need help bad please german blue ram

[kidwicked]

i have a i belive a german blue male here and his nose aera seems verry red here is a pic i have of it .have tried maroxy and curently treating with metafix but i dont see it getting better seems to now have popeye as well


please help i dont want to lose him
curently in 10 gal hospital tank

[mel_20_20]

I'm sorry he's sick, kidwicked. Can you tell me a few things about him and your tank.

How long have you had him?

What size tank was he in before you put him in the hospital?
How long did you have that tank set up?
Was it fully cycled?
Do you regularly test the parameters, what kind of testing equipment; liquid or strips?
What were your parameters in the tank: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, temperature, gh and kh if you know those, too.
What kind of filtration?
What substrate?
What other occupants were in the tank with him; type and numbers of each?
What is your maintenance schedule: water change frequency and volume, type of water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine, and do you vacuum the substrate?
What kind of cleaning and maintenance of your filter.
Feeding schedule and type of food?

When did you first observe these symptoms?
What has his behavior been like?
Is he eating?

I hope we can help, but we need more information.

I downloaded the pics of him, and enlarged them so I could see as much as possible. It looks to me that in one of the pics I can see what looks like light colored spots beneath the redness, as when a boil or pimple starts coming to a head. Is that what I'm seeing? Enlarging the photo makes it really grainy, so I wasn't sure.

You mentioned also that his eyes seem to be bulging. That symptom along with the redness suggest a bacterial infection and I believe it's pretty serious. Melafix is can help with minor problems, but I believe he's going to need some serious medicine right away, but we really need the answers to the questions.

[kidwicked]

orignal tank was 80 gal
fluval 350 filter has peet ammonia and carbon and bio rocks
water changes everyweek filter 2 times a month
food varies from flake to frozen blood worms tublflex brine shrimp
feeding was twice a day
he does a lot of sitting on bottom

[BoCoMo]

Sounds like you take great care of your fish! What are the water parameters currently? (Please include ph)

[Cerianthus]

Can you isolate him into Q/T?

[ksane]

I can't make out anything definite at all even enlarging the pictures. Are you quite sure it's not just his coloring? Because I've got 6 Blue Rams and most of them have bright red noses like Rudolph. Here's a quick shot to show you what I mean:
(I would quit tossing meds in the tank until you find out what the problem is and if there is, in fact, a problem). Clean water usually does a lot more good than meds in more cases than you'd think.

[Cerianthus]

Provided that water is not the culpit, I would isolate and treat for at least protruding eyes with erythromycin in q/t. I cant tell of other symptoms from pics.


Hopefully erythro can eradicate other symptoms as well , if there are other symptoms.

[mel_20_20]

The bulging eyes cinched it for me regarding bacterial infection. Ksane's fish definitely has the red face that looks like the fish in question, but all things considered, the behavioral changes and popeye in kidwicked's fish indicate he's definitely sick.

I think erythro is a good choice as well. Keep his water extra clean with daily water changes just before dosing the tank.

If there's a big discrepancy between the tap and what he's in, in regards to ph, gh and kh, I'd do a slow, very slow, refill after siphoning off the water for a change, and then add the antibiotic.

[CatsMeowww]

I'm not sure if this is "correct" advice, however I recently had a zebra danio with a severe case of popeye, and put him in Q/T with aquarium salt. I know some types of salt can be bad, but the stuff API sells is what I used, and within 20-30 min. he was much better. Not sure if that would cure all of your problems, but it sure helped my zebra (and he had a much worse case than it appears to be in your pic.)...he is still deformed with a "crooked" head from the ordeal.

Good luck!

[kidwicked]

it is a reddish colour almost looks tranlucant very hard to get a good pic

[kidwicked]

well the ram didnt make it spent 3 times what he cost to try and save
had to restock my aquarium due to sick fish so now it is like starting over
2 fish surived the sickness and then i add some more here are some up to date pics

[Tay690]

I'm sorry for your losses
At least you can feel good that you did everything in your power to try to get them better...that alone is an accomplishment
I can't even accurately tell you how many people will just give up...isolate the fish and let it waste away...or just give it away to a LFS at no charge because they simply don't want the hastle of wasting money on meds

I mean it's cheaper to just buy a new fish right? I applaud your effort regardless

Don't give up on them ever...