Blue rams changing

[rudfudge]

Hi ive got a male and female blue ram. Ive had them a few months now. The male has become very vibrant in colour and size and his fins have grown quite fancy. However the female has lost most of her colour which she started with only leaving her with the smallest amount of colour and is no where near the same size as the male. Is this normal or is something wrong?

 

[Aquamandan]

Normally fading colors means the fish is stressed or undernourished. Is the ram that is fading being bullied?

 

[rudfudge]

No ive been watching really closely since i noticed the fading. All the parameters are good. There is some male attention but its not more than a 2 second chase and its done. Ive just found it strange that all fish are doing fine and even the male looks amazing now

 

[Aquamandan]

No ive been watching really closely since i noticed the fading. All the parameters are good. There is some male attention but its not more than a 2 second chase and its done. Ive just found it strange that all fish are doing fine and even the male looks amazing now

Any sign of disease?

 

[rudfudge]

Fins are all intact. Not as big as the males though. No spots or redness or gasping. Shes feeding and swimming around as normal. She has gone a little solo and spends alot of time away from the other fish though

 

[Aquamandan]

Fins are all intact. Not as big as the males though. No spots or redness or gasping. Shes feeding and swimming around as normal. She has gone a little solo and spends alot of time away from the other fish though

Hmmm... not sure what is going on. Anybody else have an idea?

 

[rudfudge]

The female

 

[rudfudge]

The male

 

[rudfudge]

Sorry the pics arent great but you should be able to see the difference

 

[calfishguy]

Can I guess that's its just bad genes maybe. What's the tank stock, params and fish's diet?

 

[rudfudge]

So there at 0 apart from nitrate which is at 30ppm. Temps at 26.5. Ive got 10 neons 4 corys 1 blue gourami 1 horse face loach 2 rams 2 bala sharks. Until there bigger and will be moved. Ive been cycled for 6 months or more now. And this has happened in the last week

 

[rudfudge]

Oh and feeding is a varied between algae wafer normal flakes brine shrimp and catfish pellets.

 

[bshenanagins]

Oh and feeding is a varied between algae wafer normal flakes brine shrimp and catfish pellets.

Your nitrates are a bit high I'd try to bring them down. But yeah she doesn't look so good. I don't wana put ya down but she might be struggling, maybe isolate her if you can?

 

[rudfudge]

Isolate and treat for anything?. Ive done a 50% wc since the reading so nitarates may be a bit lower already. Thought the change might put a spring back in her step but no change

 

[calfishguy]

Yeah I agree that the nitrates are a little bit higher then they should. With rams 20ppm is as high as I feel comfortable going, preferably 10. Has your nitrate reading always been around 30, if so there is a slim chance that they are starting to affect her health. I would try to isolate her in a quarantine tank 10-20 gallon is plenty, a bare bottom in the quarantine could also help rule out ip. Also try to keep the nitrates below 10 in the quarantine even if you have to use a nitrate removing filter media. Do you have nitrate in your tape?

 

[bshenanagins]

Isolate and treat for anything?. Ive done a 50% wc since the reading so nitarates may be a bit lower already. Thought the change might put a spring back in her step but no change

Hard to say with rams but I don't think it's anything you can treat other than. Bringing down nitrates and monitoring her. You could also add some garlic to boost her immune system

 

[rudfudge]

A full clove of garlic? The wc has brought it down to 20ppm so ill do another get it lower hopefully. Its always varied between 10 and 30 but no higher then that

 

[rudfudge]

If the lower nitrates dont change anything ill quatantine in a couple of days. Need to get a little filter as my smaller tank has a live bearer stock atm

 

[bshenanagins]

A full clove of garlic? The wc has brought it down to 20ppm so ill do another get it lower hopefully. Its always varied between 10 and 30 but no higher then that

No not like that I believe powder form, I've never done it myself I've just been told to use it cuz it's natural and like us it helps with the immune system.

 

[calfishguy]

Yes I believe you can actually buy food with it. Try googling garlic guard, I am pretty sure the company omega one and new life spectrum makes food that has garlic in it too.