Bolivian Ram-DEAD!!! Please help!!!

[Ram_Swimmer2000]

I have had a Bolivian ram for 3 weeks. He was doing great and really showing his colors. He recently started turning black and gray and was not swimming as much. 2 days ago, he started swimming weirdly, like he was having a seizure. Yesterday, I noticed he was floating in his side, and would swim upright whenever I walked over to the tank. He was in a tank with 4 hockey stick tetras, a synodontis petricola, and a mystery snail. I noticed his symptoms yesterday, and he was checking all of the boxes of parasite related disease. I immediately ordered Fritz paracleanse, and added a dose of it today. He died 2 hours later. Think it was a parasite, but still suspicious. If anyone has any insight, advice, or help, it would be greatly appreciated. Last note, he had lost all of his color when he died and was completely black and gray. Any advice or insight? Thanks

 

[CassCats]

Do you have any photos of him from prior?

What are your water parameters?

 

[Fishmanic]

What were you feeding it? They can choke on shrimp pellets.

 

[jaylach]

Do you keep track of your water conditions? If so what is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? What you describe makes me think that the tank is not cycled and the victim fish are just more susceptible to bad water conditions.

Your initial post reads like the tank is only three weeks old. If that is right the tank is NOT cycled and you are putting fish in poison.

 

[GaryE]

3 weeks is a critical point. If you weren't doing regular, 30% weekly water changes, toxins could build up. He would have been your most delicate fish.

BUT

3 weeks is also the basic quarantine period when you can expect to lose fish. Even in ideal conditions, which you may have offered, you can buy fish with hidden disease. It often takes 2 or 3 weeks for that to show up, which is why a quarantine of 6 weeks or more is a good practice. We can't all do that. He sounds like a fish with an internal infection.

For the future, what size is the tank?

What is the water like (hardness, pH) and how often do you do water changes?

What temperature do you keep your fish at?

How long have you had the tank?

You can't change what happened, but you can adjust as you go forward.

 

[Ram_Swimmer2000]

3 weeks is a critical point. If you weren't doing regular, 30% weekly water changes, toxins could build up. He would have been your most delicate fish.

BUT

3 weeks is also the basic quarantine period when you can expect to lose fish. Even in ideal conditions, which you may have offered, you can buy fish with hidden disease. It often takes 2 or 3 weeks for that to show up, which is why a quarantine of 6 weeks or more is a good practice. We can't all do that. He sounds like a fish with an internal infection.

For the future, what size is the tank?

What is the water like (hardness, pH) and how often do you do water changes?

What temperature do you keep your fish at?

How long have you had the tank?

You can't change what happened, but you can adjust as you go forward.

He was in a 15 gallon. I was planning to upgrade soon as he got smaller, but the current setup worked fine. Water temp was at 70 degrees. I have had the tank for about 6 months, and it went through a full two week cycle, while adding prime to it daily. I did water changes about 1 every 2 weeks

 

[Ram_Swimmer2000]

What were you feeding it? They can choke on shrimp pellets.

No I had him on flake food and frozen bloodworms.

 

[Ram_Swimmer2000]

Do you keep track of your water conditions? If so what is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? What you describe makes me think that the tank is not cycled and the victim fish are just more susceptible to bad water conditions.

Your initial post reads like the tank is only three weeks old. If that is right the tank is NOT cycled and you are putting fish in poison.

Nitrite, ammonia, and nitrate levels all checked out. I got it tested at my local fish store and all was good. To clarify, I had the ram for three weeks. The tank had been running for 6 months, and underwent a full cycle with prime conditioner added daily. All was well when he was added, but I’m thinking a parasite killed hin

 

[CassCats]

It's hard to say without a necropsy at this point, which you'd have to pay out of pocket.

It could be parasitic as that can be a hidden killer, but it also could be internal bacterial infection as well.

I would watch your surviving fish for symptoms of problems. Check their bowel movements, if you see any white, long stringy like poop, then it's likely to be parasitic

 

[enricosonic]

Just my opinion 70 degrees is rather low for a Bolivian Ram. This could compound whatever issue he may have come to you with.

 

[Ram_Swimmer2000]

Ok thank you! This may be helpful for the future