chickadee

Whether you have actually got multiple bettas or just multiple tanks, you need to start taking some precautions especially if those tanks all contain some form of Labyrinth organ fish. We have as I am sure you have noted been having a lot of betta passings lately and it does seem that the Gouramis do have a viral problem. There may or may not be a connection but even if there is not there are some things that you all need to start to do to keep some of the probabilities of this happening to you down.

Don't use equipment between tanks and do sterilize and use a cleansing agent soak between uses even in the same tank.

Don't transfer fish between tanks.

Don't divide tanks to add more fish.

Use quarantine tanks for new fish at all times no matter what type of fish.

Wash your hands good with an antibacterial soap like Dial between tanks every time. To forget just one time can undo everything.

Do not feed your fish without a handwash in between tanks.

Right now it would probably be a good idea to have seperate tank for each betta if possible but I know it is not for some of you but watch your fish and if you see anything unusual get that fish into a hospital tank and away from the others and clean that tank out well.

This problem if it is what we are thinking is viral, antibiotics do not work on viruses. They work quickly and there is not a known cure at this time so this is not something to ignore. Please be cautious. As with humans, cleanliness and care between the tanks is going to be your best defense against this.

Rose

chickadee

Thank you, Rose.

This seems to be the iridovirus that has been killing so many members' dwarf gourami. We aren't sure, of course, as none of us have the equipment necessary to test for a viral infection.
If this is the same virus, there is no way to tell if a fish is sick. Members have purchased gourami and brought them home. Very suddenly, after a week, the little guy just stops eating and then everything goes downhill very quickly.

If possible, you may want to buy any bettas you get directly from breeders for the time being, as bettas, by nature, need to be more isolated, and a breeder is less likely to have a virus that originates from a dwarf gourami floating around the tank system. It is still always a necessity to quarantine a new fish, though.

One last request from the activism-minded one here. Please, if you've lost fish to this, let the pet store you got it from know, and let them know what you think the problem is. Even PetSmart and PetCo deserve to be told (though they likely won't apply the knowledge). This may get them to try to figure out a way to isolate their bettas from the rest of the stock, or, even better, stop ordering dwarf gourami until the distributors in Singapore get this problem under control.
__________________
The above was posted by sirdarksol on another thread and since it deals with the same issue I pasted it here also. Thank you so much.

sirdarksol

Excellent advice Rose, though I am going to point out one little (nitpicky ) thing. Antibacterial soap will do nothing extra against the iridovirus. It's not bacterial. Just saying this so that folks who don't use antibacterial soap (like me) won't feel the need to go out and buy some. Done properly, regular soap removes the same amount of infectious material from your hands as antibacterial soap does. This is not to say that antibacterial soap won't do the job, however. Any soap should do the trick.
The important part when washing is to not rush it. Take twenty seconds and scrub scrub scrub. However far you immersed your hands, scrub another few inches beyond that. If you got in halfway up to your elbows, scrub for thirty seconds. Up to the elbows, forty. Beyond that, fifty.
(this information brought to you in part by the food-safety experts at Experior, in part by numerous colleges that have studied the effects of antibacterial soap, and in part by the letter "Q")
And: Hand sanitizers are not a replacement for washing. They just don't work if you haven't washed (and if you've washed properly, there shouldn't be anything for them to sanitize )
Lastly: Don't forget to rinse really well. The tiniest bit of soap in a tank can kill a fish. It is probably a good idea to use a clean washcloth on your hands after you've first rinsed, to help get the last of the residue off of your hands.

Thank you again, Rose, for bringing this info to us.
I hope everybody's tanks are doing well.

Edit: Don't do that to me. I sat staring at that second post, trying to figure out why it looked so familiar. Ugh... I feel old.

Shawnie

I thought she was talking to herself by saying hi rose hahahah then I saw the lil edit line after

my brunette moment of the day!

Butterfly

Please also rinse your hands after using the hand sanitizer. It is a large portion alcohol and aloe. Your fish won't like the alcohol.
There is a product called Net Soak by jungle that is good to keep your nets in between uses. You can also use Methylene Blue. The MB will dye your white nets blue but not harm them. The Net soak won't dye nets. You don't have to rinse the nets after being in either soak.
Carol

Lonely Angel

Thank you for posting this, Rose; it's a very good reminder of all the steps needed to keep from spreading disease.

I do have a few questions to make sure I'm doing my best to keep my babies healthy.

How can I sterilize a siphon between uses in different tanks? Or would it be better to use a separate siphon for each tank?

I use tweezers to feed my bettas their bloodworms, and I already have one pair per tank, but do I need to get separate pairs for each of the bettas in the divided tank? Or is that a moot point since they're already sharing water?

And lastly, since I use tweezers for feeding, my hands don't come in contact with the water. Is it still necessary to wash my hands between tanks? I ask because I have eczema on my hands so repeated washing really dries out the skin.

Again, thanks for this thread and it might even be a good idea to sticky it.

ThisGuy

This is now affecting betta's? I lost my male dwarf gourami a month or 2 ago he just stopped eating and then he was gone in 2 days.

Allie

I was going to make a post on this myself. I am one is learning from most of the cautions above.
Betta & labyrinth fish are sensitive fish and need these precautions. As do all fish. Some fish like cichlids may not be effected by the virus etc...but they can pass it along through rocks, substrate, wood, decor & plants real/fake.


Glad you already did it (no long post for me to type)

Allie

I never thought to do that with nets, tools etc.

sirdarksol

To sanitize a siphon, you could run bleach through it, followed by a solution of dechlorinator.
Or you could, I believe (I have not had this confirmed yet. Could one of you chemistry minded people either confirm or deny this?) use pure rubbing alcohol, then rinse it out with hot water. I believe that the alcohol will fully evaporate after a bit, leaving no trace.

chickadee

Based on a post earlier today in the Stickied Posts of the Freshwater fish Disease Board by sirdarksol. I would consider this a wonderful suggestion for any fish with the symptoms of this disease:

Rose


Edit: Okay, folks. I have a completely untested theory based on something Dave said in another thread. This disease leaves the fish too weak to swim, meaning they spend their time on the bottom of the tank.
It is possible (not likely, considering the other symptoms, but right now, I want to give you all as many options as possible) that what is killing gourami and bettas is not, directly, iridovirus. Instead, it may be that they are dying by drowning.
Dave suggested putting the fish in a floating container that allows them to sit nearer the surface. If it's easier for the fish to reach the surface, it may not drown. Some viruses (think cold or flu) just have a certain duration before the body can fight it off. If you survive the symptoms, your body will recover.
Again, I do not want to get anybody's hopes up too much, but it's something to be tested. Trying everything available to us is the least we can do.
Last edited by sirdarksol; Today at 05:53 PM.

Allie

I did that with Holly & Buster it obviously didn't help. I had them in breeder traps.

chickadee

I use NetSoak all the time and the nice thing about it is there is a color change in the solution when it is needing to be changed. It has an active ingredient of Potassium Permanganate which is a powerful disinfectant and will turn your walls and hands very purple if spilled so you need to be cautious when you use it but it works very well. I do like it very much and it is not overly expensive. Methylene Blue is also not that expensive and does a fine job but will also stain so you need to be careful in not dripping it around. (but if the alternative is sick fish a little caution is a small price to pay, hey?)

Rose

Allie

Thanks for the tip.

Butterfly

I frequently clean my siphon tubes with bleach and then rinse and dechlor without any adverse reactions from the tank.
I have been taught alcohol doesn't kill germs unless friction is applied and allowed to dry.
What about peroxide? If it gets in the tank it will break apart into its components and be harmless.
carol

sirdarksol

Didn't know that about alcohol. I know that, on hands, it won't do anything unless the surface oil is broken up (alcohol and oil don't mix, and the oil has a stronger bond, so a "spritzing" of sanitizer doesn't work). I didn't think about how it would affect other things.

Anyway, bleach is a better anti-virus, in my opinion. My wife doesn't know if peroxide breaks viruses down or not, but if it does, that would be a decent option, too.

chickadee

Peroxide would work but take longer. It changes to oxygen and water when exposed to air so a lot of times I have seen it even recommended to use to increase the oxygen level in a tank in a hurry but I am not going to try it that way. But I do have books that say if you pour it into the tank when it is low on oxygen it will raise the oxygen level without hurting the fish. So I know that it is not toxic to fish. But to disinfect with it would take much longer so it would have to be a soak and would lose its potency totally overnight.

Rose

chickadee

I also do not know about its ability to break down viral infectants.

Rose