I was so stupid and my fish payed the price :(

Last Saturday we went to a petstore. I never used to have issues with any fish bought there.
Saying that, I didnt go there to buy fish. But I saw some juvenile Harlequin Rasboras and bought 4 plus 3 tiny, tiny Cardinals.
I know, 7 fishes are a lot. But they were so small and I figured as long as I keep a really close eye on the water readings it will be okay.
Then I did the most stupid thing ..... I added them into my established tank with my 4 Cardinals, the 2 Black Neons and the 2 Penguin Tetras. Yes, I should have quarantined them, but as I said, I never had trouble with that store.
Making a long story short, within 24 hours one Rasbora had showed up with a big Cotton Mouth growth on his mouth and 2 baby Cardinals were dead.
I tested the water parameters but they were fine. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5 (like my tap water)
I euthanized the fish that had the growth, changed 30 percent of the water and treated the whole tank with Melafix.
I have been testing parameters, doing water changes and treating the tank every day since. But since Sunday everything except 3 Rasboras have died. My Cardinals died first. Then the Penguins turned up with Cotton mouth growths and lastly the Black Neons lost their stripe colour and developed saddle bag lesions so I euthanized them.
I feel so stupid, how could I be that foolish ( I had those fish nearly 2 years
But thats my guilt now .........

What I need to know now is, what do I need to do from here ? My brave guess is that I will loose the last 3 Rasboras too. The Melafix dont seem to stop it, just drag it out.
Is there any other treatment I could use ?
And what about the tank ? How do I clean the tank and especially the filter so that I can wipe out the disease without wiping out the cycled filter ?

One thing is full sure, I am setting up and cycling my small quarantine tank tomorrow because that wont happen again

Sorry to hear about this ... I, personally, always quarantine my fish.

I also find eSHa really good for treating tanks when needed (luckily haven't had to use it in a long time). The eSHa 2000 is for fungus, finrot and bacterial issues whereas the eSHA Exit is for white spot.

Though I never tried it, Melafix doesn't seem to have very good reviews - it seems it's not powerful enough to cure some of the bacterial infections.

Hope this helps.
Valerie

Thanks for the reply Valerie.
I know I made a huge mistake

Will every petstore stock eSHa ? I dont think I ever saw anything with that name.
Will this clear/disinfect the filter too ?

I agree with Val.

I thiink Melafix sucks big time, it is an extract from a plant called Melaleuca a relative of the Eucalyptus Tree.
Saddleback is Neon Tetra Disease and is lethal, it spreads via infected fish being eaten by any live Fish.
Remove fish before they die to reduce the chances of it spreading.

As Valerie says eSHa 2000 will help.

As far as I know, Petstop has a branch in Cork, they usually stock it, i always.keep a large Bottle on Hand.
It is a Bacterial Dise and near impossible to cure, eSHa 2000 will stifle the transfer of it in the Tank.

Kev.

I euthanized everything I spotted with symptoms, but the Cardinals died so fast.

Okay, going to dump the Melafix (I didnt know any better and thought I was doing the right thing )
Will see if I can find this eSHa 2000 tomorrow.
Thank you.

Katie, Fishkeeping is all about learning, you reacted correctly but as most LFS don't quarantine for long enough so it's up to us to do it properly, I'm keepi g Fish for a very LONG Time and recently had a massive outbreak of Ich and sorted it.
You should inform the Shop for their sake as well as that of their other Customers

Kev.

I actually went back to that shop on Tuesday because I was doing some Christmas shopping next door to it. I just went in to check on the health of Cardinals and Rasboras there, NOT to buy. Not sure I will buy there again to be honest.
When I bought them on Saturday the Cardinal tank was pretty full. By Tuesday there were only 3 left in the tank. I really dont think they sold so many so I guess they died there too.
I didnt say anything tho

Will go and search for it, thank you once again

katie wrote:

Will this clear/disinfect the filter too ?

As per their website : "Under normal circumstances eSHa products pose no threat to filters or bacteria"

Happy eSHa hunting

Valerie

thank you once again Val

Really glad I found this forum.

katie wrote:

Really glad I found this forum.

Me too. Everyone on here is really nice and so helpful. Nobody talks down to me when I'm asking for advice, even if its very basic beginners stuff.

Really sorry about your fish

grgeorge wrote:

Really sorry about your fish

Me too

sorry to hear that keep the head up

sean

Its not your fault, not everyone has a quarantine tank and most people have to put the fish straight into the tank. It is a risk everytime you get new fish for your tank but not much you can do but rely on your LFS.

I don't know if it makes much difference but I always pour the fish into a net over a bucket to avoid the water going into the tank.

Sorry to hear of your loss, hopefully you will get going again.

Melander

sorry to hear about that but in all honesty i would have said it to your lfs, both for their own knowledge (i.e. if multiple people complain they will know it is them, if one or two complain but everyone else says nothing they wont think its them)
Also one of my local lfss compensated me for losses before (and they often would at least replace the ones you bought)

there is no harm in sayin it to them

if it can get them to cop on and sort things out ya never know ya could be saven it from happen someone else but sure nothin can happen if u dont say it to them

sean

grgeorge wrote:

katie wrote:

Really glad I found this forum.

Me too. Everyone on here is really nice and so helpful. Nobody talks down to me when I'm asking for advice, even if its very basic beginners stuff.

Really sorry about your fish

The reason why we don't talk down to anybody is because we've been there before its all about learning.

Sorry to hear about the fish, as for quarantining its always a good idea but in saying that i don't tend to do that as i can spot a good fish in petshop from a bad which doe's take longer.

Their has to be a decent fish shop in cork minus chips,

Thank you everyone. Your messages really mean a lot.
And yes, I guess I should have said something. But the last time something like this happened to me was 2 years ago. I went back and explained the shopkeeper what happened and I wasnt treated very nicely for it So since then I just put any losses down to tough luck on my side.

As for my tank right now .... another one passed away today Came home to find him on the fishtank floor. I am sure the other 2 eat some of him, so I guess by tomorrow I wont have any fish left at all (
No luck tracking that treatment either. I was handed a bottle of Interpet treatment instead. Is that any good ?

Just a thought .... would I be better off euthanizing the last 2, stripping the tank and filter, clean the lot (HOW ?)and start from scratch by cycling the whole thing ?
2 tanks and neither next or near ready for fish .... I could cry .....

Hi Katie.

If your Tank is Cycled etc and you were very happy with it, it would be a shame to have to go through the whole process all over again. If you just allow whatever is happening to just keep on doing it's worst, two things will happen, one, the Fish die off, a shame , yes but inevitable and two, the Tank can be allowed to continue to mature and Filter etc, the "Bug" should die off and if you wanted to guarantee that it did, you could then add the Medication, if you give me your Address, I will send you some of what you need.

Kev.

Hi Kev
Yes, the tank is fully cycled and it would be such a shame to destroy it all. But I am on my wits end and feel I have ruined it all anyway
All I know is that I am tired of euthanizing or fishing out dead fish. Its heartbreaking I want this whole thing to end.....

Gonna PM you. Thanks for all your help.

PM sent

Kev.

..........and then there was one

Took out another dead one this morning so left with just 1 lonely Rasbora swimming through 55 liters.

Kev, talk to you after dinner. Thank you.

Jaysus,thats heartbreaking alright Katie,i feel for yeh but dont give up......And no better man than Kev for guidance!! Best of luck
Ger

Hi Katie
Sorry to hear about the losses but dont get disheartened. Kev will steer you right.Its happened to us all at some stage.
I am not in a position to quarentine fish but have only bought from sources that I know I can rely on.
I have had to walk away from beautiful fish in local pet shops because I dont know if I can trust the shops fish. Only advice I can give is use one of the sponsors from here if you can and stick with them. They get to know their regulars and look after us. Also if you have any issues you can PM them and not have to go into the shop if you dont feel comfortable with telling them face to face.

Good luck with the tank.
Pat

Very nicely put Pat.

Kev.

Thanks Ger and Pat I appreciate your posts
Felt better after the chat with Kev and with his help I am hoping to get this under control >fingers-crossed<
Its heartbreaking alright Never experienced a wipe out like that and I sure dont want to be in that situation ever again. Its quarantining all the way from now on in for me.

On the other side, my last little Rasbora is still alive and busy checking the tank for his dissapeared mates. Fed him this morning and he was hunting down his food happy out.
I put in the second dose of Anti Fungus and Finrot this morning too (figured I might as well do something rather then just wait for the poor little bugger to die)
Not expecting him to make it because they all died but lets face it, there is nobody in the tank left to eat him if he does. And as long as he looks happy enough, he might as well keep the filter going with his bio load