Gold Ram Acting Weird?

I have a gold Ram that is hanging at the top of the tank. See video. He seems to be breathing heavy too although no other fish is acting like that.
Tank:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Last water change 3 days ago, another this evening or tomorrow

I recently had a pristine looking female cherry barb die out of the blue. Worries me. I add a tiny bit of GH & KH boost, but GH is 3 and KH was 4. I keep the Ph at 6.6 (regulated w controller and CO2).

Only other unusual thing- I moved an apistograma Cacatuoides in from a tank that was too small. Today I moved a Swordtail out. He picked on the Apisto and shouldn't be in here anyway.

Thoughts?

Going to the surface means:
a) getting beaten up
b) end game bacterial infection

Odds are, with the Apisto going in, it's probably "a". But it can become B very quickly.

What is the temp of the aquarium - i can't see how you found a temp suitable for both the ram and the cockatoo. Also the cockatoo is not going to be friendly with the ram.

Last but least this is why i hate text books that give ph for fishes - that is a useless value and should be ignored. Get rid of that co2. If nothing you might be gassing the tank and depriving it of oxygen. What is important is that the carbonate and gh be low. Why are you adding gh and kh boost? That is opposite of what the ram wants.


Anyway i'm a tiny but concern about the red spot near the anal area but otherwise the behavior looks normal. While rams typically hang lower it probably won't go lower with the cockatoo though it is hard to tell.

Again what size if the aquarium and what is the temperature ?

he doesn't look beat up, but I'll keep an eye on it. The apisto was getting beaten up before.... maybe he will start now that the swordtail is out of there. He did have a little white poop hanging out when I filmed him. I went back later and he was hanging out in the plants- that is more normal (now and before the apisto). He'll come out and root around in the sand at the front, and then drift back into the plants, typically. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I hope so.

I was hoping the breaks in line of sight and lack of females in the tank would keep the apisto and ram from getting too aggressive with each other, but I'll keep an eye out. I can move one of them if needed, but I love having them both in there. I have a really good light on that tank that just make their color pop.

I don't want to get rid of the CO2- don't need to. I use it for the plants and I monitor the CO2 saturation using the table on Tom Barr's website- combo of KH & PH. I add the KH because my water is so soft, if I don't, I'd have to drop the PH to below 6 to get any real CO2 in there. Don't want to do that, so I add a bit of KH - still well within the healthy range for him.

The GH I was adding for the sword. I know, I know....wrong fish, wrong tank, etc. He's gone.

MuddyWaters said:

he doesn't look beat up, but I'll keep an eye on it. The apisto was getting beaten up before.... maybe he will start now that the swordtail is out of there. He did have a little white poop hanging out when I filmed him. I went back later and he was hanging out in the plants- that is more normal (now and before the apisto). He'll come out and root around in the sand at the front, and then drift back into the plants, typically. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I hope so.

I was hoping the breaks in line of sight and lack of females in the tank would keep the apisto and ram from getting too aggressive with each other, but I'll keep an eye out. I can move one of them if needed, but I love having them both in there. I have a really good light on that tank that just make their color pop.

I don't want to get rid of the CO2- don't need to. I use it for the plants and I monitor the CO2 saturation using the table on Tom Barr's website- combo of KH & PH. I add the KH because my water is so soft, if I don't, I'd have to drop the PH to below 6 to get any real CO2 in there. Don't want to do that, so I add a bit of KH - still well within the healthy range for him.

The GH I was adding for the sword. I know, I know....wrong fish, wrong tank, etc. He's gone.

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Do what you want but then don't complain if the fishes die.

Also they are not temperature compatible. Under good condition the ram should live 2ish years and the cockatoo 4. Under excellent condition the ram could live as long as 4+ years but that is unusual for domestic gbr. While yours is gold colour it is a gbr.

The cockatoo is robust under good condition and not overly inbred the ram is a more specialize fish that is not that robust and can't tolerate too much stress.

GaryE said:

Going to the surface means:
a) getting beaten up
b) end game bacterial infection

Odds are, with the Apisto going in, it's probably "a". But it can become B very quickly.

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I checked later and the ram was behind the plants. It's not unusual, but makes me suspicious now. I'm working from home tomorrow, so I will check more closely. Hope I don't have to move him!

Is the gold ram eating normally?
What has its poop been like prior to the stringy white bit in the video?
Does the ram had a red butt? It looks a bit red in the video.

I need a picture of the ram from the side so I can check its butt.

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The fish has a health issue of some sort and is struggling to breath. When fish are sick or in pain they breath more rapidly to get more oxygen. They also hang out near the surface or a filter outlet because there is more oxygen there. Ramirezi dwarf cichlids are not surface dwelling fish. Having carbon dioxide (CO2) in the tank will make this worse. While the other fish might be fine with a low oxygen and high carbon dioxide level, the ram isn't and is suffocating.

Whilst you might have the CO2 set for the plants, very few fish come from water that has a low oxygen and high CO2 level. Tom Barr does plant tanks and fish come second in his tanks. In my world the fish should be put first. If you want a plant tank that is fine and you can have fish and plants together, but you can't reduce the oxygen level to such a low degree the fish has trouble breathing.

I would turn off the CO2 for a few weeks and see if it helps. At the very least reduce the amount of CO2 in the water or move the ram into a separate tank with lots of surface turbulence and see how it goes with more oxygen. Once its breathing is better we can work on trying to figure out what is wrong with it.

I will turn off the CO2 and see what happens. I don't use a ton of it- I have it connected to a PH controller. I have soft water, so I can't really use much CO2 without jacking the KH way up which I don't want to do in there for obvious reasons. Having said that, I will turn it off and see how it goes for him.

I haven't seen him poop, but am working from home tomorrow, so will keep an eye out. He did eat some today, but I didn't pay that much attention to see whether he just picked or really went after it.

I'll check for the red butt tomorrow also and will get a good picture from the side.

He was around the apisto fairly regularly this afternoon- neither seemed to notice the other and the ram has no signs of being picked on so I'm hoping it's not that. The alternative might be worse, though... ugh...more to come tomorrow- thanks for all your help thus far.

@Colin_T his vent area is red for sure. I'll get a pic ASAP, but should I quarantine him? Doing water change right now

I always try to push as much as I can for plants to thrive, but all the rest comes first.

They are multiplying but they don't look good.

I reacaped the tank a couple of months ago, so right now they're just coming in. I've added almost no fertilizer- just a tiny bit of micros (Miller Complex). I've got them to the point where they are pretty much algae free and starting to look like they should except the wallichi and monte Carlos. Wallichi is hard (for me) to get right and monte Carlos needs time.

The fish have been great until now. The others are fine, but the ram is definitely worrying me.

I won't sacrifice fish health for plants at all. Not doing that in this case- I keep the parameters within good ranges, test regularly and change water once or twice a week. Usually 12 gallons one time (29 tank) and 5 gallons mid week. Missed the 2nd change last week, though. Parameters were still good, but nitrate was 40ppm. More than I like even when I'm fertilizing regularly.

MuddyWaters said:

@Colin_T his vent area is red for sure. I'll get a pic ASAP, but should I quarantine him? Doing water change right now

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If it has a red butt, that could be worms. If it has intestinal worms, then all the fish have them and there's no point separating the fish.

Make sure the fish is eating lots of food. If it does have worms, they suck the blood out of the fish and the fish waste away before eventually dying from lack of blood and low blood pressure. Feeding the fish more often and making sure they eat well helps them produce more blood to compensate for what is being taken by the worms, and the fish live longer. This gives you time to treat the fish and hopefully not lose any. You should feed more often until they get treated and for a month after treatment (if it's worms).

Do more water changes and gravel cleans when feeding more often so the tanks stay clean.

Will do, @Colin_T thanks!

Btw I'm using Seachem Metroplex and Focus mixed w frozen blood worms and mysis Shrimp. It's supposed to treat them more effectively than just treating the water. Knock on wood

This is him right after eating. He ate very well, but he's back to the top. No other fish show signs of oxygen deprivation and CO2 is off. PH is 6.6 anyway because my water is so soft.