Forewarning to all Ram owners.

[amesdrew]

Just had a death today. First one in sometime. It was the female sapphire blue ram I purchased about a month ago. She was a good fish, but probably had bad genetics because of overbreeding. I have bought all of my fish from the same LFS and the rams are just plain weak. I have lost 2 females and 1 male over the course of time, but this one, was the worst...

I didn't see her swimming around and was doing a PWC, she was the type of fish that would nibble on my hand while I cleaned the gravel, so I was looking for her. Then I saw her lifelessly go through my gravel vac, into the bucket. I thought she was dead but I scooped her gently into my hands and saw she was still breathing.

Her gills were starting to turn dark, heading towards her body, almost black. It was dark enough to make her colors stunning even in death. Anyone have any ideas, what was the problem? I would like to know so I could educate the LFS, IT IS SO FRUSTERATING LOSING A PERFECTLY GOOD FISH! and it was the first fish I felt I had to euthanize.

All in all, just feeling pretty down. I leave for 4 day tonight too, ugh any advice?

Drew

 

[eco23]

Just had a death today. First one in sometime. It was the female sapphire blue ram I purchased about a month ago. She was a good fish, but probably had bad genetics because of overbreeding. I have bought all of my fish from the same LFS and the rams are just plain weak. I have lost 2 females and 1 male over the course of time, but this one, was the worst...

I didn't see her swimming around and was doing a PWC, she was the type of fish that would nibble on my hand while I cleaned the gravel, so I was looking for her. Then I saw her lifelessly go through my gravel vac, into the bucket. I thought she was dead but I scooped her gently into my hands and saw she was still breathing.

Her gills were starting to turn dark, heading towards her body, almost black. It was dark enough to make her colors stunning even in death. Anyone have any ideas, what was the problem? I would like to know so I could educate the LFS, IT IS SO FRUSTERATING LOSING A PERFECTLY GOOD FISH! and it was the first fish I felt I had to euthanize.

All in all, just feeling pretty down. I leave for 4 day tonight too, ugh any advice?

Drew

Sorry to hear about your fish . Do you know your water parameters of the tank she was in (ammo, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH)? I would think the coloration of her gills could be from ammonia burns. How long has the tank been established?

If the water conditions are good, it's as you said and most likely bad stock. Many of us who love Rams have dealt with similar issues. After a sad experience with our GBR I swore off lfs's and now will only buy my fish from reputable sources, preferably other members here on AA. There is a classifieds section on the site you can contact members through, as well as many online sites which are well respected.

 

[Homedog98]

Is she still alive? Separate her from the others if she is, and hope. If you have no hope left, there's lots of articles on euthanasia on the site.

 

[amesdrew]

Thanks everyone. She has been euthanized humanely. I think it might be the last straw at that lfs for rams. Water is always spot on, I even did two water changes this week. 0,0,12 nitrates.

It is just sooooo upsetting, they laid a clutch of eggs and then she dies a week later.........

I guess if anyone on here has another blue, or gold female ram, I might give it another try. My male is gonna be lonely for a while.

 

[rich311k]

Good rams can be hard to find. I wish the guy that sold me mine was still in the business.

 

[Amicus]

Is she still alive? Separate her from the others if she is, and hope. If you have no hope left, there's lots of articles on euthanasia on the site.

There is a particularly good article on euthanasia using clove oil and clear grain alcohol. The clove oil anesthetizes the fish and then the clear grain alcohol is used to expire the fish. In the article they have clear instruction on amounts and stuff. I will try to find the exact article and post it. Good Luck, hope she makes it!

 

[eco23]

There is a particularly good article on euthanasia using clove oil and clear grain alcohol. The clove oil anesthetizes the fish and then the clear grain alcohol is used to expire the fish. In the article they have clear instruction on amounts and stuff. I will try to find the exact article and post it. Good Luck, hope she makes it!

I believe the article you're referring to is a sticky in the unhealthy fish section of the forum. I think the fish is already gone though based off the first post :-(

 

[HUKIT]

There's a few fish I've given up on due to poor stock caused by overbreeding and ram's are certainly one of them.

 

[jetajockey]

In my experience with breeding rams, even with good stock, these guys just up and die for no reason. It happens at random with no real cause. They also live a particularly short life span, getting 2 years out of one is a blessing.

Did you check your nitrite levels? Darkening gills kinda leads me to think of brown blood disease aka nitrite poisoning.

 

[Amicus]

I believe the article you're referring to is a sticky in the unhealthy fish section of the forum. I think the fish is already gone though based off the first post :-(

That may be so, I was looking all over the place for my sick DG. Can't find what's wrong with him, don't want him to suffer.