Ram Cichlid Emergency!

[Mayu]

I just got the call that my rams were in from my LFS. The fish expert of the store ordered some rams from a Cichlid breeder. I wanted Bolivians so he had them on order.

When I got there, the fish guy wasn't there, but the owner showed me the rams that had come in. They didn't look like the Bolivians but he said their colors were duller because they were stressed, but once they acclumated they'd look like Bolivian rams.

Well now I got a call saying, "Those aren't the bolivain rams, those are blue rams... the bolivians haven't come in, we sold them to you by mistake." Well, it's too late because I finished acclumating them and let them loose in my tank and I don't want to stress them out by chasing them into a new bag and returning them. They'd die.

Well now come to find out, I read that Bolivian rams do ok in 7.5 pH (unless you want them to spawn, then it should be lower)... but Blue Rams do better in 6.8... how do I lower my pH without stressing them out since they're new to the tank?

 

[Truck]

Blue rams must be kept in an environment with a PH of 5-6.6 a GH of 0-12 and a temperature of 28-32oC, take them back to the store tomorrow, other wise they'll deteriorate, and I'm guessing the current fish you have wont be able to handle the required temperature. Bagging them up tomorrow and taking them back wont hurt, if the shop is seriously interested in the welfare of the fish, they'll take them back, otherwise set up a dedicated tank to them, or make sure the tank mates are suitable for the water parameters needed.

 

[Mayu]

they're the only fish in the tank. I had it set up and cycled for my Bolivian Rams.

 

[Truck]

Well you're going to need to do a few things, firstly, raise the temperature to 30oC, then use pieces of bog wood and almond bags to lower the PH, you could use 50% RO water and 50% tap water to lower the GH too. Suitable tank mates that I would choose would be cardinal tetras and sterbai cories.

A good meaty varied diet is good too.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Yeah, definitely take them back. I've tried gold rams before but they didn't work as didn't like my water at ph 7.5 and temp 75f. I have however had success with Bolivian Rams. These are much nicer fish in my opinion as have a better body shape.
As it was their mistake they should take the German Rams back and replace them with Bolivians when they can get some. Oh and they should throw in some free food too

 

[Mayu]

talked to the store today, they guarantee the fish should they die, but they don't have spare tanks to isolate returned fish... so once they're free swimming in the tank, they can't take them back and release them into the general population. So they'll guarantee that if they die in the next 3 weeks, they'll either refund me, or replace them. (that's what I get for buying my fish at a store that JUST started selling fish a few months ago.)

But I don't want to wait for them to die, I'd rather just try to get the water levels right for them. I've slowly been weaning the water up to 81. (according to several fish sources, they do well in temps 78-85f with 80-81 being ideal.) I'm up to 79 right now. Next I'll up it to 81.

They say they can do well in 7.0 pH, right now I'm at 7.4... so I need to figure out how to lower it a bit without adding chemicals.

They seem to be doing ok so far several hours in... they've gone from pure white to their typical coloring, so they're less stressed right now. I'm just hoping they don't die. I hate it when fish die when I try so hard to save them. I'd like to be madder at the pet store, but it was my fault for not waiting until they were more established in selling fish, and because they really do feel bad and are willing to at least take back the fish should anything happen in 3 weeks, even though their return policy is 5 days.

but just a note that from now on I'm going to get my fish from Drs foster and Smith, where I've had the best luck getting my fish.

 

[Truck]

go for 84oF for temperature, 99%+ of sources online are wrong, I have only come across 2 which are correct.

The PH must be below 6.5, or they will deteriorate, Blue Rams are one of the most sensitive fish in the hobby.
For bringing the PH down, use a mixture of 50% RO water and 50% tap, and use bog wood, and almond leave bags from ebay, which will leach tannins into the water and lower the PH.

 

[Mayu]

I'll try the bog wood and almonds leave bags to get the pH down. I just don't want to add chemicals since they're so sensative.

These are the fish I ended up with (even though I WANTED Bolivians)

So as you can see, they're very lovely which is why it would be a shame if I can't get them to survive. So I need to do what I can.

 

[Mayu]

BTW, I suppose you wouldn't recommend pH down then, right? cause that's what the pet store tried to recommed me using... 1/2 teaspoon of pH Down.

 

[Truck]

no, I wouldn't touch that stuff, it tends to make the PH fluctuate, and in essence it's just sulphuric acid.

 

[Mayu]

I heard driftwood can lower pH... could I get some driftwood from the beach (Lake, not ocean), boil it and use that?

 

[Mayu]

also, someone recommended using distilled water along with tap water. I heard you never use distilled water cause it can change pH too drastically, but the person who recommended it said if you use it in line with normal tap water, it should level itself out and lower the pH just a bit... I was wondering if I should do a water change and say, add 1 gallon of distilled water to like 4 gallons of tap water?

 

[Truck]

Ro water would be better, you could use 50% RO to 50% Tap water, bogwood will lower the PH, but getting it yourself, you risk adding toxins into the tank, if you got it from a trusted source you could boil it, strip it of bark, and soak for 6 weeks. The almond bags will work best in the meantime though.

 

[Bebobb]

Never heard of using the distilled water. I was told not to use it, but I never knew why. Could someone explain how much it lowers the pH?

 

[Mayu]

when you say almond bags, do you mean tea bags? Wouldn't that seriously discolor the water?