need an opinion

[SeymourFRESH]

alright, i've had this "sick" blue ram in QT, suspecting that it has an internal parasite due to the fact that it has a sunken belly and odd looking feces compared to my other rams. i've tried 2 different medications (including metronidazole) and have had no luck, and over this past week i've stopped medicating the water and food to let the ram recooperate from treatment.

it still barely eats anything (mainly flake food only). i've tried bloodworms and shrimp pellets and cichlid crumbles soaked in garlic, but have had little luck.

but here's the kicker: the fish looks and acts fine, it is obviously thriving (no signs of stress). my dad thinks i'm crazy and that there's really nothing wrong with it, and he actually brought up a good point that the fish is still alive and well after owning it for over 3 weeks. i'm just puzzled about what i should do. i restarted my metronidazole treatment today, after a week of letting it be. another factor is that my biological cycle in this tank is so far non-existant, as i've had the tank for only a month (most of the time without carbon in due to treatment)

i'm thinking the ram could be lonely, and i WAS considering buying another blue ram to see how well it does, but i'm rather weary of putting another fish at risk if i might have a parasite. plus, the petstore ones are only a little over half the size of the one i got in QT, so i'm not sure how they would do together anyway.

after a recent water change/restarting metronidazole treatment, here are my water levels
pH: 7.4
ammonia: .5
nitrite: 2.5
nitrate: 10

any thoughts? i'm completely baffled and i really want this little guy to make it

 

[SeymourFRESH]

here are some pics i took of it today...my dad says it looks great and friendly, but i think the sunken belly/appetite/feces is horrifyingly different in comparison to my other rams

 

[SeymourFRESH]

alright, after reading over my article, i realized i did not ask my question (too much explaining and not to the point LOL)

my question is, do you think it's a good idea to pick up another blue ram to put with this one in QT?

 

[Zagz]

If you are treating with meds I wouldn't add any fish. I am suffering from the same problem you are with one of my cichlids. It's been 5 weeks, I took her out of QT and she wasn't doing very well in the big tank so I put her back. Good luck with your treatment.

 

[DepotFish]

If he's eating the same food as the others and his feces don't seem right, then you probably aren't exagerating about something being wrong. I'd hold back on another fish for now. I'm currently having a problem with a fish and the only sign is the feces. Don't know what it is but I'm going to try soaking flakes in castor oil tonight, which is something I occasionally use on fish with constipation. Quarentine can take more than three weeks. I had one once that developed parasites over a month after purchase and a few days before I was going to put it with the others.

 

[pwrflpills]

Am I missing something or shouldn't you be worrying about your ammonia and nitrite being 0!? If I was your fish, with those levels I'd be feeling pretty "off" too. Maybe I don't know enought about Rams, but get your tank cleaned up. Do some 20-30% water changes. Frequently.

 

[Zagz]

I must have been asleep or those numbers weren't in the post before. I may have missed it, you do need to do a pwc asap.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

yeah it sounds ridiculous but i HAVE been doing frequent water changes...the cycle in my tank has not completed yet, and thus i am learning my lesson for adding a fish to the tank too soon!