[Jonney_Boy]

Help!!

I have a few german blue rams and recently had a bunch of males die off due to one reason or another.. .still to this date i'm unsure as to why.

Anyhow, here is the last male.. I think I've lost it but if anybody can suggest what to do i'm all ears.



I noticed a few small white spots on the male about a week ago before I left for vacation. They are (4 females and this male) in a 20 gal tank. So before I left for vacation I dosed melafix and let instructions to re-dose + water change every couple days. Tanks is held at 26 deg C and has a 25w uv + 2 big filters on it. Water change ever 2-3 days.

Unfortunally when I got back from vacation, the fish had gotten much worse (see attached pic). Can anybody tell me what it is? and more importantly what to do about it? I have started today dosing epson salt.. not sure if that would help tho as i'm running out of ideas.......

 

[zzyzx85]

what are you water parameters? Temperature? I've found that rams are much healthier in warmer temps (~80F). Too cool and their immune systems tend to falter.

It does appear to be fungus. Odd that it's only on the males. Did they all come from the same store/breeder or were they from different sources.

 

[Jonney_Boy]

The ammonia is 0, nitril is 0, nitrate is 5-10ppm (as i'm 1/2 ei dosing this tank). used to run excell but since the rams started having problems i've stopped (and cut my ei dose in half) thinking it COULD be the excel.

water temp is 26 deg C....

All the rams came from the same breeder.. from the same "batch".... started with 4M and 4F..

First male got a white dot on it's head (like a pimple) and died shortly after (next day).... another male just died...... fish looked "perfect"...... the next one got really dark and started hidding... then it bloated and died. This is the last one.


All the females are perfect tho........ at least for now.

 

[AquaTX01]

Hello Jonney, how are your Rams' doing now?? Might be a bit late, but zz's right, you should turn up the heat a tad bit. It's always good to raise the temp, when taking care of new/ill fish. 26° C is close to min temperature to keep them in. their ideal temp is about 78- 85° F (26-30° C). I've got mine @ around 78 as well, since I've got other tropical fish w/ them. also, do you have any hiding place for these fish?? from the image (what I can see), u dont have any. it seem like a bare/quarantine tank.

Stress, cold, & overcrowd (8 Rams in 20 gal) could be the reason ur Ram's getting sick and dying. or you might just have gotten a bad or wild batch, that's having problem adjusting to your tank.