help

[charlie]

Recently  i had 4 bettas all from Tim, the first three were doing great in a 10gln, which i divided into 4 compartments( knew the risk of disease contaminating all the fish),  about 2 weeks after introducing the fourth betta to the tank ,he came down with a  infection, i removed him & treated with melafix & pima fix & salt, he lasted a week & died, since then the other 3 got the same thing & have lost 2 more- trying to save the last one. My question is what shoukd i use & how do i disenfect the entire tank since i plan to strip it & start over, thanks for any advice.
Regards

[BigDaddy]

What kind of infection?  Bettas are prone to fin and tail rot... is that what they caught?

[mseguin]

I've also found they're somewhat prone to Columnaris.

[charlie]

The first 2 came down with -Columnaris & the second 2 with Fin & tail rot( lost the last one this morn. what can i disenfect the entire tank with.
Thanks

[mseguin]

I would say let the tank dry out completely, that should take care of it.

[Mettle]

Yeah, Matt's right. Drying it out is probably one of the best ways to disinfect things.

Also, don't feel too bad about losing these fish... Bettas are line-bred to have their colours. The fancy ones such as those that Tim sells are even more selectively bred over time. This involves a LOT of inbreeding which imo makes for weaker fish. This then means that water conditions and even the stress of seeing one another through dividers may have triggered the onset of these diseases.

Good luck with your next endeavour.