GBR, try again? or something else

E

euglossa

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Nov 9, 2006
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I got a pair of German Blue Rams a month ago from Live Aquaria. One died the next day. The other developed fin rot. I treated with Jungle fungus tabs, but the fins continued to deteriorate. Then it looked like he was getting septicemia. I was able to move him to a quarantine tank at a friend's house and tried Maracyn two. He made it through the treatment and was looking better, but then I found him unable to swim properly, he just spun and spun. He died soon after that.

I'm afraid my water is probably too hard and alkaline for GBR. I have kept Kribensis successfully in the past and might try a pair of them to occupy the caves in my tank. Or perhaps I can find a local source or GBR that would be less stressed/healthier/ better adapted to the local water conditions.

Ellen

75 gallon, XP2, Emperor 400
8 congo tetras
15 rummynose tetras
7 albino corydoras
5 otoclinus
2 mystery snails

20 tall, XP1
1 red cap oranda
1 otoclinus
 
GBRs have a reputation as being real fragile, but i dont think they are nearly as fragile as they are perceived

try to find a LFS that has them or maybe they could order them, because shipping charges from liveaquaria are pricey

what were your water params? and temp?
 
my ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrates under 10
I kept the temperature about 82, but have let it drift down to 79 since the GBR died.
I change out 18 gallons each week.

I haven't tested pH or water hardness, but I know my water is quite hard and probably slightly to moderately alkaline. I'll test it before I try again with GBR. If I want to try them again I'll have to do some searching. I have several large pieces of driftwood in the tank, but I doubt that does much to alter the pH.

Ellen
 
well GBRs do like softer water, with a lower pH than usual, but they should be able to adapt to your water with no problem, unless it's on the top end of the hardness/pH scale.

maybe you got a bad batch.
 
davexstumpe said:
well GBRs do like softer water, with a lower pH than usual, but they should be able to adapt to your water with no problem, unless it's on the top end of the hardness/pH scale.

maybe you got a bad batch.
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I agree, it seems like it's hit and miss with blue rams. I went through several pairs from one LFS and finally got tired of them dying within days. I waited a few months (mostly cause I couldn't afford it anymore) and tried another LFS. Voila! I have two happy and healthy GBR's! My water is also hard and ph is high, I'm working on it though. My point is, it just depends on the source/batch sometimes.
 
That's encouraging. I'm going to Salt Lake on monday and plan to stop at a petshop. Not sure what I'll find, but if I see some GBR I'll give them another try if they look healthy.

thanks,

Ellen
 
What acclimation period/technique did you use? A QT tank, or main tank?
 
rbishop brings up a really important point. Acclimation should take about an hour to be safe (for rams), adding some water from the tank to the bag every 10-15 minutes.
 
Plus buying from an LFS with similar water to yours will help. If you had them shipped from somewhere through liveaquaria, they may have been in much different water and the acclimation is that much harder
 
They were from Live Aquaria, arriving about a week after the successful rummynose introduction.

I floated the bag for 15 minutes per Live Aquaria's instructions, then added 1/2 cup of water every 5 minutes until the volume had doubled, then I removed half the water and started again until the bag was full again. About 2 hours total.

I don't have a qt (I know, I know). After the Jungle tabs treatment, I followed the advice here to treat the septicemia in a qt tank, transferring the fish to an empty qt tank at a friend's, so there was some extra stress there, I used the same slow acclimation process in that move.

After the first treatment, there was some loss of finnage on the pectoral and anal fins, which slowed after the jungle tabs treatment, but then the fish developed what looked like a bloody pimple at the base of the anal fin, so I treated with Maracyn 2. After the course of treatment the pimple had cleared and reduced in size, the fish regained color, but the fins were still deteriorating. The fish ate throughout with good appetite, seeming to prefer algae wafers to anything else.

then one day, about three days after the Maracyn 2 treatment ended my friend reported the fish being unable to stay upright and was spinning round and round when it attempted to swim. It died later in the day.

I doubt I will find any GBR on tomorrow's trip-maybe I'll find one of the others on my wish list; a single blond veil angel, a couple more congo tetras or a trio of pearl gouramis. The most likely thing I'll find is a single albino corydoras to add to the school.

Ellen
 
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