Sick Gold Ram, but what?

S

Spockster

AC Members
Jun 18, 2008
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Hello all,

I have a sick female (dwarf) gold ram but can't quite identify the
disease. She's in a 75gallon community tank, no other fish exhibit any
problems (include tetras, cories, plecos, gouramis and blue rams). Her
symptoms are; pale coloration (from a rich "gold" color she's now "pale
yellow"), twitchy/spasmodic swimming (not all the time) and she goes up
I believe for air at the surface BUT she doesn't stay at the surface or
appear to be "gulping/gasping" for air (a term I've seen looking at
various sites.) She still swims the whole tank, hasn't gotten shy, eats,
etc.

Last night I saw a behavior happen a few times which I thought certainly
was the end ... kind of like a death-roll. She would spin a full 360
degrees two or three times but then right herself and stop. Checking
this morning before heading to work she was still fine. Spoke to my wife
a couple of hours ago and says she still has the twitch but noticed what
appeared to be a small "flakey-scale" area.

I hope to purchase a small 5-ish gallon tank to do as a hospital
(unfortunately my 10 is currently in use as a quarantine.) However, does
anyone have any clue as to what I'm trying to treat?

Thanks; Jim
 
Eating seems fine. Didn't do parms last night but as of last weekend Ammonia 0, nitrite .1ppm (though I don't trust the Hagen test I used for that), 15 ppm nitrate. It is a planted tank. I haven't changed any habits with it. The nitrate was up from the usual 10ppm last weekend (before my water change and filter cleaning). 5dKH and 8dGH.
 
I'll hopefully be able to get to that tonight. In the meantime I bought a 5 gallon and filled it from the 75 and moved her in there.
 
you are going to want to move some filter media or other media to the Hosp tank..

but watch with nitrites showing is may indicate a problem in the tank(not cycled or recycling) how long has this tank been set up?(main)
 
Yea, moved some substrate and bioballs over. I have to recheck the nitrite with API, as mentioned I'm leery the Hagen is giving me correct results. The tank was fishless-cycled beginning of June (also planted right from the start) and started adding fish I believe the 3rd week of June (don't have my notes here with me.)

More than likely the nitrite rise might in part be due to my tendency to overfeed at times. I also replaced one of the filter pads (after the previous test) in the canister. Will be doing a new reading tonight or tomorrow (Sat.)

What do people here feel I should boost the hosp. tank temp to. I've been told 82 - 84 F (but I'll do it gradually!) Is this a good range to attack possible parasites without harming the Ram?

Thanks. Jim
 
rams are supposed to be kept in temps 82-84..if the water is much cooler they tend to get stressed and prone to illness.

Rams(ramirezi) thrive in warm water.. it helps with their metabolism.
 
Just a quick follow-up. Ran the numbers on the main tank (all API tests): pH 7.5, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10ppm, dKH 4, dGH 8. The tank normally runs around 80F but tends to warm by a degree (F) or so due the HO lights that are on the lid (the fixture I bought didn't have frame mounts that worked with my tank.)

As for the sick gold ram, the temp in the hospital tank is now 82 which I'll boost again tomorrow. She seems less "twitchy" but certainly has a way to go yet.

Thanks. Jim
 
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