Male GBR breathing rapidly, staying stationary

[B Phishin]

What up guys? So, my male German Blue Ram is just hovering over this limestone rock, on the filter side of my 29 gallon aquarium. Noticed he's been chilling in the same spot for a few hours, so I went and got some live brine shrimp.. which he devoured, then he went back to the same spot. He still has his vibrant color and all my parameters are stable. What is going on here?! I really don't want to wake up to a death in the morning.. need advice guys...

 

[absolutangel04]

What are your exact parameters? How long have you had the gbr? What size tank? What tankmates? Are ay of the tankmates new?
Sorry for all the questions, but we need to know in order to help. I hope your little guy is ok!

 

[B Phishin]

Thanks for the quick response. OK, I literally just tested everything over the past ten minutes so here we go..
- 29 gallon tank (tall), approx. 40 lbs. of playsand (thoroughly rinsed/cleansed), 78-80 Degrees (F), slabs of limestone and black slate, 150 and 100 Bio-Wheel Filtration System, 2 heaters (a 100 watt and standard.. both submersible),
-pH - 7.2-7.5
-GH - 120-180
-KH - 180-240
-NO2 - 0
-NO3 - 0-20 (might be a problem)
TANK STOCK - spawning pair of GBR's (german blue rams), 7 cardinal tetras, 2 cherry barbs (1 F/1 M), 1 bristle-nosed pleco, 1 spotted synadontis (valentiana - juvenile, 1' long), 1 angelfish (young, smaller than a nickel - silver with 3 vertical, black stripes) - Started tank 8-15-11
- Not going to lie - just introduced the 2 cherry barbs, angel, and 3 of the 7 cardinals in the past 5 days (had an itch to re-stock)
- GBR's are about 45 days old.. Spawned twice, including female laying approx 200 eggs lastnight (none survived.. i.e. synadontis)
- Still no change in male GBR, actually worse. Is now lying on its bottom fins, breathing rapidly, but still has full color, while dorsal fin is erect.. I just dont get it.. Fed him some live brine shrimp an hour ago, ate a few, then went straight back to his stationary spot. Im hoping for the best, but I dont think things are going to get much better when I turn the lights off... Advice please??

 

[B Phishin]

Artificial plants too. BTW, I accept and understand corrective criticism. Just let me know what's up. I hope he just isn't depressed from having his potential offspring eaten up, so quickly, and has nothing else to live for! What a delicacy. Pretty sure my pleco joined in on the overnight frenzy too

 

[absolutangel04]

Hmmmmm.... Well, your params are ok. Since gbr tend to be pretty senstive, I suggest keeping the nitrates as low as possible, but 20 really shouldn't be an issue.
Honestly, if the gbr is only 45 days old, your problem might simply be poorly bred stock. Gbr have been pretty overbred and a lot of them tend to be very weak and overly sensitive. It is actually common for people to buy them and then have them die within the first 2 months or so after purchase. But, it is weird that he was healthy/happy enough to have spawned if bad stock was the issue, though I certainly think its still possible.
Your stock sounds fine to me. Did you quarantine the new guys before putting them in the tank? There is a chance that they introduced something, but if that was the case, I would expect you to see symptoms in the other fish, not just the gbr.
What do you feed them? Any signs of bloat or anything like that?

 

[B Phishin]

I mix up their diet with Omega One Cichlid/Tropical Fish Flakes, Hikari Bloodworms, and live brine shrimp.. Flakes mainly, brine shrimp twice a week. Perform approx 2 water changes a week, change filters every 2-3 weeks. Didn't quarantine any fish, but closely observed/examined each tank, that I purchased fish from, very closely, and saw now signs of streaking, stress, fin deteriation or dead fish, but some symptoms, as you know, aren't visible to the naked eye, sooo, who knows? Turned lights off about 20 min ago and female gbr was swimmin around male, as to say.. get it together dude! Hopefully it wasn't a goodbye

 

[absolutangel04]

Ok. That all makes me lean more toward it just being an issue of bad stock.
I do suggest doing a big pwc and seeing if he perks up any after that.
I was mainly asking about the food because sometimes fish can suffer constipation from freeze dried bloodworms.
Hopefully he is ok!

 

[B Phishin]

No bloating that I could tell, except for my gluttunous synadontis, who is a garbage disposable, to say the least. And off the topic, but I think my syno has been trying to make moves on my bristle-nosed pleco. They are always trying to share the same hiding spot, and i've literally seen my syno "stalk/creep on" my pleco, as if it thinks it has a chance.. kinda weird.. I think it's just young and trying to figure out its role in life, like a 14 yr old kid in highschool, whose voice is starting to change haha.. have you heard of that before? I promise I couldn't make that up.

 

[absolutangel04]

Lol, yeah, its not uncommon for young fish to try and hit on other species. It does sound pretty funny to watch though. Lol.
Its good that no other fish are showing any symptoms. I know it can be really frustrating though when a fish isn't doing well and you don't know why. But, gbr are the bane of some aquarists' existence for a reason! They are notoriously difficult. Like I said, the best advice I can give you at the moment is to try a pwc and see if he perks up any. Or, maybe his woman will get him going again! Lol.

 

[B Phishin]

Haha that's usually all it takes! JK But for real, Ive got this LED, flashlight, head-band thing (pretty dorky I know) that I use to check-in on my fish, when the lights are off, and my male gbr is now swimming at the top of the tank, at like a 45-60 degree angle.. Not looking good.. He could definently use some attention, but I don't think his female can find him, nor save him. Just so weird, I guess we'll see.. When I first bought them together, it took him a whole 3 days for them to spawn and she laid close to 200 eggs. He's a stud! Wish I had pics to show you. I'm just hoping for the best. I really appreciate your help and sincerity ms angel..

 

[absolutangel04]

No prob. I know it sucks to see the fish suffer. I had issues earlier this year with a couple of Bolivian rams and it was awful to watch.
Have you seen the ram's poop by any chance? Stringy white poop can be indicative of an internal parasite. Of course, another option would be an internal bacterial infection but those can be awful to treat.
If you have a big plastic tub, you can just put a heater and an air stone in it to use a quarantine tank. But, its hard to know what to even use to treat him with right now because there are just too many options.

 

[jpchin]

i would just observe the gbr and not get too worried yet. i have 2 gbr's that are a year old and they sometimes sit on the bottom of the tank and rest. they've been doing that ever since i've had them. my other fish do this as well. if he's eating and his color is good i'd just wait to see if anything shows up. maybe he's tired from the spawning ritual? i personally would not remove him from your tank to a quarantine tank as this would be very stressful on a gbr. he should be kept in optimine conditions as they are very sensitive to water quality. also he really isn't showing any signs of disease. resting on the bottom of the tank isn't a disease. if you notice when the rams breath their mouth opens and closes quickly. again normal. if they are gasping at the top of the water that's not normal. sometimes i think we worry too much and our emotions get the best of us. we care for our fish and so we are constantly on the look-out for a problems even when there might not be one. i'm guilty too.

 

[B Phishin]

Thanks for the advice guys.. But, unfortunatly, my worst fear came true... I woke up yesterday morning and he was a gonner, dangit! Before I turned off the lights, the night before, he had began to swim at the top of the tank for some reason.. I'm just really confused! Maybe it was his time to go.. On the bright side, the rest of the community is doing fine.. The female GBR is just as active as ever.. I'm going to do some water changes, moniter the tank over the next ten days, then I think I'm going to have to find another male GBR for the female.. She can't get lonely and depressed! Gotta keep her occupied and flirtatious like she always been! Maybe she needed a new man in her life! Thanks for the advice guys.. until next time

 

[absolutangel04]

I am really sorry about your loss. Rams have the reputation of being difficult for a reason. It sounds like you were being a good fish keeper and your fish just had an issue.