Does my Bolivian ram look sick?

[ChubbyBetta]

Hi everybody.. hopefully there are some bolivian ram keepers out there that can help with this. Attached is a photo if my Bolivian Ram, I've had him a little over a month. I literally just want to know if he looks healthy! He's pretty active but only eats a tiny bit at a time. I usually have to fish some pellets out because my platy is eating them all and getting super fat. This gets really annoying. After doing some research I started worrying about parasites, sunken belly and found out that these guys are susceptible to worms.
Platy, Cory's and hegeli rasbora are his tank mates. Also, he's not shy at all, usually when he sees me, he'll come right up to the glass.

So yeah I'm curious to know if you all think he looks healthy or not (also don't know the sex) as this is my first time owning this type of fish.

Thanx!

 

[itiwhetu]

This gut scared and is fading away, how many plants do you have in the tank. A picture of the whole tank would help. pH and temperature. Thanks

 

[ChubbyBetta]

This gut scared and is fading away, how many plants do you have in the tank. A picture of the whole tank would help. pH and temperature. Thanks

You saying he's scared? He definitely seems to be the boss of the tank though, swimming and exploring all the time, and he doesn't really hide like I've heard they have a tendency to do because they're very shy. I have a total of 12 plants, 2 Anubias, 2 java fern, 1 amazon sword and 7 temple compacta. Spider wood and river rocks and nice sice artificial rock cave. 2 filters, acua clear 20 hob and a really small sponge filter. It's gravel substrate and I want to eventually change to sand but he was in gravel at the lfs so idk if that's an issue. PH is 7 - 7.2 temp is usually between 77-79. It has been a bit hot here these past days and it did get up to 80 and certain times. Sorry don't have another pic right now!

 

[ChubbyBetta]

This gut scared and is fading away, how many plants do you have in the tank. A picture of the whole tank would help. pH and temperature. Thanks

Also ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate about 15ppm

 

[itiwhetu]

These guys need a soft / acid tank with warm water. A pH of 6.5- 6.8 is ideal. In my opinion. Put them outside of that range and they will fade away. They also need a huge amount of security the tank needs to be planted to more than 50% of its volume.

 

[ChubbyBetta]

These guys need a soft / acid tank with warm water. A pH of 6.5- 6.8 is ideal. In my opinion. Put them outside of that range and they will fade away. They also need a huge amount of security the tank needs to be planted to more than 50% of its volume.

Ok I did know that they prefer softer water but I thought 7 - 7.2 wouldn't be too bad for him. I can get it lower because my tap water is soft and I use a ph buffer in the tank. As for the plants I can definitely add more.

Can I ask what tells you that he's scared? When I took that picture he was actually cruising around and just stopped for a sec.

Thnx!

 

[itiwhetu]

Don't use pH buffers. Soft / acid water. Why I say he looks scared is because he has backed himself up into the piece of wood. He should be in the open.

 

[ChubbyBetta]

Don't use pH buffers. Soft / acid water. Why I say he looks scared is because he has backed himself up into the piece of wood. He should be in the open.

Oh ok, I think maybe because I got real close with the camera and the flash went off too. He had actually just turned the corner swimming around the wood. You also say fading away, so his body doesn't look healthy to you?

Sorry to pry but if he looks unhealthy I wanna do what I can. Just purchased some garlic guard to maybe entice him to eat more.

 

[itiwhetu]

He looks thin to me. I know nothing about garlic guard.

 

[ChubbyBetta]

He looks thin to me. I know nothing about garlic guard.

That's what o was worried about. Seachem garlic guard is supposed to make them more attracted to the food. Never had to use it before. Parasite is another concern I have that maybe causing him not to eat much

 

[itiwhetu]

That's what o was worried about. Seachem garlic guard is supposed to make them more attracted to the food. Never had to use it before. Parasite is another concern I have that maybe causing him not to eat much

Don't think about parasites etc. He just doesn't look happy to me. Try and make his environment nicer for him. Can you put up a photo of the whole tank

 

[ChubbyBetta]

Don't think about parasites etc. He just doesn't look happy to me. Try and make his environment nicer for him. Can you put up a photo of the whole

Don't think about parasites etc. He just doesn't look happy to me. Try and make his environment nicer for him. Can you put up a photo of the whole tank

I can when I get back, definitely going to add more plants and maybe try to slowly change out the gravel for sand, as I know they like to sift through sant and eat that way

 

[itiwhetu]

I can when I get back, definitely going to add more plants and maybe try to slowly change out the gravel for sand, as I know they like to sift through sant and eat that way

More plants is the answer.

 

[itiwhetu]

To give you some idea, I had Rams in this tank.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish looks skinny. If it only eats a small amount of food, try offering it different types of food. Most Bolivian rams prefer live or frozen foods over dry foods. Frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp, daphnia, mysis shrimp and prawn/ shrimp are all worth trying.

If the fish eats more and eats well, it should gain weight and lose the sunken belly. If it continues to have a sunken belly after being fed really well for a month, then treat all your fish for intestinal worms.