GBR torn fins. Silver proteinate??????

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Dreadz

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
178
Location
Swansea. Wales. UK.
My female ram has today appeared with a torn tail fin, her black stripes are far more obvious and her belly is very pink. The male has been chasing her all over the place and she spends more time hiding in the vals at the back of my tank.
I've tried to photograph her as best I can

image-3364792537.jpg



image-2632571083.jpg

I can't figure out whether they're mating or preparing to, or whether he's just terrorising her, but more than that am not sure if I should treat with something like silver proteinate to prevent infection in her torn fins.
I don't currently have a QT tank available as its become my main tank until I can set up my replacement display tank so I would have to treat the whole tank and don't want to start pumping meds into my tank only to make all my other fish ill!
I currently have:
2 GBR's
2 angels
1 common plec
3 clown loaches
2 bala sharks
3 albino cory's
6 corydoras sterbai

Water tests at:
0 ammonia and nitrite,
10ppm nitrate,
temp is currently 31deg C due to an outbreak of ich which seems to be clearing up.

I know clowns are particularly sensitive to ich meds but don't know enough about meds to be confident I can dose my tank with silver proteinate to prevent her getting infected without harming all the other fish.
Someone help please!!
 
I wouldn't do it. Are you just treating the ich with heat? Rams actually like higher temps like discus. If her belly is pink she is ready/wanting to breed but sounds like she's not ready for the male or is rejecting him. Give it time. Were it me, I do alot of WC's if your just treating ich with heat as clean water will heal her fins fast and should keep any secondary issues at bay.
 
Rivercats said:
I wouldn't do it. Are you just treating the ich with heat? Rams actually like higher temps like discus. If her belly is pink she is ready/wanting to breed but sounds like she's not ready for the male or is rejecting him. Give it time. Were it me, I do alot of WC's if your just treating ich with heat as clean water will heal her fins fast and should keep any secondary issues at bay.

Yes I'm just using increased temp to treat ich. I do have a uv steriliser built into my canister filter, although am not sure if a 9watt uv is going to do a massive amount but it can't hurt.
These two are my first rams and I had initially suspected she was ready but read a few conflicting opinions online that left me unsure as to whether her colour change (the stripes in particular) were actually a sign of stress from being tormented by the male. I hope she's not rejecting him completely, I'd love to have a breeding pair.
I do try to stay on top of water quality and do pwc and light sand vac several times a week at the moment both to keep nitrates down and to replace minerals as my tank is heavily stocked so am really at a loss as to why the ich broke out in first place and just don't want her to develop an infection in her fins but have learned from experience that blindly adding meds generally leads to more complications!
Thanks for the input. I'll just have to keep a close eye on her.
 
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