Ill German Blue Ram

[-cAtFiSh-]

Last Saturday i bought myself a pair of German blue ram cichlids. They have been doing fine and have settled into the tank very well. The only issue i have had to deal with is some ich on the male which i have treated and now it is gone.

Over the past couple of days the male has been really aggressive towards the female and she had become really stressed and inactive. Yesterday though the male wasnt being aggressive towards her at all, only towards the other fish in the tank. I noticed that he was breathing very heavily but he was still active and was eating.

This morning when i turned the light on i couldnt see him. I finally found him at the bottom of the tank at the back, still breathing heavily. I went away from the tank for a little while and came back to find him in the same place. I put my hand in the tank to see if he would react to it and he didnt. I was able to gently lift him up and put him at the front of the tank so i could look at him. He has lost a lot of his colour and is making no effort to swim. He is still breathing heavily.

Whats wrong with him?
Water params are ammonia and nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 5ppm, pH 7
Temperature is a little high at about 28 - 29 degrees C but i think thats because the thermostat in my thermometre is busted.

Help

 

[@ombomb]

What is the GH / KH of the tank?

Were they sold to you as a confirmed pair?

Rams are sensitive little buggers that I've had no luck with, mine had bacterial infection after bacterial infection brought on by the hardness of my water.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Sorry I'm not sure on that. I never bought testing kits for it

Maybe i need to make a trip to my LFS.


And they werent sold to me as a confirmed pair. They were the most active and healthy looking ones in the tank, so i took them.

 

[WILDER]

Sad to say but it sounds like he's on his last legs, parasites can cause bacterial infections, can you issolate him.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Unfortunately i cant. Only got the one tank

So are you saying that parasites could have caused this? How could that have happened?

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Ok ive just found him dead

RIP

 

[WILDER]

Parasites do alot of damage to a fish they feed on the skin causing piercing and then entry for bacterial infections.
Sorry for your loss. R.I.P.

 

[Moses]

Hello all,

I have similar symptoms with my Blue Ram (the mate of the one pictured in my Avatar).

About three days ago I though he was getting ready to breed again, cause he was bossing round the bigger fish... but since he just hasn't been himself.

He's been sitting on the bottom at the back of the tank oblivious to all around him. Most of his colour has gone, so apart from a bit of neon on his lips and eyes he's very pale. He's shown no interest in eating and I don't think he's eaten in 2 or 3 days. He's also breathing very heavily, about 6 breaths per second.

PH is about 6.5, NH3/NH4 is 0.25 and Nitrite is 0.1! Temperature is 29 C.

Clearly the Nitrite is an issue - how do I get this back down?

After reading this I've put him into my 20L medicine tank with 50% new water and added 1.5ml of Protozin. I'll let you know how he goes.

Any advice is appreciated,

Moses.

 

[WILDER]

Hes not sounding good can you issolate him.
Need to get that nitrite reading down, how long has the tank been set up.
How many gallons is the tank, and do you have an ammonia reading.
How many fish and which type are in the tank.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.

Ok ive just found him dead
Sorry bless him. R.I.P.

 

[Moses]

Hes not sounding good can you issolate him.
Need to get that nitrite reading down, how long has the tank been set up.
How many gallons is the tank, and do you have an ammonia reading.
How many fish and which type are in the tank.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.

Ok ive just found him dead
Sorry bless him. R.I.P.

Nah my guy is still going, though I've seperated him out today.

I got a new tank about 2 months ago, though I've had these fish in a different (smalller) tank for about 12 months. The tank is 250 Litres.

There's 2 Angels, 2 blue rams, 1 rainbow, 4 tetra's, 2 barbs and 2 clown loach's in the main tank.

what's flicking/rubbing ?

Cheers,

Moses.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Wow there is a german blue ram epidemic Lol my ram is flicking and rubbing and listless but with all colour. Most likely the switch from the 32 gallon to the 75 gallon caused the problem for me.