I need your opinion

[Tyler777]

As many of you know I losrmt all my female koi sorority of bettas. Also my 2 red flame dwarf gouramies and today i just found 2 angelfish dead all these fish died in the same tank. First allbthe vetta girls. After they died mayvev2 weeks later the 2 gouramies died 2 days apart then i turned the tank into an angelfish tank n today like i said 2 angels died .
Im starting to think the tanknis cursed. The water parameters are ok, no bullies i just dont know what the heck is going on.
I have 5 tanks running n this is the onky tank where fish die, no fish die in any ofvthe other tanks

 

[MattW]

Sorry to hear of the problems you've had IMO if I had that tank I'd just tear it down, deep clean, and try again.

 

[Tyler777]

Sorry to hear of the problems you've had IMO if I had that tank I'd just tear it down, deep clean, and try again.

Thats the option that keeps going through my mind. Weird thing i have 7 corys and 1 small pleco in the tank too but theyre not having any problem. Theyd been in that tank with the bettas, the gouramies n the angels but these guys survived

 

[anewbie]

The water parameters are ok

What size is the tank and how do you know the water parameters are ok ? How long were the fishes in the aquarium before they started dying ? Did you add anything a day or two before they started dying (new fish, hard scape, new food, ...) ? How long has the aquarium been setup ?

 

[Tyler777]

What size is the tank and how do you know the water parameters are ok ? How long were the fishes in the aquarium before they started dying ? Did you add anything a day or two before they started dying (new fish, hard scape, new food, ...) ? How long has the aquarium been setup ?

36 gallons
I tested with the Api test kit
The betta girls i would say 3 months bfore they started dying.
The gouramies bout a month
And the 2 angels bout 3 weeks
For food the bettas,gouramies n angels got flakes n blood worms pleco algae pellet corys sinking pellets.
Tank 5,6 m9nths cycled

 

[anewbie]

36 gallons
I tested with the Api test kit
The betta girls i would say 3 months bfore they started dying.
The gouramies bout a month
And the 2 angels bout 3 weeks
For food the bettas,gouramies n angels got flakes n blood worms pleco algae pellet corys sinking pellets.
Tank 5,6 m9nths cycled

What temp, kh, gh was the aquarium? Also there is a chance that the angelfish had a bacteria infection though 3 weeks should have been long enough to see any obvious issues. Did you do a water change in that 3 week period ?

 

[Fishfunn]

If your water parameters are good, it looks like a disease like columnaris bacteria wiped them all out. Be careful where you buy your fish from. Avoid the big chain stores like Petsmart, Petco, etc. Only buy them from a reputable dealer that doesn't sell sick or infected fish. Talk to the store before you buy your fish from and verify that they quarantine and treat all incoming fish before selling.

I would disinfect the tank and all the ornaments with disinfecting bleach water solution. Rinse very well, and replace the gravel. Columnaris bacteria is very contagious and very deadly.

 

[Naughts]

If your water parameters are good, it looks like a disease like columnaris bacteria wiped them all out. Be careful where you buy your fish from. Avoid the big chain stores like Petsmart, Petco, etc. Only buy them from a reputable dealer that doesn't sell sick or infected fish. Talk to the store before you buy your fish from and verify that they quarantine and treat all incoming fish before selling.

I would disinfect the tank and all the ornaments with disinfecting bleach water solution. Rinse very well, and replace the gravel. Columnaris bacteria is very contagious and very deadly.

What evidence is there for columnaris???

 

[TNG]

I have 5 tanks running n this is the onky tank where fish die, no fish die in any ofvthe other tanks

I suspect there's something in this tank that's toxic to most of your fish, your API tests don't test for toxicity. Do you have anything in this tank that you don't have in the other 4 tanks, e.g different substrate, a piece of wood or rock collected from somewhere?
I would monitor the existing fish in this tank and wouldn't put any more fish in it for at least the next 6 months. To be safe, I wouldn't move the cory catfish or pleco from this tank to any of the other 4 tanks either.

 

[Tyler777]

What temp, kh, gh was the aquarium? Also there is a chance that the angelfish had a bacteria infection though 3 weeks should have been long enough to see any obvious issues. Did you do a water change in that 3 week period ?

Temp is 78
Kh n gh i dont know n i dont have anything to test it with. Canbu tell me what to buy to test kh n gh ?
With the angels im not sure but if I did it was only one water change n probably 25%

 

[Tyler777]

If your water parameters are good, it looks like a disease like columnaris bacteria wiped them all out. Be careful where you buy your fish from. Avoid the big chain stores like Petsmart, Petco, etc. Only buy them from a reputable dealer that doesn't sell sick or infected fish. Talk to the store before you buy your fish from and verify that they quarantine and treat all incoming fish before selling.

I would disinfect the tank and all the ornaments with disinfecting bleach water solution. Rinse very well, and replace the gravel. Columnaris bacteria is very contagious and very deadly.

Ok I will do that. Thank you for your advice

 

[GaryE]

I think all we can offer is opinions, and most opinions are valueless without real, proveable info to back them up. We're guessing.

Scenario one: the established, survivor fish carry a pathogen the other fish die of, but that they have immunity from. This is common when we add wild fish to tanks with disease survivor farmed fish. The farmed fish live on while the wilds die off quickly. It could happen the same way with farmed fish from different systems.

Scenario two: a poisoning that some species are affected by, but not others. That would be odd.

Scenario three: a slow working pathogen affecting the most stressed fish. Angels is those number in that tank will die young. There is no avoiding that. It's what overcrowding does.

Scenario four: a series of unfortunate coincidences. The Bettas dies of one thing. The gouramis died of another, as they are prone to do. The stressed angels are dying of a third thing.

Scenario five: (You'll have this info) the tank wasn't well maintained, and water changes stretched over a week, then to 10 days, then to 2 weeks and onward, and the stressed fish fell victim to previously controlled diseases they carried. We love those water tests and they can be useful, but they are extremely limited in what they really tell us.

You can choose an answer you like, but will it be correct? All but scenario 2 make sense to me. So what to do? I would water change heavily, for a few weeks, and water change normally, every week, forever. You've already realized the danger of impulse buying. So rebuild slowly and steadily, researching the needs of every fish before you buy. We say research and it sounds fancy, but a run over to Seriously Fish and 2 or 3 other sites and spend half an hour reading about the species that interest you.

Ask about member's experiences with the fish here after you've read up, and see if it all makes sense to you.

 

[Tyler777]

I think all we can offer is opinions, and most opinions are valueless without real, proveable info to back them up. We're guessing.

Scenario one: the established, survivor fish carry a pathogen the other fish die of, but that they have immunity from. This is common when we add wild fish to tanks with disease survivor farmed fish. The farmed fish live on while the wilds die off quickly. It could happen the same way with farmed fish from different systems.

Scenario two: a poisoning that some species are affected by, but not others. That would be odd.

Scenario three: a slow working pathogen affecting the most stressed fish. Angels is those number in that tank will die young. There is no avoiding that. It's what overcrowding does.

Scenario four: a series of unfortunate coincidences. The Bettas dies of one thing. The gouramis died of another, as they are prone to do. The stressed angels are dying of a third thing.

Scenario five: (You'll have this info) the tank wasn't well maintained, and water changes stretched over a week, then to 10 days, then to 2 weeks and onward, and the stressed fish fell victim to previously controlled diseases they carried. We love those water tests and they can be useful, but they are extremely limited in what they really tell us.

You can choose an answer you like, but will it be correct? All but scenario 2 make sense to me. So what to do? I would water change heavily, for a few weeks, and water change normally, every week, forever. You've already realized the danger of impulse buying. So rebuild slowly and steadily, researching the needs of every fish before you buy. We say research and it sounds fancy, but a run over to Seriously Fish and 2 or 3 other sites and spend half an hour reading about the species that interest you.

Ask about member's experiences with the fish here after you've read up, and see if it all makes sense to you.

That was a very helpful response n advice. Thank you. I started doing that reading n reseraching already n made me decide not to add clown loaches n panda corys due to all the different neds with the fish i already have. It makes no sense to me now to put fish in some kind of water that some fish love but the other couldnt handle or putting a peacefull fish in the same tank with an aggresive one.
I went from 5 angels to three now in the 36 gallons tank someone told me they were too many in that tank im not planning on buying more n will try to get a bigger tank for them asap.

 

[MaloK]

I think this post reply by itself to the answer you gave me there https://www.fishforums.net/threads/betta-male-look.494320/#post-4340653

If this carousel continues in that direction, You need to observe the tank for as long as it will take until you witness a fish dying in front of your eyes.

Like has been suggested. Some columnaris infections are pernicious and wont show any sign of illness until the last 10-30 seconds where the fish will have something that looks like a seizure and die immediately.

For the moment, avoid at all cost using gears that touched the water or fish of this tank with your other aquariums.

The fact that some fish doesn't show any sign, does not mean that they are not also on the death row, and is just a matter of time.

If this persist.

A complete tear down and disinfection of the setup and all gear that touched is mandatory.

 

[Tyler777]

I think this post reply by itself to the answer you gave me there https://www.fishforums.net/threads/betta-male-look.494320/#post-4340653

If this carousel continues in that direction, You need to observe the tank for as long as it will take until you witness a fish dying in front of your eyes.

Like has been suggested. Some columnaris infections are pernicious and wont show any sign of illness until the last 10-30 seconds where the fish will have something that looks like a seizure and die immediately.

For the moment, avoid at all cost using gears that touched the water or fish of this tank with your other aquariums.

The fact that some fish doesn't show any sign, does not mean that they are not also on the death row, and is just a matter of time.

If this persist.

A complete tear down and disinfection of the setup and all gear that touched is mandatory.

Thank you for your response im printing every advice i get n re read em hoping to figure it out n fix this problem