Well, one of my golden ram has died, well i say died it still alive barley breathing by the filter, belly up. I noticed him last night on his side. what i noticed was that my other golden ram was hovering round him this morning and i was amazed it lasted the night.
Rams do better in pairs - do you have any idea what the sex is of the one you have left? Perhaps if you post one of your brilliant shots we can all guess...
Cathy
(PS. Do you have a place to QT any incoming fish?)
Yes Dan the other one would probably like a companion. How old are they? They ussually only live for 2-3 years so perhaps it was just age catching up with him. I hope any new one can live up to your old ones.
dan, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
you are overstocked, and rams are sensitive fish. hopefully now you see what I mean. I am not trying to be mean, I am just trying to help you. can you post water params?
Dan is not overstocked by a large margin. Rams in general are not all that big..espcially the mikrogeophagus ramirezi aka blue ram..
I would probably nix the gourami but if water changes are done more frequently the stocking issue is not a big deal.
the big concern you may have to contend with is if you get a pair..the 17 gal does not allow much room the rams will get territorial.
if that happens you may want to consider another tank for the pair.
the ram will fair better in pairs. it is beneficial for rams to be kept in pristine waterconditions..they do seem to prefer warm water too..maybe to warm for the gourami.
daniel,'don't worry much about the stocking..with the rams you shold do frequent water changes..they do best with pristine water..this pristine water will compensate for any slight overstocking you may have.
