help, rams are dieing!

Kabong

AC Members
Oct 17, 2004
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I have three baloon rams, two are about three months old one about five months. I used to have another but it got hole in the head and died. The 5 m one now has hih and is slowly getting worse. Last night one of the others was looking odd. He lost all his colour and was hiding at the bottom of the tank. After feeding he swam to the top of the tank and just lay at the top with his mouth out of the water. When I got home tonight he was on the bottom on his side. He went from a vibrant orange to albino white in less than 24 hours. He had no injuries visible or fungus ich etc. I hospitalized him but it was too late. Now the one with hih is at the top of the tank, but his color has gone brighter instead of fading out. He's eating but acting really lathargic. I kind of expect him to die because of the hih but I didn't want to give up hope. All other fish are okay and happy. What could make them do this? no2 is 0 , amonia is 0. no3 is 7 . Theres not much info on baloon rams out there and the guys at the LFS say that these fish should not even be able to get hih, so I'm at a complete loss. They're my favorite fish :(
 
Thanks for the bump but it doesn't look like anyone can help. :( :( :(
I talked to a new pet store and they said they aren't okay fish genetically. I hope he wasn't just trying to make me feel better. It's too sad to think they're just going to all pop off and I can't do anything.
 
i also got the info below from a goldfish forum

Hole in the Head Disease



This factfile is brought to you by: Becky

Symptoms:
Small holes appear in the body and especially the head region. Very often yellow strings of mucus will trail from the lesions.
Affected fish may develop a hollow-bellied appearance, go off their food, with pale stringy faeces. Lesions may also appear at the base of the fins and near the lateral line.

Causes:
Hexamita often exists as a low-level infection in the intestines. Overcrowding, low oxygen levels, poor water conditions and a poor diet (lack of vitamin C) may cause the parasites to multiply.

Treatments:
Feed medicated food if fish is still eating. See below for links.
Medications added to water - dimetridazole and metronidazole (only on a vets prescription). Octozin by Waterlife.

It is important to quarantine the fish and feed vegetables. Remove carbon filtration and protein and any protein skimming.


Medicated food websites:
http://store.watergardenweb.com/med125pounba.html
http://www.watergardengems.com/fish_medications/medicated_fish_food.html

UK members: Medicated food is hard to get hold of but here is a web link with some information:

http://www.alpharmaanimalhealth.co.uk/DOCS/AQU_CULT.html
 
AquariaCentral.com