Did my ram just choke to death?

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enrique4jc

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Oct 17, 2006
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This may seem a little strange, but I'm thinking I just watched my ram choke to death. Was doing my nightly feeding. This time I fed a cube of frozen brine shrimp. Everyone looked good, feeding well, but as they were finishing up feeding one of my (new) German Blue Rams started thrashing wildly and within minutes was dead. It had looked fine all along and was eating well, and then it was all over. Sitting by the tank right now and everyone else seems fine. Thoughts?
 

jpappy789

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Feb 18, 2007
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How new is the ram?

Hard to say...definitely seen fish try to bite off more than they can chew, but always seem to get it down eventually.

Do you thaw the frozen cubes beforehand or just add a whole one to the tank?
 

Star_Rider

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Dec 21, 2005
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I'd lean more toward a possible issue if you added the brine shrimp in frozen..

if the ram ingested frozen piece/pieces of brine shrimp the cold may have caused a problem. fish tend to spit food out if it's not right.
 

enrique4jc

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I didn't do anything to thaw the cube ahead of time, but I held it in the filter stream while individual bring shrimp separated from it. This is how I've always used them and the cube usually thaws in my fingers very quickly, so I'm not sure that would cause any issue.
 

tanker

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I do not think fish can choke to death, but I would look into that frozen food possibility. I have always thawed my frozen fish-food before feeding.
 

ktrom13

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I do not think fish can choke to death, but I would look into that frozen food possibility. I have always thawed my frozen fish-food before feeding.
The only way a fish is going to "choke" is if it a ram breather( have to constantly move to get water to flow over the gills) and the gills were completely blocked off from water. But fish are really good at regurgitating food if its not going down correctly.


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starfishplus

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i had the same thing happen to me i was feeding my rams the small chiclid pellets and i was sitting at my computer watching them eat i turn around for a couple of mins then i turn back around and see one of my rams drifting to the bottom of the tank with its mouth gaped open. I did get it in the net from the bottom of the tank and swish it around in water but it did not help it was dead.
 

vwill279

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Unlike us, fish do not breathe from the same hole that they eat. Yes, bringing water in through the mouth can help them move it across the gills, but having food in their mouth will not cut off their air supply. It may be uncomfortable, but it shouldnt cause them to suffocate to death.

Rams are notorious for being very difficult to keep alive through the first few weeks. They are sensitive to water conditions and are generally over-bred and in many cases, inbred. Many farm breeders will inject their rams with hormones to make the colors brighter and show sooner to help the fish sell. These all lead to unhealthy fish that look great when you first buy them. I imagine most fish stores carry these types of rams. I would recommend getting them directly from a breeder if you want healthy stock.

I bought my rams from germanbluerams.com. They dont inbreed, over-breed, or inject hormones. I've had my pair for nearly a year. They are fully healthy, have spawned numerous times (though I've never been able to save any fry, they are in a community tank) and have gorgeous coloration that didnt appear until they were the appropriate age. That is what you should look for when buying rams.
 
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