Sick German Blue Ram

[Darkehorse]

Ok, I have a sick German Blue Ram.

Here are my tank paramaters.

Size: 29 Gallons US
Temp: 80F
PH: 7.0
KH, GH: < 1
Ammonia / Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-10 PPM
Maintenance Schedule: 30 %Water changes / filter rinse every 2 weeks. Last water change, about 2 weeks ago.

Stock:
2 Bolivian Rams
2 German Blue Rams
5 Neon Dwarf Rainbows.
1 Golden Wonder Killifish
1 Bumblee Bee catfish
1 Oto
1 Peacock Goby
2 American/Florida Flagfish

I recently added the 2 Flagfish and 3 female rainbows about 10 days ago. 3 Days after that I added the peacock goby.

Symptoms:
The blue ram is hanging out near the surface a lot, kind of hovering at a 45 degree angle. His fins appear clamped. He is eating but his body looks a little gaunt. I don't see any sort of fungus or white stuff on his skin. He did get his tail nipped by one of the Flagfish when I first got the the flagfish, but he seemed fine immediately afterwords and his tail seemed like it was healing. I have not added any medications recently. I noticed he was hanging out near the surface for the past two or three days (thought he was just begging) but now he seems a little weak. He does seem like he still has a little notch out of his tail fin, but it's hard to tell with him clamping them so tight.

I'll try to get a picture tonight but I welcome suggestions now.

-Darke

 

[WILDER]

Does the body look pale.
Check the gills to see if there pale with excess mucas, or red and inflamed.
Any fliicking and rubbing.

 

[Darkehorse]

Does the body look pale.
Check the gills to see if there pale with excess mucas, or red and inflamed.
Any fliicking and rubbing.

Update: As I sort of expected, he died. I didn't see any mucas or any redness/inflamation. He did infrequently swoop down really fast and rub himself against the gravel. Here are some pictures of his body.





If you can take a wild guess as to what was wrong, I'd appreciate it.

-Darke

 

[WILDER]

Bless him R. I.P.
If he's was rubbing and laboured beathing could be dealing with a parasite.
If no visable symtoms look into body flukes.

 

[Darkehorse]

Bless him R. I.P.
If he's was rubbing and laboured beathing could be dealing with a parasite.
If no visable symtoms look into body flukes.

Well I can only assume flukes, since there wasn't anything visibly wrong with the fish. Should I assume my other fish are being affected as well? Could it be that since this fish had been fin nipped, that he was weaker and thus more susceptible to the flukes? I don't have invertebrates, so can I just treat with copper safe? I didn't find a pinned topic regarding flukes, so I'm not sure what to do.

-Darke

 

[WILDER]

Fish carry a few flukes which they can handle, when a fish gets stressed the flukes do there damage.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/flukes1.shtml

 

[Darkehorse]

Fish carry a few flukes which they can handle, when a fish gets stressed the flukes do there damage.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/flukes1.shtml

Wilder, as usual your advice is invaluable. Quick question: I was going to use the advice in the link and treat the tank with salt as it seems to be the least scarey of all the treatment methods. However, it says do not treat with salt if you have salt sensitive fish like Corys. Well I don't have any Corydoras, but I do have a bumblee bee catfish (genus species unknown) and an Oto. Should I worry about either of these two being salt sensitive? Do I need to direct this question to catfish forum?

-Darke

 

[WILDER]

To be honest wouldn't bother with the salt some sites say salt not that affective on flukes, they are very hard to get rid of if there egg laying flukes.
I would get a med like clout.

Clout
Manufacturer: Aquarium Products
A very strong and effective medication for parasitic and protozoan infestations. Treats: Ich, Hydra, leeches, Planaria, Epistylis, Trichodina, Hexamita,Tetrahy-mena, body fungus, digenetic flukes, parasitic copepods, monogenetic flukes and anchor worms.