Blue Balloon Rams turning dark and not eating

[Rocco Ianni]

I've had 4 balloon rams for about 5 months now and they have been living well and eating,until about a week ago where they all darkened in colour and have stopped eating as much as they used to and how will not eat anything i put in. I have checked all the water parameters and they are normal i recently introduced a heater and an air stone to the tank.

All the other fish are living happily except the rams. If anyone knows any information please send it my way. I asked my local pet store and he suggested it may be a time of sexual maturity for the rams.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Fish usually show better colours when they reach sexual maturity. They also continue to eat normally.

Fish that are stressed out will go darker and stop eating or reduce their food intake. They might also act nervous and skittish.

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What are the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH levels in the water (in numbers please)?

How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?

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Any chance of a picture and short 20 second video of the fish?
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Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Use clean buckets that have not had anything in them except clean water.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels.

 

[Byron]

In addition to what Colin posted, you should know that this fish, the Balloon Ram, is prone to various health issues; to attain the "balloon" shape the fish is deliberately deformed, and this causes internal problems that weaken the fish and lead to other problems and a shorter than normal lifespan. The hobby discourages the purchase of such fish as that is the only way to prevent this cruelty.

Aside from that, the ram is very particular as to its water. Temperature is a big issue, and it must be warm, at 80F (27C) minimum. However, this can cause issues for many other "tropical" fish species that do not do well at such high temperatures.