Dark Knight Rams!!!

Avel1896 said:

Or simply it died of stress. I know many laugh up their sleeves...
But I'm pretty sure that is the case here. Not enough plants, not enough hidingplaces...

Why extract while it is this simple to add natural leaves ?
How much flourish do you add ?

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The original plan was to use the extract (and I did), but I switched to using IAL. So the tannins etc. are in the aquarium. I dosed the tank with flourish one time, 3 months ago, and have never since because the hornwort was going over without any additives.

The aquarium had 4 caves, a piece of driftwood, one Amazon sword and more hornwort than one could imagine.

I just tossed a quart sized bag of hornwort from that tank alone last Saturday because it grows so quickly. There was so much that the tank has never shown a nitrate reading beyond 0.

So to say that there was not enough hiding places or plants would be inaccurate.

I unfortunately, over the last 20 years, have had enough experiences with aquatic internal parasites to know recognize the symptoms on this little guy. I should have noticed it sooner, but I really chalked it up to him being shy.

When the new ones have arrived, I’ll be sure to post pictures.

Also, livebearers have nothing to do with the shy Ramirezis.

kribensis12 said:

So to say that there was not enough hiding places or plants would be inaccurate.

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Please post overall pictures.

Also, how old is your tank, and when did you add Rams ?

So, here ya go.

1. I’m not sure where saying “livebearers have nothing to do with the rams” came from? I keep a few livebearers in the tank to keep it cycled and that is it.

2. Attached are pictures of the aquarium. 4 caves, good sized piece of driftwood, a bit of sponge (for bacteria) and until recently, catalpa leaves (disintegrated - need to add more).

3. I’m not sure why it seems that you are questioning the amount of plants, but in this picture you will see about half of the plants that were there until last week. I took about half of them out and this is what’s left. They normally float at the top and some rest at the bottom, providing different levels of security for the Rams.

4. Tank is 4 months old, it ran for about a month (cycled) before adding the Rams.

kribensis12 said:

I’m not sure where saying “livebearers have nothing to do with the rams” came from?

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Livebearers are hard water fishes where Ramirezi are soft acid fishes. Their required parameters are incompatible.

kribensis12 said:

I keep a few livebearers in the tank to keep it cycled

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? ? ? ?

kribensis12 said:

a bit of sponge (for bacteria)

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Why outside the filter ??
Incidentally, what's your filter made with ?
How about hardness, alkalinity (or TDS) ?

kribensis12 said:

I’m not sure why it seems that you are questioning the amount of plants

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Because Ramirezis needs, want, require, much plants as they are naturally very shy. Plants make them feel secured.
Pics you posted show nothing of your tank....

Okay, @Avel1896 I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at.

I provided 4 pictures of the tank that the lone male ram was in - yet you say "those pics show nothing of your tank". To be honest, those pictures could not show MORE of the tank if I wanted to because that's the entire tank.

That sponge was used to seed the tank with beneficial bacteria 4 months ago - the sponge came from one of my aquaclear filters from my apisto tank. I've left it there because the ram seemed to enjoy picking bits of detris off it. The filter used in this tank is an AquaClear 20 with only sponges in it.

My API Master Freshwater Test kit does not test for hardness, but my digital TDS meter reads around 100-150 depending on when I test (after a water change v. right before a water change). The water is pure R/O and stabilized
with Seachem's Neutral Regulator (I've done a bit a research on this product and it seems to be a safe). I further soften the water with the IAL.

I am aware that livebearers come from hard water and that is the best place to keep them. This is a temporary home for them as this next week I intend to acclimate them back into my hard water community tank. I intended to do this much sooner, but unfortunately I was unable due to that.

Okay, @kribensis12 you posted 3 pictures. None is an overall one (including or covering the entire tank.

DKR are excessivelly inbred, making them very hard to breed as breeder says :
Their sad death is maybe due to this heavy inbreeding that weakens any fish, and also to the fact they stressed-out because of unsuitable conditions/parameters.

Avel1896 said:

Okay, @kribensis12 you posted 3 pictures. None is an overall one (including or covering the entire tank.

DKR are excessivelly inbred, making them very hard to breed as breeder says :

Their sad death is maybe due to this heavy inbreeding that weakens any fish, and also to the fact they stressed-out because of unsuitable conditions/parameters.

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I'm not trying to be that guy, but here is a screen shot of the 4 images. The last image is literally an image of the whole tank.



I am very confident that the first, sudden death, was likely due to genetics. As you (and the video mentions), they are very inbred and thereby very delicate. I am also very confident that the second death was due to internal parasites.

My hope is that the new breeder I selected will have a better quality Ram; additionally if I am able to successfully breed them, to get some fresh blood into their line.

kribensis12 said:

My hope is that the new breeder I selected will have a better quality Ram; additionally if I am able to successfully breed them, to get some fresh blood into their line.

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We'll see.

I'm drooling as I'm discovering your delicacies blog !

Avel1896 said:

I'm drooling as I'm discovering your delicacies blog !

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Thank you! We've put a lot of hard work in it!

Update! The Rams arrived a week ago and they are PERFECT. Great coloration, EXTREMELY vigorous and a joy to watch!

I had a mishap with a heater that broke (glad I caught it!) and instead of placing the bunch (18) in a 20g for growing out, I had to place them in a 15 tall. I'm not thrilled about that, but temporarily, it seems just fine. Here is a video of them! You'll notice that some of the golds are getting an iridescent/orange coloration on their fins - that's a byproduct of their breeding coming from Dark Knight parents - GORGEOUS!

How old are they ?

Avel1896 said:

How old are they ?

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The seller did not state explicitly, but it's my understanding that they are 4-5 months old. I am curious though - I may reach out!