I'm Worried About My Bolivian Rams

[Rach71]

My friend bought me two Bolivian Rams on Saturday as a belated birthday present, after I mentioned that we have just bought a 200 litre tank. We think that one was a female and the other a male. The male kept going for the female so we thought that maybe we should get a few more as we had read that they pair off. My husband went to our local store and they only had one which he felt sorry for. This one was smaller but was even more aggressive, to the point that now both original fish won't go near him. We then bought three more from another local pet store thinking that would put him in his place. It hasn't worked. Even though he or it's the smallest one in there out of the 6 he's the most aggressive. He actually grabs the other fish's fins. The two original fish stay at one end of the tank with their fins down flat and their gills are moving in an exaggerated manner. They don't look too happy. Help?

 

[WILDER]

So your tanks still cycling.
How many fish do you have now in the tank.
Do you have water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
You might want to post this thread in the ram section of the forum aswell.
All you can do for now is issolate him and ask the lfs to take him back.

 

[Rach71]

So your tanks still cycling.
How many fish do you have now in the tank.
Do you have water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
You might want to post this thread in the ram section of the forum aswell.
All you can do for now is issolate him and ask the lfs to take him back.

We've had the tank for 3 weeks now and the stats are all spot on. We had 10 White cloud mountain minnows but only have 3 left, the others have died. We also have 5 Corydoras of different species.

 

[WILDER]

Are you sure the tank cycled in 3 weeks.
Can you post your water stats please.

 

[Rach71]

Are you sure the tank cycled in 3 weeks.
Can you post your water stats please.

PH is 7.0, Ammonia is 0ppm, Nitrite is 0ppm the Nitrate is 0ppm.
We used Tetra Safestart Live Bacteria and were told we could add fish within an hour. We had had the tank running with plants but no fish for three days beforehand.

 

[Spishkey]

what test kit are you using? i find it a little strange you have no nitrate? plus with the deaths of so many wcmm id be inclined to think something was wrong and/or the tank is not fully cycled.

also you say you have corydoras from 5 different species? corys really need to be kept in groups of six, and some will not group with other types of corys, so you'd need six of the same type

with so many rams i think they are having problems finding territories. they are very territorial fish. i would tzke the majority of them back and keep the two who seem closest

 

[Rach71]

what test kit are you using? i find it a little strange you have no nitrate? plus with the deaths of so many wcmm id be inclined to think something was wrong and/or the tank is not fully cycled.

also you say you have corydoras from 5 different species? corys really need to be kept in groups of six, and some will not group with other types of corys, so you'd need six of the same type

with so many rams i think they are having problems finding territories. they are very territorial fish. i would tzke the majority of them back and keep the two who seem closest

Hi, it's an API freshwater Master test kit. We've had the water tested in the shop aswell.

The Cory's all seem to get on really well.

The Rams aren't too bad with the fighting now, just the two we originally had are just sat in two corners of the tank trying to keep out of the way of the others.
We were told that it was o,k to put fish in tank after an hour of having it up and running after using Safe Start.

We were going to wait for a few more weeks to get the Rams but my friend just turned up out of the blue with them so we didn't have much of a choice.

 

[WILDER]

The only way you can have a nitrate reading of 0 is if your tap nitrate reading is 0. Have live plants in the tank.
I would read up the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Truck]

what temperature are you keeping them at?

 

[Rach71]

The only way you can have a nitrate reading of 0 is if your tap nitrate reading is 0. Have live plants in the tank.
I would read up the nitrogen cycle.

We have quite a few live plants. My head is at bursting point with the amount of reading i've done on fishkeeping. I've asked alot of questions of LFS too! end up more confused!

what temperature are you keeping them at?

25 oC

 

[WILDER]

Ammonia reading usually rises then goes off the chart, then nitrite start to raise and go off the chart during a cycle.

 

[Rach71]

Ammonia reading usually rises then goes off the chart, then nitrite start to raise and go off the chart during a cycle.

Yeah I understand that but it just hasn't happened. We put live bacteria in the filter could that be why? what should the levels be when cycle is complete? We're only feeding the fish as much as they will eat in 2 to 3 minutes and removing any left in tank etc and doing 20% water changes weekly. We have an external filter Fluval 205.

 

[WILDER]

When you say live bacteria did someone give you a mature filter sponge,. or do you mean live bacteria in a bottle.
When a tanks cycled ammonia reading should be 0, nitrite should be 0, should have a nitrate reading.
A 0 nitrate reading fine if you have live plants, and no nitrates in your tap water.

 

[Rach71]

When you say live bacteria did someone give you a mature filter sponge,. or do you mean live bacteria in a bottle.
When a tanks cycled ammonia reading should be 0, nitrite should be 0, should have a nitrate reading.
A 0 nitrate reading fine if you have live plants, and no nitrates in your tap water.

it was live bacteria from a bottle. The ammonia is on 0, the nitrite is 0 and the tap water nitites are 0 and we have live plants. One of the frightened Rams were dead when I got up this morning Bless it's little soul. I think the other Rams' demise is iminent. We will be sticking with the four once he's gone. I think they are two pairs.

 

[TigerIssey]

Was this "live bacteria" stored in a fridge or did it come off the shelf, what was the brand and name on the bottle??