Sick Blue Ram

[sarah86]

my female blue ram has suddenly become ill. she was fine yesterday and now today she has lost her colour is sitting on the bottom of the tank and seems to be breathing more quickly than the other fish, she isnt eating either.
ammonia - 0
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
pH - 6.4
temp - 26c

no new fish added within the last 2 weeks and no other fish are ill. no sudden changes in any water condition and no recent ammonia spikes. im really worried shes going to die but i dont know what to do. i would say its ammonia poisoning but the ammonia has been 0 for weeks along with everything else. she isnt clamping her fins and doesnt have red or darkenend gills and has no visible injuries/parasites

any ideas?

 

[*Fishkies*]

How long has your tank been setup?
You should have at least a small reading for nitrate or else your tank is not properly cycled.

How often are water changes performed?

How often and what do you feed?

Does she seem bloated at all?

 

[WILDER]

How high was the ammonia reading it can takes it toll on a fish and done the damage.
To be honest the fish dosn't sound good.

 

[sarah86]

How long has your tank been setup?
You should have at least a small reading for nitrate or else your tank is not properly cycled.

How often are water changes performed?

How often and what do you feed?

Does she seem bloated at all?

the tank has been set up for 2 years but went trough a mini cycle when we swapped tanks about 2 months ago but they werent in the tank then. from the what i could see the nitrate was 0 but may have been a trace although it didnt look like it. i do a 20-30% water change a week. she doesnt seem bloated and they get fed pellets and flakes, and the occasional brine shrimp. there may have been a small ammonia spike which i didnt notice but tbh i test the water weekly and it was tested after the water change so maybe it was high before?? i dont know really
she is still the same but trying to swim about more

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless her.
Is she still resting alot.

 

[sarah86]

unfortunatly she died overnight so shes been buried in the garden. it was such a shame, the pair got on very well and even laid eggs. i really dont know what happened, maybe there was an ammonia spike and she was just particularly sensitive. i just hope the male will be ok on his own for a while until i can try and get him a new mate

 

[Spooky76]

cichlids are very sensitive to ammonia.
Are you sure the water is OK now ? If you had an ammonia spike then did a change, you might have got some nitrite readings. Either way im pretty sure as wilder said, the ammonia probably got her. Just keep your eye on your water stats as you should start showing some nitrate readings soon, if you dont its still cycling and will need daily changes.
Sorry she died.

 

[sarah86]

well ive checked the water again today and the ammonia is still 0 and the nitrate looks low too, i think it read what looks to be about 10-25 id say but is low, tbh it looks the same colour as last time but i didnt examine as closely and it wasnt in the best lighting conditions. the tank is cycled otherwise i'd be seeing readings all over the place and theyve been stable for weeks, i just dont think my eye sight is very good lol i wish they did a range of 0, 25, 50 rather than 0-50 as its very hard to tell!
thanx for all the advice everyone, ive added the ammonia remover to the filter anyway just incase of future spikes