Water Change= Sick Fish?

[waldo]

My 2 males are in a 5 gallon divide tank. 2 nights ago I did a partial water change and now my fish are sick, they both have what appears to be fin rot and ick. Twister has lost half of his fins but the rot does appear to have stopped on him, he still has a few white spots.
Ghost on the other hand looks terrible, he is covered in fluffy white spots, his fins are ragged and bloody, he isn't eating.
I've put them both into cups and am treating them with ich-X plus a small amount of salt. I've never had a betta survive fin rot and I need advice. I'm going to get some melafix later, will it help? My LFS doesn't carry any kind of medicine except ick stuff so I will have to go to wal-mart and hope they have what I need.
Why would a water change make them sick? They were in great condition before.

 

[amio]

Maybe your water was contaminated.

 

[waldo]

I thought that too, I'm getting new gravel today and will do a complete tank cleaning. I just hpe my fish make it.

 

[amio]

Three of my boys are sick, too. One with fin rot and two with ich. My six females died one by one. I even watched my alpha slip away and die. There's been a lot of betta deaths goin' on recently. It's really depressing. It sucks, big time. I hope your guys survive.

 

[Tolak]

Winter water from municipal water companies can get funky sometimes. It's a problem here in Chicago, as well as in other areas. Get a bottle of Prime, it's one of the best dechlorinators on the market. Double the dose, you can go as high as 5 times the recommended dosage.

 

[waldo]

I have well water but with all the rain its possible that there is something wrong with it. I have some prime already, just added some to their cups.
Can I use any kind of bottled water? that way I know the water is clean? Thanks for the advice and support

 

[liz2]

I hope they are ok lots of people are having bettas ill at the moment. They sure are beautiful specially Ghost.

 

[Tolak]

Heavy rain is the reason, it causes problems here. Bottled water is not as consistent as you would think, unless you get straight distilled. You could try a 50/50 mix of distilled & tap. 100% distilled has no disolved minerals, and will cause pH swings.

 

[sukie]

If you do bottled water - my suggestion is use the water de-chlor w/ it. . . basically treat it as if it were tap.

 

[waldo]

So far they look ok. I cleaned their tank up, added the melafix and everything is filtering right now. I used water from my main tank since I know its good. Hopefully they will get better soon. I'll keep you all updated.

 

[waldo]

Quick update on the boys.
The rot has stopped on Twister, he is eating again and looking not too bad.

Ghost still looks bad. I don't think he ever had rot since his fins are still intact but the ick is terrible on him. It is getting better but hes not eating at all. I have blood worms unthawing right now, hopefully he'll take some. I don't have my hopes up that he will make it

 

[jollysue]

Ich is present in almost all water. Fish get infected when their immune system is low. It's like a cold for humans. The germ is always there, but when our immune system isn't up to par we get sick and can't shake it. That's why it is so often heard that fish get sick when they are stressed. Water conditions, changes in environment, tank mates, crowding, a multitude of stressors can lower the immune system. A good ich med should break the ich cycle, I think. Are you sure it's ich?

Sorry your boys are sick. Hope they recover soon.

 

[MishyTheFishBreeder]

Sorry to here they got Ick and Fin Rot These are the two most common and practilly deadliest desease's for fish so always have medication there to use.

 

[waldo]

Pretty sure it was Ick. They are much better today, ghost is eating again but only bloodworms.
They have even started to flare again

 

[jollysue]

So glad to hear they are getting better.