Bolivians Rams...Dare I?

[madasafish]

BTW, it's sad that the blues died, but it's a really good representation of just how virulent the Flexibacter bacteria (Columnaris) can be. I know I'll be on the alert for it in the future!! This is a very good case in point.

Sad that it had to end with passings away... Sorry, Alli.

 

[TankGirl]

I have not had great luck with rams, but I have water that is on the hard, alkaline side and I don't think that is the best for them. I lost my entire tank of fish (including the rams) last year for some unkown reason, toddler twins highly suspected, but not enough evidence to convict! So I don't know if I would have lost them anyway. They were in there about two weeks and were not looking all that spiffy at the time of their demise.

 

[BrianNY]

Twins??? . Did you dust for prints? LOL

 

[madasafish]

Question is--would the prints have been distinguishable one from the other? Hmm... (prob yes)

lol

 

[TankGirl]

would the prints have been distinguishable one from the other?

No problem. One of the girls has curly dark brown hair and brown eyes, her twin has straight white blond hair and blue eyes, so I am sure their prints are distinguishable. The only characteristic they share is the desire to mess with Mama's fish tanks

 

[Allivymar]

Update:

*sigh* I'm down to a single Bolivian; 2 more died between last nite and today. I'm at a complete loss to explain what happened. Initially I thought it was the columnaris (that I'm sure of) that was killing them, but after treating the tank with Furan 2, then feeding them Pepso food as a back up after the Furan was out of the water, I lost 2 more. Neither of them showed signs of columnaris so my guess it was something else that was the cause of their demise, but I haven't the vaguest idea what. No ammonia, a small amount of nitrites but salt was added, 30ppm nitrates. I doubt it was the tap water, as I did water changes on all the tanks (and the angels laid eggs right after!) with no problems elsewhere. No signs of parasites, no obvious signs of specific disease (other then keeling over after starting to look weak and hanging out near the top of the tank, but even then their fins have been full and not clamped).

The remaining Bolivian looks healthy atm; active, feeding, good color. I did notice it chasing the other 2 around yesterday. Don't know whether the aggression played a part in their deaths, or they were getting weak then and it was taking advantange...

Anyway, learned my lesson. NO more impulse buys; not worth it in the end.

And I've no idea what to do now. Nuke the tank? The last guy looks fine; and I've no where to put him atm that won't endanger my other guys if he is a carrier of something. Plus, how to bleach sand with laterite in it? I may just move him into the 8g QT tank when the loaches are out in 2 weeks, and leave the 25g fallow for a few weeks....

 

[freshwatergal]

I'm sorry to hear of all your troubles. I went out and got some blue rams at the lfs after reading about you and yours...and they are pretty fish...they are in QT right now because after I bought them I noticed they had the beginnings of ich (high temps and a little salt). They seem to be doing good...only one more week in QT woohoo!

I hope that whatever you decide to do is a success!

 

[Madame_X]

Wow, Alli... I'm so sorry you've had such a hard time with the rams. I feel somewhat responsible since I was egging you on.

I really thought your Bolivians would be able to pull through. Mine weren't affected at all by whatever the gold rams were inflicted with. Have you spoken to your LFS? Obviously whatever they had is pretty nasty... thank goodness you didn't put them in with any other fish.

I won't encourage anymore impulse buys anymore. I'm just a rather impulsive person myself... I guess I feel like everyone should be!

 

[TankGirl]

How about leaving him in the 25 for now? When I have been in this situation I have found it best not to do anything, hard as it is, and a perfect solution presents itself. I am thinking you are going to go to some local aquatic society meeting and see some robust locally raised rams that you can add to your tank, and you will be happy that you left it in the ready. A little BioSpira with the new fish and off you go. This concludes the psychic reading of Madame Tanquini.

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, tis no ones fault but my own. Is what I get for not waiting.

I am gonna leave him in the 25g for a bit. Thing is, I had planned on moving that mated pair of angels into that tank as well and give them a chance to parent raise, which I'm definitely NOT doing right now. I think, if he makes it thru the next month, I'll move him to the planted 10g and move the angel pair in after leaving the 25g fallow for a bit. Do I need to tip you now Madame Tanqini?

 

[TankGirl]

No tipping necessary. Spend the money on more tanks!

From what I have read angels are not that great at parenting, so maybe you just need an angel fry growout tank, which can be relatively small. I am really excited about that prospect.

We need to set up a fry trading forum or something. I have mollies keeping my African tank warm until the shellies grow out (Voodoo says they are still too small ) and I have more black molly babies than I know what to do with. I tried using them as food in my 55, but it was too upsetting. I am SUCH a wimp!

 

[Allivymar]

LOL I don't have room for a grow-out tank; I've an empty 10g with no filter etc, which I just need to stock with the basics, but they'll outgrow that quickly (especially if I pull and raise em all!). I may do that anyway, just for kicks, but LOL what am I gonna do with a coupla hundred (assuming they make it that far) dime size angelfish in a 10g tank? Plus, I'd love to see my guys parent raise, and certainly have the time for them to figure it out

I do like the idea of a fry exchange tho; heh, this way I could relatively sure, should I make another attempt, that any rams I get will be healthy!

 

[Madame_X]

I'm so with you, Tankgirl! I know I'm going to have more platies than I know what to do with, but I just can't bear the thought of letting them be eaten.

I found a girl at work who is starting a little 3 gallon tank on her desk and I thought, hey that would be the perfect home for a couple of my platies when they're a little bigger. I offered them to her and she was very excited. After talking to her, I realized she doesn't know anything about fish. I started thinking, "Do I want to subject my poor little platies to starting a new tank with someone who might not even do proper water changes?"

I know what you're all thinking--I should teach her how to take care of them. But she's just not the type who would listen, ya know?

I might have to come up with a little white lie.

 

[allan]