One fish dying after another!!! HELP!!!

Disaster Update

Ok, so I did a water change last wednesday before I left. About 25-30%. I called my friend who was babysitting and asked if anything died and she said "SHE DIDN'T KNOW BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T CHECK". Ok, I was really P.O. because that was the main reason I asked her to babysit. I gave her a list and told her to make sure each fish was alive everyday. She just said that nothing was floating.

So, when I got home of course my last cory was dead and half eaten by the snail. God only knows how long it was sitting at the bottom there rotting & probably contaminating everything. I am just so annoyed because I was so explicitly clear with my friend that I was having this major problem and that it was imperative all dead fish were taken out right away. It is so simple and she apparently couldn't handle it.

So here are my totals:
ALIVE:
2 adult platies (one doesn't look great)
1 baby platy

DEAD:
1 male betta
3 adult cories
1 adult platy
2 adult neons

Tonight I am taking a water sample to a fish store and the guy there is going to test it and help me figure this disaster out. Will he be able to find out if there's a virus or disease in the tank or just the regular water parameters?

I guess if I'm going to have to start my whole tank over again maybe I'll get something cooler this time, rather than platies. They're so obnoxious anyway.
 
kjr928 said:
I just want to say how disappointed I am in the lack of replies I've gotten. I've always gotten lots of help in the past, but this go-around I couldn't even get anyone to tell me if I should isolate any of my fish or not. My whole tank is dying. And the only replies I got to this thread were people asking me questions, all of which I answered (yes I know I made mistakes), and I got no suggestions. I will look for a new fish forum starting today.
please try to understand that people aren't replying not because they don't want to help, but because they either are not on the forum when you are, they are not looking at your particular thread when you are on, or they just know. this is the first time i have seen your thread and it's been up for 8 days! and like fballguy said, it would be really annoying if everyone who didn't know replied "i don't know"
people ask questions to help them try to better understand your problem. much like the doctor plays 20 questions with you when you go when you're sick. the doctor needs to know all of these things so they can properly diagnose your illness. over the internet with animals is much more difficult because very few of us are veterinatians and we only have to go by your description. we ask questions because we care about what is going on and want to try to help you in the best way possible.
also, as far as no one telling you if you should isolate the fish, doing this never hurts (99%of the time), but not doing it could be disastrous! if you think a fish is sick, quarantine it. just make sure that the qt is cycled and at the right water parameters. hopefully we will be more helpful in the future. good luck and i'm sorry for your losses!
 
kellymarie1081 said:
please try to understand that people aren't replying not because they don't want to help, but because they either are not on the forum when you are, they are not looking at your particular thread when you are on, or they just know. this is the first time i have seen your thread and it's been up for 8 days! and like fballguy said, it would be really annoying if everyone who didn't know replied "i don't know"
people ask questions to help them try to better understand your problem. much like the doctor plays 20 questions with you when you go when you're sick. the doctor needs to know all of these things so they can properly diagnose your illness. over the internet with animals is much more difficult because very few of us are veterinatians and we only have to go by your description. we ask questions because we care about what is going on and want to try to help you in the best way possible.
also, as far as no one telling you if you should isolate the fish, doing this never hurts (99%of the time), but not doing it could be disastrous! if you think a fish is sick, quarantine it. just make sure that the qt is cycled and at the right water parameters. hopefully we will be more helpful in the future. good luck and i'm sorry for your losses!
Thanks for your reply. I know people were just trying to help me, and I totally lashed out. But it was really only out of frustration. I was totally desperate and out of time and I'm sorry.
 
you can also try adding Pima Fix. When I see raised scales or anything that looks like an external-fungal/bacterial infection I tend to dose some Pima Fix.
It seems to be a pretty safe med to dose.

I can't diagnose your problem but if the problem looks external sometimes Pimafix works. I saved a guppy with raised scales with it before and cleard up several funguses.
 
Last night I took some water to an aquarium place to have it professionally tested. He said that all my parameters are perfect and he believes the fish may have gotten a fungus.

His suggestion: Since my tank is relatively small and I basically only have the 2 adult platies & 1 baby left, he suggested that I just strip the tank and start over. He thinks that the platies are hardy enough to withstand the tank cycling.

H3D: I would definitely consider getting a larger tank in the future, but unfortunately I do not have the space or money at this point in time. Hopefully within the next year or 2 I'll be able to upgrade.

What is pimafix? Is it a fungal remedy?
 
So then instead maybe I will just do small, frequent water changes? Should I treat the tank for fungus with that Pimafix stuff to play it safe? I would like to try to get my tank going again.
 
kjr928 said:
Speaking of which, how often can I do 25% water changes? Can I do one every other day for a week or two? Or is that over-doing it?
I do not like to do small frequent changes, but other might say it is OK. I prefer to do larger water changes like 40% twice a week.
 
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