Something wrong with Bolivian Ram
- Thread starter Nicole29
- Start date
you may be seeing false positive test results. if the water source uses chloraimes the de-chlorinator breaks the chlorine ammonia bond and locks up the ammonia ..I believe it adds and extra hydrogen to it ..still utilzed by the bacteria..but may show up as ammonia in your tests..have you tgried getting tests from the tap/water source.. add de-chlorinator to a sample of water and test it.
i have 2 other tanks and ammonia is not a problem in either
also i just noticed when i fed my fish that the ram is hungry he wants to eat but can't come up to the surface, so I dropped in 1/2 algae wafer and he readily ate it. The only problem is the anti parasite meds i got don't sink. Do you think this is still the problem or the ammonia is the major culprit??
also i just noticed when i fed my fish that the ram is hungry he wants to eat but can't come up to the surface, so I dropped in 1/2 algae wafer and he readily ate it. The only problem is the anti parasite meds i got don't sink. Do you think this is still the problem or the ammonia is the major culprit??
If you are still getting any reading but 0 for ammonia, it is a problem.
Have you been performing these large water changes for the life of your tank or did you start this recently? Sometimes if you change too much water it can cause your tank to go into a cycle.
Have you been performing these large water changes for the life of your tank or did you start this recently? Sometimes if you change too much water it can cause your tank to go into a cycle.
my ammonia seems to be at 0 now but my Ram is still looking pretty bad. He is turning black (like my other ram did before he died) and he's still lying on the substrate a little on his side. I'm not sure what to do?
He's also moving all his fins very quickly, but not moving.
He's also moving all his fins very quickly, but not moving.
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Did you ever use those fizzy jungle tabs? (With Metro and Prazi...)
If not, I'd use them now.
Cathy
If not, I'd use them now.
Cathy
you shouldn't ever do 50% water changes, this removes too much of the beneficial bacteria that keeps water healthy, i would recommend 1 25% water change per week, also, if the ammonia is not the problem with the ram, it's gill flukes, i treat it with pimafix, it is mild enough that it nevers bothers my rams but almost always cures them, in your case however, when they're on their side on the bottom, it's almost always too late
P.S. if you don't have any salt in your aquarium, you NEED it, especially if you want to continue keeping rams, it is ESSENTIAL to soft water and keeping infestations at bay, i use close to 1 teaspoon per gallon
good luck!!!
P.S. if you don't have any salt in your aquarium, you NEED it, especially if you want to continue keeping rams, it is ESSENTIAL to soft water and keeping infestations at bay, i use close to 1 teaspoon per gallon
good luck!!!
This guy is wrong - don't worry about it. Wrong about water changes, wrong about pimafix and gill flukes,wrong about salt and rams. However, the Jungle fizz things do have Praziquantal which does kill gill flukes. The only thing he is right about is that there is not much hope when they get this bad.
Cathy
Cathy
i've been keeping rams for over 5 years now and i think i know a thing or two about them, further, water changes are to be done in moderation, please ask somebody with experience if you don't believe me before you belive Cathy G, 25% percent is optimal because it removes bio-waste (especially if you clean the gravel while you're at it) without disrupting the nitrogen cycle equillibrium that occurs perpetually in any cycled tank, finally salt is an all around remedy for many fish problems and softens water (rams prefer water on the soft side), if you didn't know that cathy then you need to look into it
i don't want this to turn into an argument so do what you think is right nicole and don't believe everything you hear on aquaria central including me if you think i'm wrong because discovering solutions on your own without others' help is the most effetive method of learning anyways
good luck
i don't want this to turn into an argument so do what you think is right nicole and don't believe everything you hear on aquaria central including me if you think i'm wrong because discovering solutions on your own without others' help is the most effetive method of learning anyways
good luck
Bacteria is not in the water column, its mostly in the filter material. Many many experts on this site not only do 50% a week, some do it 2 times/week. W/C's - how much you change and how many times per week you change it- depend on the fish load in the tank, and on the species of fish themselves.
Salt can be a remedy for certain diseases, but there is absolutely no scientific proof that salt is a general health tonic in fresh water aquariums. Many advanced aquariasts have come to the conclusion that salt-as-a-tonic is hyped up advertising.
Furthermore, soft water fishes prefer water with lower total dissolved solids. Your water softener will exchange hard water ions of calcium and magnesium into soft water by replacing those ions with sodium. To a fish however, the sodium is just as undesirable. It is still a dissolved solid in the water.
The proper place for salt in soft water aquariums is fighting ich, and to lessen the chance of nitrite poisoning when a cycle goes awry.
Cathy
