Bizarre Behaviour From One Of My Rams

[A creature void of form]

Yesterday I noticed one of my Rams was looking pale and gaunt, and acting lathargic. I decided to watch him for a while. I proceeded to feed my fish flakes to see how he would react. As usual, he sucked in one of the bigger flakes, chewed it for a bit and spat it out. This has not concerned me before, because he has always looked very healthy and seems to enjoy this feeding ritual.

But then - about 30 seconds after feeding him - he appeared to go into some kind of fit. He rolled quickly upside-down, swam frantically to the top of the tank, and then dived into some foliage and trashed and writhed with his head in the sand substrate for a good minute or so. I was sure he was perishing at this point, until he suddenly stopped and continued moping around. This morning, about 10 hours after the incident, he appears perfectly healthy and normal.

What is this all about? He really did look pale and ill. Can fish have epiletic fits? Could he have an allergy to something in the flakes?

Here are some details about my tank (nothing seemed amiss):

Size: 15 gallon.
Other inhabitants (1 other smaller male Ram, 6 cardinal tetras - all acting normal).
Fishless Cycled: 2 weeks ago. I've had the Ram in question for this duration.
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 0
No2 - 0.1ppm
NO3 - 10ppm
Temp: 26 degrees.

 

[Catfish Jack]

i had two male rams in a 55g for a while. the smaller of the two always seemed inactive and scared and stayed behind a pile of rocks. just yesterday i had to remove the smaller one because he was doing the same thing yours was, but i think mine was in a later stage of this condition, as it was just floating on top. i put him in my 10g and treated him with two medicines, one for internal parasites, and one for swimmbladder disease, dropsy and a bunch of other diseases. he is just lying on the bottom but his gills are still moving.

 

[A creature void of form]

Damn, it looks like he has a disease then. He was just resting on the substrate all last night and didn't react when a waved my hand near the glass. He seems off his food too.

The problem is, this is my first tank and I don't have a quarantine set-up.

What is the best course of action? Can I add treatments to my tank with no detriment to my other healthy fish? Could he pass on the disease?

And is this just one of those things, or could I have done something wrong? I'm new to this, but I've been very cautious witht setting the tank up and mainiting it.

Any more advice is much appreciated.

 

[Spooky76]

You have nitrite readings too...cichlids dont do well in cycling tanks usually.
If you have nitrite readings I would do a 25% water change asap and see if it helps at all.

 

[A creature void of form]

You have nitrite readings too...cichlids dont do well in cycling tanks usually.
If you have nitrite readings I would do a 25% water change asap and see if it helps at all.

Hi, my tank was fully cycled (took 8 weeks) before I put any fish in.

I did a 25% water change last night, but the thing is my other Ram Chichlid is acting normal. Is my ill Ram likely to get better over time, or will I have to treat him some how?