My Rams Are Gone!

[BigTuna]

So my three Rams are all dead today. Went to work this morning with 3, come home to 0. There was nothing left of 2, and the 3rd must have just died and my barbs were taking advantage. I'm extremely frustrated at myself, and possibly my barbs? I was told the Rams would be fine with my stock, but apparently not? According to my Seneye, my tank conditions are fine. It is reading my pH a little high, but not too high for Rams, and I think its a little inaccurate anyhow. I say this because another kit reads it in the 7.5-8.0 range, likely closer to 8. Water is a bit on the cloudy side, and I am seeing an oily texture at the top. I also threw in an air line, perhaps oxygen is low? Shouldn't be with the live plants in my tank, right? Urgh, sorry about my panic post, I'm all over the place right now. Any help, suggestions GREATLY appreciated. Please don't judge, if I'm making a mistake somewhere, I'll like to learn from it. Thanks again.

Oh, and the rest of the fish seem fine as usual. I took some picts of the last Ram, not sure if it will be helpful???

 

[TrainRek77]

It wouldn't hurt to post the pictures. I'm no expert but I have two rams and have read quite a bit about them. How long have you had them? How did you acclimate them?

 

[BigTuna]

It was approx 2 weeks ago when I picked them up. I left them is the transport bag in my aquarium for an hour, then added my aquarium water in with them for a few hours, then I added them to the aquarium. They seemed to be doing quite well, I'm shocked. They were quite difficult for me to get, and quickly became my favorite fish. I'd love to know what went wrong so I can fix it because I would love to have more of them. I never once saw any signs of aggression from the tankmates, but to be fair I have been extremely busy with my newborn son and getting back to work. I had not witnessed any aggression. I cant even rehome the barbs right now because my only other tank is a 16G.

 

[creeker]

Looks like one of those "Balloon" Rams. Regular Rams are a bit touchy, I would imagine the balloon ones are even touchier. I think you should try again with the regular Blue Rams. You are doing weekly tank maintenance, right?

 

[TrainRek77]

That's definitely an odd looking ram. Mine were difficult to get also. I have one wild ram and one blue ram. They are really touchy fish. I make sure to keep my nitrates under 40 ppm. I have to do two water changes a week. I've heard they are real sensitive to ph and prefer softer acidic water. My ph is 7.2, many people have told me that is very high for a ram but probably wont kill them. It's really weird that fish doesn't have a few black strips and a spot on it. Here are some pics of mine. I'm not sure why they died but mine really enjoy hiding. They like my plants that are really close together.

"wild" german blue ram

german blue ram

 

[hawkdaddy]

what was the original pH of the tank? The one you thought was accurate.
I don't know about balloon rams, but normal rams can be very touchy at times, but other times quite robust

 

[BigTuna]

Looks like one of those "Balloon" Rams. Regular Rams are a bit touchy, I would imagine the balloon ones are even touchier. I think you should try again with the regular Blue Rams. You are doing weekly tank maintenance, right?

Yes, if I am not mistaken they are Electic Blue Balloon Rams. And yes I do weekly maintenance. Starting to think about doing more, though.

what was the original pH of the tank? The one you thought was accurate.
I don't know about balloon rams, but normal rams can be very touchy at times, but other times quite robust

Hawkdaddy, I'm embarrassed to say but I think I've been misinformed or confused about tank conditions for my rams. My cheap little test kit showed my pH range between 7.5 and 8.0, but the color was closer to the 8.0 side then the 7.5. My Seneye is reading 8.03. All along, for whatever reason, I though the Ram needed a slightly higher than usual pH. I'm now reading that they like it closer to 7.0!!!!!! I'm extremely embarrassed because I was trying to make my water suitable for the Rams and allowing the pH to be a bit higher, when in fact its not suitable for ALL my fish, especially Rams.

When posting this topic, I was nervous I'd get judged as a poor fishkeeper. I guess when the shoe fits....