readings. Be prepared for a slight mini cycle because I'm sure the carbon that was in your tank was housing some beneficial bacteria, however the mini cycle really should only be a blip on the screen so to speak.

 

[dkpate]

I think I got some bad fish too...I still have 2 left who seem SUPER happy, still darting around and eating. I woke up this morning to find one more dead HR (the one I had in his little basket) and my cobalt DG stuck between the glass and a rock that makes the roof of the loaches house! I got him out, and he seems to be alright, eating and swimming normally, but he has dark spots where it was obvious he was trying to get out. Geez, does this ever end!?!?! The loaches still seem fine though, so that's a plus. I will follow the directions on the bottle, thanks!
Thank you for your help, I appreciate it a lot!