German ram white dots all over

[AlexS]

Since last week my ramirezi has been developing small white dots all over his body. He does not seem bothered by it, no abnormal behaviour in any way but the amount of white dots seems to be increasing not decreasing. What could it be? I thought ich at first but he is not rubbing himself onto anything and he is otherwise behaving normally, swimming around and foraging etc... None of my other fish in the same aquarium have the white dots.

Amonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 30ppm

 

[CCXGT]

It's ich, turn up the temperature a few degrees and get some medicine for it instantly.

It will only get worse and spread to everyone else.

If you could find any garlic around prepare it and feed it to your fish, they will start to sweat and will speed up the process a bit.

If left alone they WILL die.

 

[AlexS]

The temp of my tank is already at 27C (80F) and I have tetra ich medicine however, if I use it in my tank, won't it destroy the beneficial bacteria? "new tank syndrome" will surely kill them all as well.

I may have to go and buy a third tank for him.

 

[KevinKY]

Best bet would be a hospital tank. Maybe a cheap 10 gallon, sponge filter, and a heater. Grab some water from your established tank and then follow the instructions on the bottle.

Good luck!

 

[AlexS]

It's going to be hard persuading my relatives but I'm going to try get a hospital tank for him. Thanks

 

[CCXGT]

Not necessary but definitely the most effective way.

Best of luck.

 

[AlexS]

I was not able to get a third aquarium so I have dosed Tetra Medica ContraIck in the main tank. I also removed as much silicone accessories as I could to stop them from staining.

I have one last question. Many people recommended raising the temperature to 85-86F
Would it be okay if I did that? I have Altum Angels, Pearl gouramis, Tetra Cardinals and the German ram. I read that Tetra cardinals maximum temperature is 82F

 

[CCXGT]

I was completely unprepared for Ich, when my tank had it I bolted up the temp to around 86-88.

I did lose a few small tetras but it's amazing how quickly it just sorted itself out.

 

[Brookster123]

Op, are your nitrates always around 30??

 

[AlexS]

I use the API master test kit and the colour is in between 20ppm and 40ppm. I do regular water changes so I have so far not seen it rise above that.

 

[Brookster123]

Rams are going to be sensitive to nitrates above 25-30, the stress can leave them more prone to nasties such as ich.. Do you vacuum gravel regularly?

 

[AlexS]

I should gravel vac more than I currently do, usually I just siphon the water
I overhauled my tank about 1.5 months ago, with new substrate (JBL Manado) and plants so it's still clean.

I wish I had researched the ramirezis more, they are very sensitive, much more so than my Altum angels. The entire tank is dosed now so I'm hoping that it's not too late for him and that he will recover

 

[Brookster123]

Good luck! Let us know how you do.. I got lazy on gravel vacs in my planted tank and my ram got pissed and almost died..

 

[AlexS]

The golden ram has completely healed, I couldn't be more happy
I used the treatment for a total of 11 days, on the 7th day he was all cleared up already but I continued anyway as a precaution. I will still be keeping a close eye on him but hes doing very well still.

I don't know why but when I put my phone against the glass to take a picture his blacks fade, otherwise he is a lot more colourful hehe

 

[CCXGT]

Glad to hear it ??

 

[Brookster123]

Glad to hear!! Mine wasn't so fortunate.. Rip ramster