Holy Disaster !!! 7 fish in 6 hours!!!!

[Christmasfish]

WE got new discus yesterday. A guy has had probs with em and was washing his hands of em.

The one had become very ill since my daughter met him. The others were new to her and small. We were not surprised that the sick blue expired in the wee hours of the morning. But in the dim light she missed something or it happened soon after. All the betta in the tanks on the same stand died!! 8O

The carange! The cost! What happened?


Something ickky is going around and I suggest everyone become much stricter with incoming QT and in-house prevention techniques. I am buying more nets and am going to lose the habit of just catching them gently by hand for a while! what if I spread this to my big tank of scaleless fish?! 8O My QTs are 4 weeks long and our betta share 3 to a tank usually. Some are in 3 and 5 gallon minis. This sudden illness is a big wake up call for us!

Water params for everyone were still dead on. temps were fine..a small drop of 2 degrees in some last night because it was cold.
And worst yet is when the fish were removed for creamation and burial...they lost all their top scales in my hand..like butterfly wings >shudder< I had colored "dust" from each on my hand (which have since then been soaked in BLEACH! I never saw anything like it in labyrinth fish!! My kid is crushed.. blaming herself for doing 30 % instead of 50s becuase we were busy this week...for skipping their dinner (we do every sunday night)...... for not giving them more live plants.... for running out of bloodworms this week and feeding tubifex instead....
grasping at straws I think....
I am so distressedI can lose color and breath hard *sniffle*
What a terrible week!

QT QT QT!!!! And that means your nets and vacuums and hands TOO!

 

[Menagerie]

My sympathies to you and your daughter.

 

[Sati]

What the heck? That is terrible. I wonder what on earth could have possibly happened. I lost 1 very important fish this morning and am feel bad because I don't know what got him, but wow. I'm very sorry, Christmasfish. I hope you can get to the bottom of this.

 

[bungle]

wow. sorry to hear about your loss, christmasfish it is a good learning experience for me, though. i am for sure getting a smaller tank for qt purposes when i finally get my tank!

 

[Hypostomus]

Sorry for your loss. I have never heard of that happening before.

 

[Christmasfish]

There is a theory, but i am not going to say no unfounded things til the culprit is pinpointed better...
but I just want to warn that even the most trivial laxity in procedure can lead to a disaster! And I was probably canceling out all my careful QT with other habits that can spread any bug new a fish may have. This may all end up tracing back to the fact I do not sterlize my hands between tanks, or have enough nets to keep it all separate. And we have two vacuums but 13 tanks (excluding minis and QT)..I don't sterilize the vacuums either except weekly. Just hot water rinses.

And now we are paying heavy for those few withheld things.

 

[An t-iasg]

Christmasfish, I'm so sorry. I feel bad for your daughter too. I'm sure she did nothing to cause this, and I hope she feels better soon.

BrianNY posted that his new discus, purchased from a show, carried a disease, and that it probably became airborne. (if I remember correctly) So that could be why the bettas nearby died, not because of the water changes or tubifex worms. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=22191

I'm sorry for the loss of your beautiful fish.

*edited for spelling*

 

[Christmasfish]

Yeah..becasue of that I landlined him this morning in a panic!

The betta thing is too eerie and his posts made me think that it is something nastier than your lil old fin rot...
The theory is quite scary though...a new contagious yuk coming in on the import boat? *tears hair out and runs in a circle* "The sky! the sky! Ow..it's meteors!!!"

 

[An t-iasg]

I hope BrianNY can shed some light on this for you, Christmasfish. (How are your fish doing now, BrianNY?)

But I'll still take your advice on being extra viligant with cleaning items and such. I only have 2 betta tanks, so it's easy, and cheap, to have 2 gravel vacs, 2 nets, 2 scrubbers, etc. But yesterday, when I did my water change, I only had one glove left. I get those long, thin, plastic gloves from DrsFosterSmith. They are called "disposable gripper sleeves" on the website. I used the one glove to water change both tanks. Guess what I just did? Placed an order for more gloves!

 

[glasstapper]

christmasfish maybe a time to getting back to basics and guideline some,,"procedures for all here to follow and see if this can be stopped i elect you or one of the other afficianado's cause at the moment i am terrified to touch my babies, it may be the last time i see em alive( nervous laugh) washing hands , sterilizing etc. please save us we count on the guru's and there advice wich is sooooo appreciated

 

[Christmasfish]

Hmm..I have a bit of general experience and extensive with golds and labyrinths..but guru I am not quite..(yet )

So far with good discus info from Brian I am having ggod luck with the reamining discus. No more deaths. Some bettas began to get ill , but it was nipped in teh bud...Whew!