why didn't the medicine work?

[Jennifer]

I posted on the other boards a few times about the problems of all my fish dying the last two weeks, and everyone was really helpful...but I am still left with the question: why didn't any of the meds work??? They didn't prevent or cure anything!

I made a couple mistakes at the very beginning, as a newbie and all, but then I thought i was on the right track...I set up a hospital tank and put any fish in there that i thought were showing the beginnings of symptoms or may be infected. I treated that tank and the tank they came from with Maracyn-Two and maracide. One by one they still dropped off... This morning my dwarf gourami died. He wasn't showing any symptoms until last night and he had been in a medicated tank for almost a week, yet he still died. Did I do something wrong?? I am almost 100% confident that i was using the right meds...i gathered as much info/advice as I could and the symptoms were classic of an internal bacterial infection.

So now I am at a crossroads...I have two remaining neons in the hospital tank and a pleco, 2corys and 2ottos in the 32 G tank...all of them have been exposed to sick fish. I have 10G tank of healthy fish but the tank is overcrowded and I want to take the fish from that tank and put them in the 32 and my 20G (empty right now). I am disinfecting the 32 G tank but I am worried about putting the neons back in either of the tanks. I am also worried about putting any new fish in with the bottomfeeders in case they are carrying something...btw the bottomfeeders are the only fish that haven't lost any of their species to sickness. What should I do? I really want to get things back in order...my house is a mess of tanks and equipment, my remaining fish are all jumbled together and not in the tanks I wan them to be and the tanks are a bit of a mess (not dirty just "franticly disorganized"). Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Seleya]

Could you please give a full review of what happened? Tank, inhabitants, parameters, time line, etc.....

 

[Jennifer]

Ok, here's the (long) story....

It started with a sunset dwarf gourami that became sick....stopped eating, a red sore on his chest, lethargy. I think that was about three weeks ago. He may have been sick when i bought him because he wasn't as energetic as my other dwarf and was much weaker.

About a week after the dwarf died one of my cories died. I thought he had a swim bladder disease because I awoke to find him on the bottom of the tank unable to right himself or swim properly.

A week after that my male cockatoo cichlid became sick. he wouldn't eat, stayed at the bottom of the tank, clamped fins, discoloured skin, heavy breathing, etc. I treated the tank with Maracyn-Two and fungus elimator (I made a mistake mixing the two and did a quick WC). I continued treating with the Maracyn-Two. He never got better and eventually died I think it was last wednesday. The next day my female cockatoo disappeared...I think she died in the night and was eaten. She died quickly because the day before she wasn't showing any symptoms.

Over the weekend (starting friday night) my male betta, who hadn't shown symptoms before, became sick. (He was in the medicated tank). He became really lethargic and wouldn't eat. His stomach became bloated and he had a large yellowy-white patch on his chest/belly. He was breathing heavily. Finally sunday he died.

I awoke today to find my male dwarf gourami with a great big swollen eye. He was blind on his right side and the eye was all white. He stayed on the bottom and was breathing heavily. He died too.

Over the past week I have also been losing neon tetras one at a time. Each morning I would wake up to find one dead on the bottom. I have two left and the past three mornings have been the only times I haven't found one dead!

As for water parameters...the tank all of these fish were in had been fully cycled for about 6 weeks. All toxins were zero. I completed a 30-25%WC and vaccum once a week. I was having a few problems keeping the temp. stable (due to temp changes outside) but it wasn't that bad. The temp. was usually around 78.

So in summary...
This is what I started with:
-1 Dwarf gourami
-pair of cockatoo cichlids
-1 betta (yes I know they arn't supposed to go with gouramis but I didn't have any problems, they kept to themselves)
-1 bushynose pleco
-school of 8 neons
-3 cories

Now I have:
-2 neons
-2 cories
-1 pleco

I also have a 10G tank and haven't had any deaths or sickness in it.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Did you take the carbon out of the filter when you medicated? Because if you didn't, it will remove the medicine from the water... that's its job. Also, if you're using a strong medicine like Maracyn, you should start with a half dose at first and watch for an hour or so to make sure it isn't harming anything sensitive (like cories and neons), before going up to the full dose. Other than that, I don't really know...

Also, check the water parameters since strong medicines sometimes kill the good bacteria too and can destroy your cycle...

 

[Jennifer]

yes I did take the carbon out of my filter. No, I didn't start with a half dose...I just followed the instructions on the package and it doesn 't give detail like that. However, i did cut down on the medicine when I put my neons in a hospital tank... a few still died but two did make it. It's certainly a mystery to me! My remaining fish are still okay today...

 

[Lotus]

I think the main problem you had is that you didn't catch it fast enough. Some diseases have just gotten too far by the time you realize they're a problem. Of course, when one fish dies, then another shows symtoms, it may already be too late.

Sorry for your losses

 

[Jennifer]

That's a definite possibilty...as a newbie I am not that swift with new things and "surprises"....when my first dwarf gourami became sick I thought he was beaten up...took me a few days to realize I made a mistake and by then it was too late.

 

[Lotus]

The learning process with fish tanks is sometimes a painful one, unfortunately. If you ever see any changes in behaviour or appearance in your fish, it's a good idea to ask either here or elsewhere online, or at a good fish store if you have one nearby. It's better to be safe and have people tell you what you're seeing is perfectly normal.

It's also a good idea to look over each of your fish every day (feeding time is a good time) to make sure they look healthy and are eating.