One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, Blue Fish

The saga continues. It was a sad and tragic week as we proceeded from losing the Angelfish to actually having to flush two fish because of fungal infections and come home to a total of 4 dead fish in one week.  Here's the play-by-play:

Tuesday: The Angelfish we got with the Butterfly fish dies (see previous post), Steven takes him back and gets a new one.

Wednesday: We come home to see that our 3-Spot Blue Gourami has incredibly enlarged lips and isn't eating.  Apparently infected (with pieces of his lips falling off), we determine it is probably cotton mouth from various online sources and discover (if you read the link) that unless you want all your other fish to get sick and eventually die you should immediately kill the infected fish (since it will probably die anyway).  So, after recalling that the 3-Spot Gourami was free, we flushed him.  Along with him went our Orange Dwarf Gourami because he has been sick since we got him and needed to go anyway.  

Thursday: Steven beats me home to find our beloved Longfinned Albino Bristlenose Pleco dead.  He was covered in this long cotton-like stuff.  It also appeared that his gills exploded.  Sad day.  He was a favorite!  Rest in peace, Plecosaurus Rex.  Same day Steven notices the Butterfly fish has the same long white cotton looking things flowing off its fins.  We get some anti-fungal/anti-bacterial stuff and treat the tank.  Cost: $25 (yikes!). 

Friday: Steven discovers (are you seeing a pattern here?) our Dwarf Blue Gourami (Tango) and our beloved male (I think?) Paradise Fish dead.  No signs of infection.  Really sad day. Those two were also favorites.

Saturday: We buy a 10 gallon tank with the necessary equipment to begin a quarantine tank.  We get home, fill it with water from our 55 gallon, stick a bio-filter in it and immediately put the Butterfly fish and Angelfish in.  Steven treats the tank with another fungus treatment that is supposed to work.  Butterfly fish still has the stringy cotton like stuff on it. Cost: $$$ (you don't want to know!)

Monday: The Angelfish dies. No signs of infection.

Wednesday: Steven has been giving the Butterfly fish daily salt baths.  He leaves it in for almost 15 minutes (recommended time is 5-10 mins).  And guess what?  Yes, he died too.  

Today we went to PetSmart and AquaTropics and got another Blue Dwarf Gourami (already named Tango II), another Angelfish and a new Butterfly fish.  Got home and realized that the Butterfly fish has the white stringy stuff already on him!  Put the Angel and Gourami in our big tank and now Steven is preparing the quarantine tank again for our little friend.  The gal at AquaTropics admitted that the Angelfish were a bad batch.  They had several returned and lost 6 at their store.  She even gave us a discount on the Butterfly fish after hearing about our ordeal.  We didn't even realized it until we were leaving.  She must like us!  Or feel really bad that they keep selling us sick fish.  Either way, we'll keep you updated!. Cross your fingers and say a little prayer for the Butterfly fish - jia you, little guy!