my ram is sick

[subliminal_kush]

i have a ram cichlid that has been acting a little weird the past couple of days. he just hangs out at the top at a 45 degree angle with his head up. his movements are getting slower. any ideas of what it could be and how to fix it?

[liv2padl]

tank size?
how many other fish in the tank?
what kind?
ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?
pH?
how often do you do water changes?
how much water do you change?
do you vaccuum the gravel?
how often?
is your water tap or well?
what's the GH and KH?

[subliminal_kush]

29 gallon

2 fantail goldfish, 3 black skirt tetra, 2 bloodfin tetra, 2 neon tetra, 2 guppies, panda, peppered and albino cory cats, pleco, and the ram cichlid

ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all good, ph is good, top water off twice a week and change 25% every 2 weeks, vaccuum the gravel once a month, tap water, and i dont know what gh and kh are

[Star_Rider]

when you say ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are good..what does that mean..good is a relative term.
it is bteer to get readings and post them.
Is this a Blue Ram? or a Bolivian Ram?

[subliminal_kush]

blue ram, i dont have a ph card to tell exactly what it is, but it is light blue on my api ph test kit, and last time i brought a sample of my water to jack's aquarium they said my nitrites and nitrates were fine and that was about 2 weeks ago

[Star_Rider]

if you can get your own test kit.

you need to know what's going on. I saw a test done at a petsmart and they said the water was fine but had visible ammonia and nitrites(low readings)

Blue rams can be sensitive to water conditions..ammonia, nitrites and even nitrates can make them 'ill'

you may also have Blue rams that are imported (some rams from Thailand have been 'enhanced' with hormones . which has been found to be detrimentl for the fish)

[subliminal_kush]

unfortunately, the ram died a little while ago, i noticed a long white strand on the fish so i put him into a quarantine tank with some permafix and he perked up for a couple of hours, got all of his colors back, started swimming a little better and then he died, will do the test to make sure its not the nitrates or nitrites, i checked the ammonia myself and it was 0, thanks for the help though

[Star_Rider]

long white strand??

where was this strand?

how long did you have this ram?

btw rams tend to do better in a well established tank. you may want to try them when the tank has matured . you could also try bolivian rams as they are a bit hardier.

[subliminal_kush]

the strand was on its forehead and it got there in a matter of hours, he was in perfect health 2 days ago

we had the ram for about 3 months and btw the tank has been up and running with no problems for the past 10 months and next time we will be getting a male and a female blue ram

[yourchoice]

Those Gold fish and Pleco poo like crazy.You need to change the water every week and do a gravel vac every week.

[subliminal_kush]

thats what we are going to start doing

[Star_Rider]

Those Gold fish and Pleco poo like crazy.You need to change the water every week and do a gravel vac every week.

good point. FYI, goldfish are cold water fish..rams should be kept at about 82-84 degrees. what is the tank temp?

10 months is generally not considered a mature tank.

if you add a male and female Blue Ram..you may run into a similar situation. plus if they decide to spawn you may have aggression issues in the tank.

stress can slowly affect the fish..It is possible that nitrates may have been the culprit too.

[subliminal_kush]

the tank temp is about 79 degrees, we wont be getting the 2 rams until we move them into my bigger tank and we are going to get a test kit today and see if thats what it is

[Star_Rider]

the tank temp is about 79 degrees, we wont be getting the 2 rams until we move them into my bigger tank and we are going to get a test kit today and see if thats what it is
:thm: :clap:
how big is the 'bigger' tank?
I would suggest tho that you up the temp Rams tend to do better at the warmer temps. 79 is low for rams. keeping them cool may also cause stress.

[subliminal_kush]

a 40 gallon breeder