Sluggish Blue Ram

[Katty]

First off, water parameters. Ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is around 10. pH is about 7.2. The tank is 20g and the temperature is about 81F.

Two weeks ago I got two blue rams, a male and a female. I did put them both in QT for a week, and they were both healthy and active. After moving them into the main tank, the male ram has been doing awesome and is totally healthy, active, and at home. The female however has been acting strange. I noticed the female hiding in the corners, near the surface about 3 or so days ago. She also stopped eating then. I first chalked this up to the male ram chasing her around and her trying to hide from him. Then about two days ago I noticed a small white spot where her eye meets her head, on the top of the eye, and I thought it could be ick and that I would wait until Friday when I have to go to the pet store anyways to see how it progressed before trying to treat for ick. Today I noticed that the little white spot had progressed to a tall, squarish, grey-white fuzzy blob, about 2 mm in height. She stays in the corners and mostly keeps her head close to the surface of the water. She also breathes rather quickly. She is sluggish and I was actually able to scoop her up in a big clear coffee mug to inspect the spot with next to no resistance from her at all. I can take a picture if needed.

 

[jacko32]

try turning up the temp to 29c/86f make sure theres plenty of water movement over the surface to oxygenate the water

 

[mark4785]

Based on the information you've given, she could have a fungus growing. I highly suggest you to take a picture and post it up as it could easily be a different ailment. I've never had to deal with a fish with a fungus so I don't know if sluggishness, inactivity and loss of appetite can be caused by fungus growths.

Mark.

 

[Katty]

My camera is pretty bad. The camera focused more on the scales than it did the fuzz, so the fuzz is a little out of focus. It isn't quite that fuzzy/cloudy looking.

When I went to scoop her into the cup for the pictures, I used my other hand to herd her into the cup and I could have grabbed her in the palm of my hand if I wanted to, she was so slow.

 

[mark4785]

My camera is pretty bad. The camera focused more on the scales than it did the fuzz, so the fuzz is a little out of focus. It isn't quite that fuzzy/cloudy looking.

When I went to scoop her into the cup for the pictures, I used my other hand to herd her into the cup and I could have grabbed her in the palm of my hand if I wanted to, she was so slow.

Do you know what may have caused the white strand to appear? Has she damaged that part of the head on anything, caught herself on a large ornament, dropped out of a net etc?

If she has caught herself on an ornament, she may have done this intentionally to relieve the discomfort of a parasite stuck to the skin such as flukes/termatodes. If she has been itching herself continiously on ornaments due to irritation from a parasite you need to treat the parasite issue before treating the fungus. This is because fish often get wounds/skin damage from itching themselves on objects which produces injuries (wounds, dislodged scales etc) where the fungus then starts to grow. Note: if another fish in the tank is nipping her, that fish should be removed before treating the fungus as it will just continue to attack your Ram and more wounds/dislodged scales may develop.

If you feel the fish hasn't itched itself at all and just went more subdued then you should begin treating the fungus as the wound where the fungus is growing was probably due to bad handling by LFS rather than any persisting threat in the tank.

The steps for treating fungus issues go as follows:

1. Carefully remove the fungus growth with a cotton-wool bud. If you see any kind of wound after removing the fungus, spray the whole area with propolis which aids healing. Place fish back into tank.
2. Apply any treatment containing malachite green or formaldehyde to the aquarium (Malachite green is recommended according to a book I've just read). Most anti-fungal treatments will contain these chemicals. The treatment I used to treat my Rams flukes contains formaldehyde and the product is named 'Interpet Anti-Slime and Velvet'. Do not use a product containing methylene blue as it is will kill beneficial filter bacteria. Remember to remove zeolite/carbon filters before treating. Don't use salt tonic with fungus treatment.

 

[Katty]

On closer inspection from top-down, she has more of these fuzzy blobs along her side near the big one, there is about two of them, they are very small and fuzzy. Nearly invisible when viewing the fish in profile, but from the top-down they are visible.

I have not seen her itch anything at all. Pretty much everything in the tank is rather smooth and/or soft anyways. The male may have pecked at her when chasing her around, but I'm not too sure. The other fish (neons and corys) are completely non-aggressive. The big blob is also right where the curve of the eye meets the head, so it would be a very awkward place to have injured. The stress from moving tanks and the feisty male might have pushed her into getting sick, perhaps.

So you think it is fungus? I do have some malachite green/formalin medication left, I was not too impressed with it staining the silicone of the last tank I used it in but I will use it again if I have to.

I'm a little worried about trying to manually remove the fuzz, I feel like that would stress out the fish more than necessary, having to confine her or remove her from water and scrape cotton over her eye

Ack! I forgot to mention I have plants and snails, so I'd prefer medications to be at least safe for the plants, and I can remove the snails if need be.

 

[mark4785]

On closer inspection from top-down, she has more of these fuzzy blobs along her side near the big one, there is about two of them, they are very small and fuzzy. Nearly invisible when viewing the fish in profile, but from the top-down they are visible.

I have not seen her itch anything at all. Pretty much everything in the tank is rather smooth and/or soft anyways. The male may have pecked at her when chasing her around, but I'm not too sure. The other fish (neons and corys) are completely non-aggressive. The big blob is also right where the curve of the eye meets the head, so it would be a very awkward place to have injured. The stress from moving tanks and the feisty male might have pushed her into getting sick, perhaps.

So you think it is fungus? I do have some malachite green/formalin medication left, I was not too impressed with it staining the silicone of the last tank I used it in but I will use it again if I have to.

I'm a little worried about trying to manually remove the fuzz, I feel like that would stress out the fish more than necessary, having to confine her or remove her from water and scrape cotton over her eye

Ack! I forgot to mention I have plants and snails, so I'd prefer medications to be at least safe for the plants, and I can remove the snails if need be.

It is in an awkward place, and I think that should be why it is removed promptly, given that you say it is a "squarish" shape would imply it is growing in all directions. Fungus, according to this book I have will consume the entire fish if not treated.

The medication I mentioned above is completely safe with filters, ornamental fish (with the exception of the Mormyrids fish species; here is some information on this species) and plants. I am not aware of any staining on my sillicone as of yet from using this particular medicine.

I do believe it is fungus as it looks too tall to be white spot.

Note: as snails are not fish and this is an aquatic product, I would take the snails out just to be precautionary.

 

[Katty]

I'll proceed with the medication tonight then, as soon as I wrangle out those snails. I'm not going to try and remove the fuzz though, I feel that would do more harm than good right now. I'll keep posted here on how she is doing. If anyone else has a second opinion, feel free to say something.

 

[Katty]

She just seems to be getting worse and worse. Her colors are super pale, almost white. She isn't spending all of the time at the surface anymore, but is sort of swirling haphazardly around the tank. Her balance seems to be off and she will sway side to side as she swims. Sometimes she sits on the bottom, or sits on a plant with her mouth and gills going full force. Plus the male still tries to bother her, should I get a breeding trap or something so he can't get to her? I put in half a dose of Quick Cure so the fish can get used to it, I will do the rest of the dose later tonight. I feel like I might be too late though...

DDDDDDD:

I went to check on her again, and she is now laying sideways on the gravel, huffing and puffing. Am I too late?!

 

[mark4785]

Increase the aeration in the tank (if you have a spare air pump and airstone, put it in and turn it on) and that may help her breathe more easily. I'm not too sure what Quick Cure is but if it contains malachite green or formalin, it should begin to help.

You shouldn't really remove the fungus while the fish is in the state it's in but the fungus is getting it's nutrients from the fish so I'm sure it would help to take it off at the point where she is swimming normally again.

I'm really sorry that she seems to be getting worse but try not to blame yourself like I did because it's highly likely that the way in which the LFS treated her would have contributed to this.

edit: if the male is constantly going for her (every minute or so) then you could seclude her but if not I wouldn't bother.

 

[Katty]

I don't have an air pump, but I can turn the filter output up a little bit. Quick Cure is an ich med made of formalin and malachite green.

I did a little google searching and its starting to sound like it might be columnaris. Apparently columnaris bacteria can appear as white globules on the glass, and I was getting some mystery white globs on the tank glass for some time. Not so much of them as there used to be though. A betta I previously had in this did get a white lump on his head not too long ago, but he's since been moved into a different tank. His blob disappeared on its own though, he's much too ornery to get sick I suppose... I will be keeping an eye on him too though.

 

[Katty]

I left for a couple of hours and came home to find her sitting on the substrate, dead.

 

[PDSimon]

Sorry about your fishy, just sometimes happens and it doesn't matter what you do! I wouldn't buy from that LFS again anyway.

 

[JoshuaA]

Don't take it to heart, you tried your best to help it.

My girlfriends died out of the blue with no prior warning and the water stats were great. (no pun intended)

 

[mark4785]

I'm really sorry to hear that it died Katty. Just remember that GBR's are very sensitive. Mine lost all their colours when I taped an aquarium background to the back of the aquarium. It might be worth you investing in less sensitive fish to avoid the upset of losing or the risk of losing your stock.

Good luck with your future fish-keeping.