Gold Ram

[RichardEvans]

Hi All,

Looking for some advice, my Gold Ram, has become very secluded - and the bleeding heart tetras have began a little chase of it - it seems to either lie on the bottom or swim at the top by the filter, I've had it for a bout 4 days, I did have another but as soon as it was put into the tank - a day after it was deceased 

 Funnily i've also had an Angel Fish die at the same time and a tetra.

I have done water changes, checked for fin rot and other parasites, cannot see anything of concern.

Readings are Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5 PH 7.5 and Ammonia 0 Temp is 26 Degrees.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Inhabitants are 4x Angel Fish, 5x Bleeding Heart Tetra, 1x Baby Red Tail and 1x Gold Ram.


Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

I've just moved your thread, as rams are south American, not African
 
How big is your tank, how long has it been set up and is it cycled? What are you using to do your tests?
 
Is it a red tailed black shark that you have? I do hope it's not a red tail catfish!

 

[Livewire88]

Can you tell us what the GH (general hardness) of your water is? Rams prefer soft water along with a higher temperature 80+
 
Like FM said if you indeed have a Black Tail Shark it is likely harassing your ram to near death, both fish share the bottom part of the tank so will come into contact a lot, Black Tail Sharks can be very territorial and are very active at night so whilst your ram is trying to rest the Shark will be causing it a lot of stress. 
 
Gold rams are sensitive fish at the best of times. 

 

[RichardEvans]

Hi,
 
Thank you for the reply's wooops! There was me thinking it was African, learning all the time!
 
Yeah tank is cycled was cycled for about 2 months with 2x Mollies
 
The tank size I have is a 125l, and to be honest i have kept an eye on them, and the red tail does not really seem to be bothering him - i stay up late sometimes and do checks - but the bleeding heart tetras seem to be bullys, chasing the fishs the only ones they wont chase is the shark.
 
Hes currently at the top hiding by the filter now, and he does normally share the log with the redshark without any problems between them.
 
Could it be a parasite/ infection?
 
New to tropical fish keeping - have a cold water tank thats very establised but tropical is a whole new level! lol

 

[RichardEvans]

Here he is.

 

 

[fluttermoth]

My first thoughts are;
 
that's not a gold ram, it's a normal blue
 
your tank looks very empty; rams are quite shy and need loads of hiding places before they feel secure. Paradoxically, the more hiding places you have, the more your fish will be out and about, as they know there are plenty of safe hiding places nearby; you and I know there are no predators in your tank, but your fish don't!
 
rams do better in well planted, shady tanks.
 
They are not an easy fish to keep; many people, including myself, have given up on them in recent years

 

[Messi]

Hi All,

Looking for some advice, my Gold Ram, has become very secluded - and the bleeding heart tetras have began a little chase of it - it seems to either lie on the bottom or swim at the top by the filter, I've had it for a bout 4 days, I did have another but as soon as it was put into the tank - a day after it was deceased 

 Funnily i've also had an Angel Fish die at the same time and a tetra.

I have done water changes, checked for fin rot and other parasites, cannot see anything of concern.

Readings are Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5 PH 7.5 and Ammonia 0 Temp is 26 Degrees.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Inhabitants are 4x Angel Fish, 5x Bleeding Heart Tetra, 1x Baby Red Tail and 1x Gold Ram.


Thanks

It looks like a German Blue ram and they are very sensetive fish and pretty diffucult to keep, especially in newer tanks. I reckon your water is too hard, on top of your PH being too high and temperature being too low. They also need plenty of hiding places and feel more confident in planted tanks. I'm guessing your tank is kinda new?