View Full Version : all but 1 fish died. now what???
I recently had a massive loss of fish and I am down to one that seems to be ok. I lost at least 3 to dropsy and 4 to swin bladder infections. Now what? Is it safe to introduce some new fish since the last one is doing ok? Should I do a large water change? Should I just wait a while?
Please let me know what you think.
yashinfan
11-13-2003, 9:10 PM
First: How recent is this?!
Second: Was the last fish exposed to medication?
Third: Size of tank, parameters, etc...
Do not introduce any new fish. Do a good sized water change (not 100% tho!!) probably 25% a day for a couple of days would help.
The last one that died died today. This has taken place over the past week. The lone fish that lived was exposed to medication that obviously was of no help to the rest of them (salt and melafix). Water was in good shape, but I did take some bad advice from the guy at my LFS and added 5 fish the same time, so there was a spike. I knew I should've just stuck with 2 or so a week. Oh well, can't do anything about it now. Could these problems be a result of the spike? Could the added stress have caused the disease? I'll do some 25% water changes and let things settle for a bit before getting anything else. BTW, it's a 29 gallon.
yashinfan
11-13-2003, 9:29 PM
Salt and Melafix were not going to help you at all!! Eeep! You should have sought proper advice on how to treat dropsy and swim bladder, and maybe got through the whole ordeal with more than one fish. Yes, a spike in the bioload would definitely be stressful to your fish, and could make the onset more rapid and deadly. Don't do it again, and especially wait for it to be cycled. Wait a while, because there's probably some traces of amonia in your tank (can you check?). A good amount of time would be at least a week, to make sure the last fish still looks healthy and is alive.
My tank was cycled, but I think the addition of too many fish caused the problem. I used salt and Melafix just because I had some on hand for the most part. I like my fish, but after fighting Ich for a while, and then this, the cost of medicine begins to stack up and outweigh the cost of replacing some $2 fish.
Thanks for your help/advice. BTW, for future reference, what do you recommend for dropsy and swim bladder related problems?
yashinfan
11-14-2003, 6:08 PM
If you go to your local LFS they have special meds that target those diseases. Honestly, my fish have never had them, but I've seen the meds for it in the store. My bf's angel had dropsy and even tho the meds helped, the girl was just too old to fight and eventually died. Be careful in the future when stocking your tank and you might want to quarantine your fish if you have the room. I know fish keeping is way more expensive than any of us ever dreamed, but you got to shell out some cash if you want your fish to live longer than a month.