Blue Ram

[ljse]

I have a blue ram male (I always seem to have problems with males) that is not eating. It swims near the back of the tank on the substrate, most of the time it just sits there, unless the cories brush against it and scare it away. Can anyone tell me how I can get it to eat? I checked my water and there are no nitrites. My pH is about 6.6. I've tried putting bloodworms right in front of him and they just wiggle right in front of his eyes and he doesnt do anything unless one happens to touch him, then he moves away.

[Cathy G]

Is your water ok for rams? Soft/acidic, warm - say 82? Clean? Has he got major cover - a log/a brushy plant? A place to feel secure in? These things help them feel more comfortable . Maybe keep the lights down or off for a while, I assume there is not a bigger agressive fish in the tank?

Did you try garlic? There is that 'Garlic Extreme' that your LFS might sell or perhaps that waterbased garlic juice you can find in your grocery store's spice aisle. (McCormick makes it, I am not sure if it the same thing as garlic extreme or not.)

You could also call the place where you bought your ram and ask what they fed him...

I think I would soak a couple of sinking ciclid pellets in garlic and a couple not soaked and try dropping them in around him. I'd keep my hands far away from him, stay out of the water as much as possible.

Hope things work out!
Cathy

[Sully]

the garlic is a good idea.

if it is a farm fish, or a hobbyist bred fish pH may not really play into the problem unless you are 7.8+ (although many people successfully keep rams in the 8.2 range. the strains i was keeping F0 and some F1, F2 hobbyist bred never did well above 7.4).

how often and how much water do you change--i kept up a regime of 50% minimum 1x to 2x weekly when i was serious with this species. they are sensitive to water issues.

look for any protrusion at anus. watch the gill rate and for flaring gills.

how long have you had them? did this one ever exhibit other behavior--for how long? what other fish are in there with the rams? how many of each? how big is the tank? how many other rams? sex of the others? dominant females and dominant males frequently have issues with conspecifics. could it be result of intra species aggression?

when i started with rams i played with store boughts for awhile. the only way i could achieve a good survival rate was to medicate first and ask questions later. levamisole hydrochloride (usually easy to find at a farm supply store--deworming of livestock) first and then a maracyn/maracyn II treatment. that got me to a very high survival rate. I hate to medicate so i started going for wild caughts and hobbyist bred (think "The Trader" from the ACA--or www.tangledupincichlids.com) specimens. That let me punt to hopital tank on case by case. Rams are what got me to my own microscope. i love the species. they can be a pain in the *ss.

Going to the corner is not a good sign--i would change water, regardless, on a daily basis to see if that helps him come out.

rams love to hide out in the plants. they are not cave dwellers. they come out to play when they feel secure. they typically hide in corners as a result of illness or discomfort with other fish in tank.

[ljse]

I found the ram dead this morning, along with my female, which had been doing great for 2 months and was showing great color. The male was added a week ago. Yesterday it was breathing very quickly. The rams were the largest fish I had. I regularly do water changes once a week, ussually about 25-35% depending on how fast I get all the junk out of the gravel. I always add 2 gallons of RO water to keep it soft and acidic and to remove nutrients for the algae. The temp is always a constant 76. You can see the tank in the link in my signature.

Is it possible that my rams got food poisoning? I recently bought something called cichlid delight, its a mix of frozen foods. At the store it was partly thawed and none of my fish seemed to take much of a liking to it. Is refreezing fish food unhealthy?

[hurricanejedi]

Isn't RO water dangerous for a freshwater tank? I don't know much about it but if you don't resupplement back the electrolytes or whatever else then the water isn't livable... At least thats the impression I had.

[ljse]

I mix it with tap water. Im doing this because I have an algae problem and I'm trying to decrease the amount of nutrients in my water and to soften it since my fish all prefer soft acidic water. I usually end up changing about 5 gallons altogether.

[Cathy G]

Sorry to hear about your fish.
I guess I have no reason why they couldn't be food poisoned. (Unless other fish in the tank ate the same food and are fine.) They say not to refreeze frozen items like ice-cream etc. If there was any sugar content in the mix, a bacteria could set in pretty fast.
Cathy G

[ljse]

I guess Il throw the food away, i dont want to risk poisoning any other fish.