German blue rams stomach help.

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Tropical Tony

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Hi guys. Iā€™ve had my German blue ram for over a year now but recently her stomach has started to bend inwards. Can this be treated and what is it?

Cheers,

Tony
 
My GBRs are slow eaters. I have had issues with feeding them with Angels and various Tetras. I would watch the GBR during feeding. If the other GBRs or other fish are discouraging the fish in question from eating you will have to change how you feed the fish or move the GBR to another tank. I have had a GBR nearly starve because it would eat so slowly that the other fish would have consumed all the food before he would get enough to eat. I countered the issue by slightly overfeeding the fish for a while but in the end ended up putting him in another tank.

This is only one possibility.
 
Thanks for the reply. I donā€™t think sheā€™s a slow
Eater sheā€™s usually the first to the top to eat. Her stomach has just really gone inwards. Could it be a internal bacteria?
 
Pictures of the fish?
What does its poop look like?
Is it eating properly?
Is the tank & filter clean?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH of the tank water?

-------------------
It could be intestinal worms or an internal protozoan infection. See following link for more info and treating them.
(265) What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop. | Tropical Fish Forums
 
I am not much help when it comes to diseases, I have been very lucky not to get many diseases or parasites other than a really bad Ich infestation once. All the issues I have had can be traced to fish behavior or me screwing up something while caring for the fish.

In your case it seems like there is something other than access to food causing the sunken stomach.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. So Iā€™ve just tested my water and here are the results.

Gh 120ppm
Ph 7.6
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrate 10ppm

Hereā€™s a picture of her. you can see the slight up curve on her stomach itā€™s like sheā€™s losing weight. Sheā€™s also lying on substrate now and breathing quite heavily. Not sure what her poos are looking like havenā€™t had chance to look.
C09921FC-BEBC-41DE-BE3D-AC83F5E5D470.jpeg


My male German blue ram is fine Iā€™ve just taken a photo of him now.
4E7F1A15-232A-4DA6-B5E9-951208EFC3AA.jpeg
 
Thanks for the replies guys. So Iā€™ve just tested my water and here are the results.

Gh 120ppm
Ph 7.6
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrate 10ppm

Hereā€™s a picture of her. you can see the slight up curve on her stomach itā€™s like sheā€™s losing weight. Sheā€™s also lying on substrate now and breathing quite heavily. Not sure what her poos are looking like havenā€™t had chance to look.
View attachment 136420

My male German blue ram is fine Iā€™ve just taken a photo of him now.
View attachment 136421

The ammonia is far too high. It needs to be zero.

Do a large water change as soon as possible.
 
I done a waterchange just before I tested. Iā€™ve been struggling getting the ammonia down as of late. Is there any thing else I can do besides waterchanges to reduce it?
 
Nothing that is as quick as a water change.

Live plants can help with ammonia levels, but that is not something that can help right now.

Ammonia that high is very toxic and the only way to bring it down in a hurry is a large water change, and probably multiple.

One of the members on here is fond of the phrase "the solution to pollution is dilution", and in this case it's the fastest way to go.
 
I suspect that she is too far gone - the bending of her belly is not from ammonia - thought your ammonia should definitely be at 0. I suspect it is related to internal parasites and if it has done that much damage, she will likely die in the next 1-2 weeks. I hope your water changes help, but I believe she will just get worse.

You can try to deworm her (per Colin's link), but normally once the damage is done; it's too late.
 
Thanks for the reply. Just done another waterchange and tested again and itā€™s come down to 0.25. Iā€™ll do another waterchange tomorrow and hopefully that will sort it. Iā€™ve also put some disease away + in too to try and help. Yeh sheā€™s not looking too good just resting on the floor ?
 
I can see the redness of her inner organs.I suspect she is an old lady and it might just be her time to move on.
That could be why she is losing weight.Animals deal with these things in their own way.
90% water changes are the only immediate answers to ammonia,and a lot of other things.
 

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