my first rams

[Fiori]

I just wanted to have a little moan today. I got 2 beautiful golden rams at the weekend and I was just stunned as to how gorgeous they are. Well - I have managed to kill them already and I feel really sad about it . I know they are delicate and it was the first time that I have kept them but I have'nt had any fishies deaths for ages and I feel a bit upset!

 

[Bloo]

Oh dear any idea why they died ?

 

[MsDad]

I'm sorry to hear that. I lost 2 pair of apistos and several Neons a while back due to a very unexpected nitrite spike. I felt guilty for weeks, but sometimes you do everything right and it still happens. Keep your chin up!

 

[Fiori]

I'm really not sure. They were in a mature tank, all water parameters fine. Just did'nt seem to settle and hid away, but I thought that was fairly normal to start off and did'nt worry overly much - until I found a wee corpse!

 

[Katchan]

I'm not sure if it apply to golden rams but it probably does as they are just colour morphs of blue's, but they can be VERY VERY twitchy. Its apperently a weakness that has been bred into them from the asian mass production facilities . They can go in one of four ways:

1. Go into shock (gasp at surface, shake, rapid breathing) and die on first introduction to new tank (not so rare as to think it wont happen to you) - accimitise VERY well before introduction to tank, this happens even with established tanks.

2. Die within a few days to a week of going into the tank (there maybe signs such as not eating etc). And may seem normal otherwise

3. Die a mystry death weeks or months after buying (this apply's to many dwarf gouramis as well)

4. Old age, disease or other "natural" rather than unexplained death.

While there are good odds having them survive the first two the third shouldn't be though of a number 4.

As long as you acclimatise the VERY VERY well and keep the stress off them for the first few hours/days this will helps lots, also buying a M/F pair may help.

Katchan

 

[jimbooo]

i had a pair of german blue rams die within a week. apparently they dont get on well in hard water. if you have hard tap water you will need to mix it with R/O water to soften it up for them.

after hearing that i didn't bother replacing them.

i assume this will be the same for all rams but i'm not an expert.

 

[Fiori]

It sounds like they went into shock - they were ok the first day and eating well, then later they were gasping at the surface for a while. I will need to take EXTRA care if I try again. My water is very soft and slightly acidic and I thought the tank was mature enough and ready for rams, which I've wanted to have for ages. *sigh*

 

[jimbooo]

in that case dont be put off just be a little more carefull with the next ones. it's all a learning curve at the end of the day and i'm sure you'll tackle it differently next time around.

little guys

 

[Katchan]

I lost the first one I purchased about 2 and a half days after i purchased it, it had never eaten though it acted some what normally, had good colour, then I found it on the bottom of the tank nearly dead. Next time I feel game enough to try (read rich enough ) I'll get a pair, and acclimatise even better.

katchan

 

[BOD]

mine died the mystery death after a few months...one day he was swimming round and fine..next day dead!!??

 

[keane]

Hi,

you don't mention what other fish were/are in your tank, or what size your tank is. This could maybe provide us with a better indication as to why they died.

i bought a m/f pair of Gernam Blues back in January.

Due to lack of knowledge I just lobbed them straight in my tank, which had only been cycled for one week.

No water adjustments at all were made to compensate for them and they have been perfectly fine and even spawned twice. Gorgeous colours on them, always.

The majority of Rams purchased nowadays are captive bred and so water parameters are of less importance than if the fish was wild caught and taken from it's natural habitat.

steve

 

[Fiori]

I did put them into the main tank as the QT was occupied. Main tank is a Juwel 180 with an additional Eheim external filter. - I just KNEW it was a mistake to put them straight in the tank, but the lfs has a good quarantine policy and usually no problems.

Tank has 1 angelfish, 4 beacon tetras, 6 corys, 1 clown plec, 3 platys, 6 harlequins, 3 otos. None of them are fully grown, as the tank was set up January this year and they've gone in gradually. Well planted and with bogwood. The angel is to be moved to a bigger tank which is cycling at the moment.

ph 6.8
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5

Aaaaaargh!