One Of My Rams Looks Really Ill

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One of my Rams, (bolivian i think) looks to be on it's last legs. Yesterday all seemed fine with it, did a bit of gravel cleaning, replaced some water dechlorinated it, now my ram is on the bottom of the tank breathing heavily. I've looked at it and can't find anything really bad on the body apart from the top fin looks to have been nipped slightly. It's swimming but in a very weak and unstable way. I'm gonna do some tests on the water, i'll post the results when i've done them, but i've put some tetra medica general tonic in, the only thing i had to hand really. Any ideas or suggestions?? (All my other fish are fine no problems with any of them).

 

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I've just tested the water and here are the results:

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Beofre i did the test i put some Tetra Medica General Tonic which has turned my tank water bright green, not sure if this would affect my readings as my ammonia 2 days ago was 0.

Tank size: 440l (unsure of uk gallons 98??)
pH: 7.0
ammonia: 0.25
nitrite:0
nitrate:10
kH: no test kit
gH: no test kit
tank temp: 24.9c

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
Very lethargic, very unbalanced swimming, mainly sitting on bottom of tank. Maybe looks as if top fin has been eaten slightly.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 20% weekly

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants: (i think tank maybe overstocked). 3 clown loach, 2 bolivian rams( 1 poorly), 4 neon tetra, 2 black skirt tetra, 2 suckermouth catfish, 2 rainbow fish, 2 angel fish, 3 swordtails, 2 black mollies, 1 chinese algae eater (will be gone soon), 1 red tailed black shark, 2 gourami. Most of these fish came with the tank.

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 2 plants.

Exposure to chemicals: No.

Digital photo (include if possible):

Sorry about the quality, but in 2 of the pics u can see a bit of his fin missing at the top.

 

[fishstick]

Sorry to hear about your ram, mine did exactly the same last week, its so disheartening, isn't it. From all the info on this forum and in PFK it does seem that golden and bolivian rams are quite fragile. Good luck with the others.

 

[WILDER]

You have an ammonia reading that needs getting down to 0.
So immediate water change.
How long has the tank been set up.
What filter are you using, how many gallons does it turn over an hour.
See if the water change perks the fish up but to be honest I doubt he will make it.

 

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The tanks only been set-up a week in my house, but the pump, gravel plants etc were never cleaned when i picked them up from where i got them, (had to fill the tank again as fish came with the tank, but dechlorinated the water before refilling). i've tested the levels pretty much every day since i got the tank and todays the only day i've had ammonia above 0.

I'm using a rena filstar xp 2 with a flow rate of 300 gph.

Is this filter good enough for my tank, 98 uk gallons???

How much of a water change would you suggest?? 50%

 

[dirtydog]

The tanks only been set-up a week in my house, but the pump, gravel plants etc were never cleaned when i picked them up from where i got them, (had to fill the tank again as fish came with the tank, but dechlorinated the water before refilling). i've tested the levels pretty much every day since i got the tank and todays the only day i've had ammonia above 0.

I'm using a rena filstar xp 2 with a flow rate of 300 gph.

Is this filter good enough for my tank, 98 uk gallons???

How much of a water change would you suggest?? 50%

did the filter media stayed wet while you transferred then you could have kept all the bacteria that enable your tank to run properly. did you allow the media to dry out at all?

I think that filter is sufficient.

 

[-SPB-]

The tanks only been set-up a week in my house, but the pump, gravel plants etc were never cleaned when i picked them up from where i got them, (had to fill the tank again as fish came with the tank, but dechlorinated the water before refilling). i've tested the levels pretty much every day since i got the tank and todays the only day i've had ammonia above 0.

I'm using a rena filstar xp 2 with a flow rate of 300 gph.

Is this filter good enough for my tank, 98 uk gallons???

How much of a water change would you suggest?? 50%

did the filter media stayed wet while you transferred then you could have kept all the bacteria that enable your tank to run properly. did you allow the media to dry out at all?

I think that filter is sufficient.

Media stayed wet. all that was done was pipes taken out of tank. I'm just in the process of 50% water change. Good job i'm on a late tomorrow at work, this could take some time!!!

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

[WILDER]

Tank could just be in a little mini cycle.
Whats your tap nitrate as that a good guide to go by.

 

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I've just done the nitrate test on my tap water and it's about 7.5. If it is a mini-cycle, how long would this take to complete and do you reckon it would kill many of my fish???

 

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Just checked my amonia levels again today, they are at 0.125. Before i tested the waters yeserday i put some Tetra Medica General Tonic in my tank (bit foolish probably, should've tested the water before). Would this affect the ammonia readings in my tank.

I've got this stuff called ammo-chips, says it's an ammonia removing resin, would it be worth while putting this in my filter or noy. If so what would i take out of the filter to put this in. I have a rena filstar xp2.

 

[WILDER]

Wouldn't bother with that ammonia lock.
Test the water again tomorrow to see if the ammonia readings gone down.
Some meds can knock stats yes and tonic usually bacterial, parasite and fungus meds at low doses.
Don't use tonic find them to be a complete waste of money.

 

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Cheers wilder, you've been a big help I'll post my results tomorrow.