HELP!!! Is it ich?

[WhitneyGail]

Hi all,

New problem....

Two weeks ago, I added four German Blue Rams to my 30 gallon tank. I've never had so many in my tank before- but I really would like to have a male/female pair and I wasn't able to sex them in the store (I saw no pink bellies, but a couple had very distinct blue in their black dots, and finnage was also questionable). Anyway, the man in the store swore up and down that they'd be fine together....even if they turned out to all be male.....I decided to try it, watch them carefully, and if two paired up, I'd know I had a match. I also set up a 5 gallon hospital tank to use "just in case."

Most of the time, they hide at the bottom of the tank. I've got lots of little caves and plants, so they all have a place to go. They hardly ever stray into open water and always hide as soon as they spot me.

I've never had this before- in the past, my rams have always been brazen and friendly- coming right over to me and following me around the tank.

I also have noticed that a couple of them have begun to show slight fraying on their fins. It also looks like there are white spots on their fins and tails.
Today, I saw one quickly rub against the rocks and tick a few times. I've also noticed that he has a couple of very small indentations in his forhead.

I would have liked to take a picture to show you, but they wont stay still in the open long enough for me to get a photo.

I'm afraid it may be ich or hole-in-the-head- but I don't want to unnecessarily stress my fish out and medicate them if it's not.

I had a goldfish tank that became ich infected when I was in college- the white spots those fish had looked somewhat different than these- they were smaller- more distinctly raised and round- and more numerous.

What should I do? I've got the hospital tank running in case I need to quarantine.

 

[jm1212]

if it is acctuall indentations or holes in their heads, then it is indeed hole-in-head

 

[Cathy G]

I sure hope you don't have a double wammy here with both ich and hith. SO, rams really like warm water - slowly get the heat up to 86 and add an extra airstone/bubbler, or lower the water level to increase splash. Do a major - 50% water change, and along with it as much of a gravel vac as you can. (Is this a planted tank?) Watch the fish, if they aren't stressing - gasping at the surface then bump up the temp even more. Rams can EASILY go up to 89 with well oxygenated water. (High heat will kill off the ich, no medication necessary. A bit of salt - 1teasp per 10g's water will also help, but not too much, they don't tolerate salt that well.)

Metronidazole is the medicine of choice for HITH. It is mild stuff and I've used it on rams without any problem. There is a form of it which is distributed by Hikari - Metro+. This stuff can be used to medicate their food. I hope they are still eating... metronidazole is not very effective when added to the tank and does a much better job when fed internally. So take a pinch of the powder, dissolve it as best as possible in say 1/2 teaspoon warm water and pour it over their favorite food. Let the food soak it up and feed the fish. I used blood worms when I did this, so I thawed them first on a pile of napkins to dry them out. Then poured the medication on the worms and let it rehydrate them... Feed them 3 times/day for 5 days. Leftover medicated worms can be poured onto plastic wrap and refrozen. Then all you have to do is break off a pinch of worms when you feed.

Make sure your water has nitrates around 5, not more than 10. Keep your tank very clean and lights off as much as you can, this will help the rams cope. They will also need good nutritious foods so if you don't have any, I'd recommend New Life Cichlid pellets, spirolina enriched frozen brine shrimp, etc.

Good Luck, keep us posted.
Cathy