Hi all,
Against my better judgement I bought two German blue rams from the LFS yesterday. I thought they looked fine in the store but after releasing them noticed that one has a swollen/uplifted gill on one side. I almost wonder if it could be an injury from netting, but seems like it could potentially be parasites as well. I will probably return the fish to be on the safe side, but now I'm wondering if I need to be treating the tank or the other fish to deal with potential parasite introduction. Right now it's just the rams and 5 cherry barbs in a 25G long. I've been trying to get a decent picture showing the issue but failed so far.
0 nitrite and ammonia, close to 0 nitrate. PH is around 6.8 which isn't far off from what the shop owner said he had. The fish were thoroughly acclimated with a drip line before release and the water temp is around 81/82. Behaviorally they seem pretty happy, no flashing and eating well. Only odd thing is a lot of swimming against the glass but not sure that's cause for concern.
Any thoughts on treatment of the tank or possible other causes of the gill issue other than parasites would be appreciated.
Adding photos- the first is what I think is the male with the gill issue, second is male with what I think is a mated female, third is the female. I'm now wondering if the protrusion around the anus (which is the same color as the body) is the ovipositor or if that might be a sign of parasites as well.
Just to reiterate, the key question here is if I remove these fish from the tank 24-48 hours after introduction do I need to worry about treating the tank for parasites and if so, do I need to treat the whole tank or can I just remove the fish to a QT tank to avoid any negative consequences to the plants. Would appreciate any input.
Against my better judgement I bought two German blue rams from the LFS yesterday. I thought they looked fine in the store but after releasing them noticed that one has a swollen/uplifted gill on one side. I almost wonder if it could be an injury from netting, but seems like it could potentially be parasites as well. I will probably return the fish to be on the safe side, but now I'm wondering if I need to be treating the tank or the other fish to deal with potential parasite introduction. Right now it's just the rams and 5 cherry barbs in a 25G long. I've been trying to get a decent picture showing the issue but failed so far.
0 nitrite and ammonia, close to 0 nitrate. PH is around 6.8 which isn't far off from what the shop owner said he had. The fish were thoroughly acclimated with a drip line before release and the water temp is around 81/82. Behaviorally they seem pretty happy, no flashing and eating well. Only odd thing is a lot of swimming against the glass but not sure that's cause for concern.
Any thoughts on treatment of the tank or possible other causes of the gill issue other than parasites would be appreciated.
Adding photos- the first is what I think is the male with the gill issue, second is male with what I think is a mated female, third is the female. I'm now wondering if the protrusion around the anus (which is the same color as the body) is the ovipositor or if that might be a sign of parasites as well.
Just to reiterate, the key question here is if I remove these fish from the tank 24-48 hours after introduction do I need to worry about treating the tank for parasites and if so, do I need to treat the whole tank or can I just remove the fish to a QT tank to avoid any negative consequences to the plants. Would appreciate any input.
