Blue Ram Was Happy,and Now Lethargic.

[adracco]

I have a blue ram, who I instantly began to love. I bought him a week ago. He was happy and swimming with the rest of my peaceful community tank. I did a 30% water change the other day and since then he has been lethargic, hiding and and won't even come out to eat. This morning as well. I feel like he might be on his way out. Anyone have any suggestions? Is there something I can do to make him happier? I have a planted tank, with plenty hiding places. His tank mates are 8 neons, panda bard, black ruby barb (peaceful), bolivian ram (they square off but never attack) and a gourami who died of dropsy, Thus the instant water change. Could he have dropsey? Physically he looks fine, and I don't see any symptoms, he just looks depressed. I have 2 filters in the tank to keep the water clean. 30 gallon tank. One whisper hang on filter and a ugf. 20 watts from a 50/50 65000k bulb. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[adracco]

This morning my beautiful blue friend, was gasping for air, upside down on the sand floor. Oh it was terrible. The other fish were knocking him around and I couldn't watch it. So after reading some posts about euthinasia, I didn't have any sedative oil, I had to go with the decapitation approach. Oh my it was horrible. I am a 6 foot big buy and consider myself a pretty manly man. But having to bash my little friends head with a hammer. Oh the horror! The horror! I kept having to tell myself, it is a good thing, it was done in seconds, and he is in a better fish world now. But I wasn't expecting the splatter or the guilt. Take care of your fish hope that you never have to put your little friends to sleep.

 

[bobross]

I guess the question is kind of irrelevant, but I'll ask it anyways...


What were the stats of the water(Nitrates, Ammonia, etc...) while you notced him being lethargic? For that matter, what are the stats now?


I was reading on this forum earlier today, someone posted that one of the two rams(Bolivian or German Blue) is more succeptible to disease and wasn't as hardy as the other. I'm sure someone will come on and correct that info.. Who knows, maybe you're ram was sick to begin with and it didn't show right away.



Either way, sorry for your loss. Rams are beatiful fish, it's a shame that you had to do what you did.

maybe someone else will reply with better knowledge on the subject.




BobRoss

 

[thegnu]

First of all let me say how sorry i am for your loss.
Do you understand about water chemistry IE; pH and nitrates and how to test for it?
How long has your tank been set up?
As bobross asks what are the parameters of your tank?
Hard water + Alkaline water (pH7+) + high nitrates = dead Rams. Millions of Rams die in tanks like these every year and if your tank has these parameters then dont buy anymore Rams, they are a delicate fish to keep well

 

[adracco]

I just checked my tank water.
Ammonia- .25
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-0
Ph- 7.2

And the tap water I use
Ammonia-.5
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-0
P.H- 7.5

Is this what killed my ram, or could it have been maybe a bad fish from the store? Could it have been the tap water? I would love to keep rams in my tank but don't want keep trying just to have them die, because of parameters. Any insight or suggestions would be wonderful in helping my fish tank and my knowledge grow.

 

[PaulEbs]

You really want your tank to be 100% mature with zero ammonia before adding fish like Rams. Also, you could try softening your water a little as they prefer it slightly acidic. I've done this by adding Peat Granules to my cannister filter, so far so good - Rams seems extremely healthy.