Hi talisa! Great video! I quarantine all sick and new fish, it’s tough as u don’t want to spend the time and money doing so, but being patient and doing so is worth it in the long run, the stress for sure is a huge factor, so when I do it I add salt , the api med trio , and turn the lights off for hours in combination with seachem stress gaurd and add extra air stone for more oxygen as meds and salt reduce oxygen, that’s for new fish , when I get a sick fish I like to just use salt and seachem stress gaurd as first then move to the meds if needed , but sometimes fish just die even when we have tried everything, I always test my water once a week just because you never know , things can change in an instant

I’m so sorry. I losing fish is heartbreaking especially when something you did may have caused the issue. Honestly though maybe quarantine would have helped but probably not. It doesn’t sound like there was enough time for a sick fish to have caused the death of other healthy fish. It most likely was bad timing. But there is no way to know for sure. I’m super guilty of not quarantining and it is absolutely good advice and at the very least it makes it easier to tell if it was bad timing or a sick fish

I think it is always good to have some sort of filter and sponge filters are perfect! Your new fish are stressed from shipping but also they are in a new home - they may be use to sponge filters too. Ask the breeder if he used sponge filters, plus the beneficial bacteria that will house in that filter can only help your tanks in the future. When you get your test strips, cut the in half length wise, save some money but also encourage you to just dip and test on whim.

That stinks Talisa, I’m sorry! Sometimes these things are a mystery. I had a friend that couldn’t keep a lot of fish, snails and shrimp alive no matter what he did. Eventually found out it was a softener he was adding to his house water. Not saying that’s the case with yours but my point is all water is H2O but everyone’s has differences whether slight or huge and some fish and inhabitants are just more touchy to those. Hope the new fish don’t give you any problems.

Honestly, Talisa - i'm not sure quarantining or not was a factor. The sad reality is tanks and fish can experience what I cal "mystery death syndrome." Yes, there is a reason but we might not ever know it. The water changes and maintenance session more productive path in my view. Good luck!

I ordered a 20 galaxy Rasbora and 20 emerald dwarf rasbora.. I quarantined them together for 4 days. No issue so I added them to my established tank that had 25 chili rasboras. 2 days later the chilis had ick…. I’m guessing the stress of the new inhabitants stressed them out. Sometimes it’s something you couldn’t predict

I added 4 Ottos this spring, two died and two made it. As soon as the first one died I started doing 20 percent water changes and gravel vac every other day for two weeks. I also noticed just a trace of ick on a few fish so I treated with ParaGuard for those two weeks also. I might have just gotten lucky but everything returned to normal quickly. I think Father Fish and others have done a disservice to the aquarium hobby with his anti-water change stance. I have been keeping fish off and on for 30 years and I swear by weekly water changes, plants or no plants. I am fortunate to have good tap water though.

Also I’m gonna need you to send me that beautiful branch in that tank 😂

Beautiful Platy, that is a gorgeous female, I have never seen that variety before. If you have a pump and sponge filter lying around I would use it, some extra bacterial filtration isn't going to hurt and the water agitation will add more oxygen. If you have a pump but no sponge filter even just an air stone would benefit by agitating the water surface and stimulate oxygen exchange. Yes a no tech tank can work, but just a low tech sponge filter or air stone adds a lot of benefits for very little cost.

So sorry to hear about your fish loss. You and I have really bad luck lately :( I know stress can do crazy things to all living animals.. I have also learned from not quarantining fish. Live and learn though. I do it for 30 days now. Your bettas looks great btw. Good luck on your future fish.

Corries can carry parasites it has happened to me before . Now I treat my tank annually with Para cleanse Fritz

I also have water that catfish of any kind survive in. Also shrimps too for me. And in saltwater I can't keep Anemone either even with perfect parameters

Did you check the heater? Was there a prolonged dip in temperature? It may not be that your parameters are off, maybe just that they're way different to the petstore's parameters .... Did you 'plop and drop' or empty in the petstore water when adding the new fish? High probability it was something preexisting introduced from the petstore water or internal from those fish. When buying fish ask how long they've been on display, when they came in etc. Observe the tank they're displayed in, ask if the tanks are sharing water with the other tanks/sharing a sump, obsreve those tanks too, if there's sick or dead fish or fish with sunken bellies in those tanks, then maybe hold off on your purchase. The SLOW and sick fish are easier to net out, watch as they're being netted, don't be afraid to say, 'that one looks a bit unwell can you swap it for another please'.

So sorry about that .. Cory's can be strange but that is peculiar.

I'm sorry about your fishes... Have you tried panda garra? They are very personable, pretty and peaceful. I think they fit perfectly in your newly scaped 49g!

It's probably your water source, you should switch to R.O water. This sounds like a lack of experience in fish keeping.