2 rams dead in one day

[bman]

I have had them since mid-july and they seemed to be doing well. Yesterday, one of the golden rams looked like he was "resting" on a leaf of one of the hygros, still breathing but what seemed very heavily. When I nudged him off of the leaf, he barely could swim, and would start swimming upside down, and sort of gliding haphazardly through the water. Watching this and seeing that he didn't look so good, I got an ice water bath ready for him. When I got back he was dead.

Looking over him before giving him the final flush, I did not notice anything that was abnormal.

Later that same day, I saw my GBR "resting" on my java moss. He was doing the same thing as the other, breathing a good amount. When he would swim, it was very slow and just like the other he didn't seem to use all of his fins. He would swim around to another resting place, and then swim into the current of the HOB and get blown around the tank. It also appeared that as he hovered, his nose was pointed upward instead of the "normal" downward tilt he usually had. After watching this and seeing no hope for a recovery, he got an ice dip. Inspecting him afterwards, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary with him as well.

I tested the water and everything was ok. ph-7.0, am-0, ni-0, na-20. The other fish in the tank were OK, and moving about as normal. No one was frequenting the top due to a lack of O2.

I am frustrated at the fact that I have been through SO many fish since starting this past November. Only a few of the deaths I could explain, the rest have been a mystery. The only thing all the fish have in common is they all came from the same pet store. I may have to try another store to see if there is a difference.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Hmm... the water is the first place I'd look. If you're sure that isn't the problem and all the dying fish are coming from the same shop, it's possible they're coming in (or leaving the store) with internal parasites, or some other such "invisible" problem.

 

[Zagz]

Moved to unhealthy fish. Trying a different pet store might help for sure. Also do you have an airstone in the tank at all? What are you feeding them?

 

[Satsumas]

I know how you feel mate, i have had a few "mystery" deaths too. Mine were dwarf gourami's, had four in total, male and female pair, had them for about 4 months then - male died - replaced - female died - replaced her, then they both died! They would be fine, then all of a sudden i would find one of them sitting on the bottom, not able to swim very well, then before i knew it they were dead.
My water was fine, all other fish fine, a mystery. I still have not replaced them.
Rams are know for dying unexpectedly and being very sensitive, but i cant really suggest anything else, just thought i'd let you know that you're not alone with this frustration.

 

[MSU Fan]

I have also had some recent GBR deaths that were exactly like you described bman. It is tough to deal with. I dosed Levamisole (for internal parasites) on the remaining GBRs, but did not see any conclusive results. I am keeping an eye on my remaining 3 rams very closely, but I am pretty sure that one won't make it.

 

[bman]

Zagz, I do not have an airstone as I am injecting DIY Co2 into the tank. I do have a HOB that provides some aeration. I feed the fish a general fish pellet food.I changed that about two weeks ago since I finally ran out of my original can. I did replace it with another brand, and type as I was originally feeding with a general flake. I don't think that is the issue, as the rams actually were eating the pellets more so than the flakes.

I looked at the fish at another pet store, but was not impressed with their quality and selection.

I know rams are hard to keep, but I figured every other fish has been through my tank, why not try something different. It doesn't phase me that the rams have a three year life span. If I could keep them for six months I would be happy. Nothing else has lived that long, except for the jerk male molly that I prayed would die, but kept on living and picking on the others. He finally died about a month ago. (Guess my prayers were answered)

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My guess would be that the lfs is getting some bad stock. Might try elsewhere. The lfs here did me good, the ones I got there lived for a while til I had a fish attack, taking a small chunk out of the female. But then from there was all downhill. She lasted 3 days. I also went to aquabid and got some, and about half would surface several times during the day. I'm thinking of giving salt baths to the 2 that still surface, as it might be gill flukes doing it. If the GBR's were breathing hard, opening and closing the gill plates rapidly, could possibly be gill flukes, which is a parasite. Just another thought.

 

[bman]

I do have one Golden ram left, and that one seems to be doing fine (although it looks pretty lonely). Even though it looks like they were breathing heavily, they were not trying to go to the surface, and their fins seemed to be stiff if they were moving at all. I also did not notice the gill plates opening and closing rapidly even though they were opening their mouths a lot. Don't know what that means either.

 

[bman]

Well, the last one died today:-( . My wife said he swimming around happily earlier. That's it. All Rams are dead.

I just have a yoyo loach, two ottos and a rogue danio. Tank looks really bare with no fish swimming around.