Blue Rams and Spider Web Poop

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nirbhao

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I'm having issues with blue rams. They are so lovely. Very fun to watch. And apparently all one bad mood away from hexamita.

We lost our first ram after having her and another female for about two weeks. Got the tank healthy and bought two unsexed juveniles (who we think were one male and one female) from another place. They didn't even make it into the tank because it was so immediately obvious they had parasites.

We got one male and one female from the first place, and overnight they killed our first female. I sit and stare at my tank at least an hour every day, and I never even saw them bully her.

I had read, although I'll admit I can't recall, that you can keep two females and a male.

We've had these two critters apparently unwilling to share each other since September 30th, and the female once again has spider web poop, a swollen anus, and a skinny belly. We started treatment with Jungle Tank Buddies Parasite Clear on Sunday, but she has not improved.

I'm going to get some General Cure in a few minutes here. I'm very frustrated, though, because it seems to be what these fish do.

If we lose this female, should we just let the male go without a mate? Can blue rams live alone or do they get lonely? We already have one male dwarf gourami. Will it be a problem to have only males?

Aside from maintaining really good water quality, is there anything I can do to prevent further outbreaks?

Thanks very much.

the tiny computer is full of delicion!
 
I was jus researching Blue Rams for stocking and came across is, so I thought you'd find helpful: from another website: "Many aquarists believe that the German blue ram is really difficult to keep, but this is not really true. The problem is that many aquarists combine the ram with unsuitable species, such as aggressive fish that will harass the ram or overly energetic fish that will gulp down all the food before the ram gets a chance to eat. Other types of dwarf cichlids are also an unsuitable choice. Your German blue ram will do much better if you combine it will peaceful species that will leave some food for the rams. Keeping rams on their own is not recommended; they feel safer when combined with braver fish (so called dither fish). If your German blue rams become aggressive towards other fish in the aquarium, it is most likely caused by a shortage or suitable hiding places. It is also normal for them to become aggressive during breeding since they want to protect their offspring."


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I breed rams..
They can be very difficult fish for 'beginners' or new tanks...
How long has your tank been set up and what size?
Try Prazi pro if you want to cure your rams ,as it probably has some internal parasite?
Next feed frozen blood worms.If you are only offering flake and pellets to a new fish it may not adjust?
Rams are said to mate and pair for life so alone is fine.
2 females and 1 male is trouble IMO unless the tank is larger and has other fish.
Females can be just as 'rough' as males...
Next it is all about water parameters and quality;
80 degrees ++++.I keep and breed mine at 80 -86....
If your water is hard[high GH] the ram may not adjust depending on where they came from.
Unfortunately the ram has been overbreed by fish farms to a point of weakness in many peoples opinion.

I'll bet the 'rams are not really difficult " comment comes from a NON ram owner???

Good luck as it is a crap shoot getting rams at any LFS....
I sell and ship....Look me up in the classifieds if you think you can meet the rams demands.They will not meet you 1/2 way,you need to all the work for them...
 
The problem is that many aquarists combine the ram with unsuitable species, such as aggressive fish .... Your German blue ram will do much better if you combine it will peaceful species .... they feel safer when combined with braver fish (so called dither fish).

So brave but peaceful? Which fish fit that profile? That's a sincere, actual question, not a snarky rhetorical.

If your German blue rams become aggressive towards other fish in the aquarium, it is most likely caused by a shortage or suitable hiding places. "

Definitely no shortage of hiding places, but they do all seem to want to be in the hiding place that someone else is in. The bridge, the fairy house, the "tree," in the ludwigia, in the space between the house and the walls, in the terrible neon skull... Doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter who goes first. When one of the three (two rams and one dwarf gourami) leaves the other two, they follow.

Then again, my issue with aggression was short lived and had a very clear cause.

I breed rams..
They can be very difficult fish for 'beginners' or new tanks...
How long has your tank been set up and what size?

An early mistake with these guys is that my tank has only been set up since August, although it was an upgrade from a smaller tank. It's 29 gallons.

Try Prazi pro if you want to cure your rams ,as it probably has some internal parasite?

Internal parasites is what I figured. I haven't seen Prazi in stores around here. Where's the best place to get it? In the meantime, I'm planning to do the second dose of General Cure today after the water change.

Next feed frozen blood worms.If you are only offering flake and pellets to a new fish it may not adjust?

I give the tank flakes, which the rams ignore entirely, sheet seaweed, shrimp pellets, frozen blood worms, and cyclops (omega one frozen). I had been doing rotifers (hikari frozen), which everybody ate like they were cupcakes, but I haven't been able to find them lately. The guy at the place I used to get them said that the fish would take to the cyclops just fine, but none of them seem too interested. I also split the "gumdrop" of blood worms in half to make sure no one completely prevents anyone else from eating.

I am moving away from food with gluten. I know this sounds silly since I don't eat the food and wash my hands compulsively when it comes to the tank, but we're trying to eliminate gluten from the house entirely. Both my daughter and I have pretty severe celiac disease (I lost an organ over it), and there's no reason to bring it into the house for a pet that doesn't benefit from it anyway.

Rams are said to mate and pair for life so alone is fine.

So if it's just one male, he'll be okay? Widowers don't take new mates?

2 females and 1 male is trouble IMO unless the tank is larger and has other fish.
Females can be just as 'rough' as males...

Definitely learned that one the hard way!

Next it is all about water parameters and quality;
80 degrees ++++.I keep and breed mine at 80 -86....
If your water is hard[high GH] the ram may not adjust depending on where they came from.

We keep the tank at 82°F, although sometimes it dips to 80.

I've read that blue rams need water between 6 and 12 dH, which seems midline, even though I've also read they like soft water. What hardness do you recommend?

I only recently started boosting carbonate hardness with Flourish Excel after I added four new plants at one time and it dropped out.

Unfortunately the ram has been overbreed by fish farms to a point of weakness in many peoples opinion.

I'm not all that experienced when it comes to hardiness of fish, but no one else has has parasite issues in the whole months I've had them. We also have four male guppies who spent a week in a bird bath with 15 of their sisters (and were quarantined for two weeks with herbtana before joining the community) and yet have shown no ill effects whatsoever. I know that guppies are hardy, but that's an extreme situation! I also kept a school of neon tetras and a little pleco the whole time I was in high school, so I'm not completely ignorant.

I'll bet the 'rams are not really difficult " comment comes from a NON ram owner???

She did say that she's in the research stage.

Good luck as it is a crap shoot getting rams at any LFS....

:rolleyes: yep.

I sell and ship....Look me up in the classifieds if you think you can meet the rams demands.They will not meet you 1/2 way,you need to all the work for them...

Given that our tank is only 29 gallons, even if our female recovers, I don't know that we would have space for a second couple. Is it even a sure thing that we have a bonded pair right now? They have not spawned, which probably doesn't tell me much given that we've only had them for two weeks as of today and one of those weeks the female seems to have been sick.

I also don't feel like it's ethical to get rid of perfectly healthy fish just because I want something different. I'm not interested in actively breeding.

I do like them a lot. They are so pretty! And active. And interesting. Oh my goodness you know those little translucent plastic blobs you can get near the betta stuff? We have a few because of the child, and the fish play with them!

Thank you both for your insights.

the tiny computer is full of delicion!
 
Is it normal for her too still have so much stuff coming out of her?
1476637953526.jpg

October 8: Dose of Jungle Tank Buddies Parasite Clear
October 12: Dose #1 of General Cure
October 14: 20% and then 50% water change followed by dose #2 of General Cure
October 16: 30% water change

I've also been using Herbtana daily to boost immune systems.

The tank did have a cycle crash somewhere between the 12th and 16th, so I switched some filter media with the 10 gallon and added Fluval Cycle.

What sould I do?
 
Parasites! Quarantine fish and soak food in medicine. Kg tropicals did a vid on it. You should go watch that
 
Ugh. I don't have a tank available for quarantine. Soaking food is just... so obvious that I didn't even think of it.

I love epsom salt. It's like magic for so many reasons.

Can I use fresh garlic instead of garlic guard?

Great resource. Thank you so much!
 
Yeah fresh garlic will work if you just mix in the juice or fine pulp
 
P.S. Treat the entire tank with the medicated food as a precaution. This stuff can spread like wildfire if you dont treat it early
 
Sorry to hear that. Sometimes there just isn't anything you can do
 
They're in the tank. Treating the tank wouldn't be a bad idea.

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They'll feel a lot better after.. bunch o worms in the bum can't feel all that great.

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