Electric Blue Ram Trouble

[Shoople]

I got home from school today and my female blue ram (I think it's a female, I know the other one is male.) is swimming with her head up high and she is breathing very fast. I have the for a little bit over a month. She is being chased by the male but nothing to crazy. I checked levels, they were all fine and I did a 40% water change to the tank because I know that the rams like new water. The temp is at 85 and I raised it from 83 to help her. I added a little fresh water aquarium salt. The tank is overpopulated right now and I am aware of that its just going to be like a week until I move some fish from it. Any Ideas? I feed her sinking pelts.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rP-LBD8qQ8FIN_w_bUUisrEHRgxHRXJo

I know it seems like a sketchy link but it wouldn't let me upload a video.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Usually when a fish is breathing fast, there are a few possibilities:
1)Being chased around - when a fish is being chased, it will definitely breathes fast.
Place the fish in another tank or remove the male fish.

2)Overcrowding in the tank
When the tank is overcrowded, the oxygen level will be low amd especially when the water is warm. Warm water carry less oxygen than cold water.
Increase aeration by using air stone especially if your tank is crowded.
All my tanks have extra sponge filters that functioned as filter and provide aerations.

3)Ammonia or nitrite is high.
If you suspect this, place the fish in a container/pail for a short dip with Methylene Blue.
Methylene blue can help with ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
Here is a good website on how to use Methylene Blue.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html#methylene_blue

3)Gill infections by parasites especially Gill fluke. This can be fatal and hard to cure. When the fish is breathing fast, its usually at the last stage.(hard to save the fish).

For parasites infection, you can use either one of these medication:
A) Anti parasite, slime & velvet by Interpret.
I think this is the most powerful medication tht I can find.
B) Coppersafe by Mardel. Do not overdose, else your fish will die.
C) Praziquantel - less toxic and won't harm the scaleless fish.(catfish). But you have to use it every 3 days and in higher dosage than normal for effectiveness(my opinion). But Praziquantel wont harm your fish even at slightly higher dosage.

Lastly, do a short dip with Potassium Permanganate.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html#potassium_permang

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Sorry, I didn't realize that you are still in school.
Handle with care when you are using any of the medications above.
The medications are toxic and you have to wear glove when you use them and do not breathe in the medication.
Use them in a well ventilated area.

Take note that Methylene Blue will stain everything that it come in contact with.
So, wear glove and don't let it drip on your clothes, carpet, wood, floor, etc. The stain will be hard to remove.

 

[Shoople]

Usually when a fish is breathing fast, there are a few possibilities:
1)Being chased around - when a fish is being chased, it will definitely breathes fast.
Place the fish in another tank or remove the male fish.

2)Overcrowding in the tank
When the tank is overcrowded, the oxygen level will be low amd especially when the water is warm. Warm water carry less oxygen than cold water.
Increase aeration by using air stone especially if your tank is crowded.
All my tanks have extra sponge filters that functioned as filter and provide aerations.

3)Ammonia or nitrite is high.
If you suspect this, place the fish in a container/pail for a short dip with Methylene Blue.
Methylene blue can help with ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
Here is a good website on how to use Methylene Blue.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html#methylene_blue

3)Gill infections by parasites especially Gill fluke. This can be fatal and hard to cure. When the fish is breathing fast, its usually at the last stage.(hard to save the fish).

For parasites infection, you can use either one of these medication:
A) Anti parasite, slime & velvet by Interpret.
I think this is the most powerful medication tht I can find.
B) Coppersafe by Mardel. Do not overdose, else your fish will die.
C) Praziquantel - less toxic and won't harm the scaleless fish.(catfish). But you have to use it every 3 days and in higher dosage than normal for effectiveness(my opinion). But Praziquantel wont harm your fish even at slightly higher dosage.

Lastly, do a short dip with Potassium Permanganate.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html#potassium_permang

The female fish isn't constantly being chased by the male its just every once in a while he will come over and bother her a little.

I was planning on going to go ahead and buy a air stone for the tank I was just a little shocked because I have not had any oxygen problems before, even with the tank a little overcrowded. I know the ammonia and nitrite are pretty fine they are either zero or very low. The other main issue with my fish is she swims kind of at an angle which makes me thing swim bladder problems but would that effect her breathing? Let me know what you think and thank you for your reply.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Are these rams a bonded pair? Or did you just put them together hoping that they would bond?


It could be that this female has been rejected by the male and is dealing with that stress... you might need to keep them in separate tanks. Personally, I'd isolate the female in a QT (if possible) and check to see how she behaves on her own before I moved towards medication.



Also, I would recommend water changes to remove that aquarium salt. There's no reason to have aquarium salt in the tank, UNLESS you are medicating for ich, dealing with nitrite, or other parasites.

Isolate the female, keep her water as clean as possible and monitor her for changes in behavior. If she's dealing with disease or parasites, she's going to continue to breathe heavily and swim upright (it could be related to swim bladder). If its stress, she should calm down in the new tank (keep it dark, but just lit enough for you to monitor her)... tossing in a few floating plants wouldn't hurt, if you have some.

 

[Shoople]

Are these rams a bonded pair? Or did you just put them together hoping that they would bond?


It could be that this female has been rejected by the male and is dealing with that stress... you might need to keep them in separate tanks. Personally, I'd isolate the female in a QT (if possible) and check to see how she behaves on her own before I moved towards medication.



Also, I would recommend water changes to remove that aquarium salt. There's no reason to have aquarium salt in the tank, UNLESS you are medicating for ich, dealing with nitrite, or other parasites.

Isolate the female, keep her water as clean as possible and monitor her for changes in behavior. If she's dealing with disease or parasites, she's going to continue to breathe heavily and swim upright (it could be related to swim bladder). If its stress, she should calm down in the new tank (keep it dark, but just lit enough for you to monitor her)... tossing in a few floating plants wouldn't hurt, if you have some.

The two have been together since birth and I have been trying to pair them. I will do a water change tonight to get rid of the salt. I can put the female in a 5 gallon but I fear it's to small for her and the heater for the tank is only set at 79 degrees. I could separate her for a few days and if she gets better I might just have to return him or her to the pet store.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Keeping her in a small 5 gallon tank as a quarantine isn't a problem, assuming its cycled. Keeping her long term in there would be an issue.



Are there other fish in there now, or can you boost the heater a bit for her?



Its possible that you have two males... and this is the less dominant. Can you get a picture of them both?

 

[Shoople]

Keeping her in a small 5 gallon tank as a quarantine isn't a problem, assuming its cycled. Keeping her long term in there would be an issue.



Are there other fish in there now, or can you boost the heater a bit for her?



Its possible that you have two males... and this is the less dominant. Can you get a picture of them both?

The tank is cycled, and I have a baby platy in there. Little guy was just born a few weeks ago. I can take the platy and put it in a breeding trap for a while because hes so young. I am not sure if I can boost the heater but I can try.

 

[Byron]

The two have been together since birth and I have been trying to pair them. I will do a water change tonight to get rid of the salt. I can put the female in a 5 gallon but I fear it's to small for her and the heater for the tank is only set at 79 degrees. I could separate her for a few days and if she gets better I might just have to return him or her to the pet store.

I'm not at all certain what your first sentence here means, so I will explain about bonding.

Rams must select their mates. This means that in a tank of rams, a male and female may (or may not) bond. The males will be continually "charging" at each other, while the females tend to just cruise around picking at the substrate for food or similar. If one of the males remains in the general vicinity of a female, without driving her away, there is a possibility they will bond. Nothing is guaranteed.

Within the confines of the home aquarium, the male will establish his territory which is usually the entire tank floor unless the tank is very large. If he bonds with the female, they will spawn and may live in harmony. If they do not bond, they may spawn a few times but at some point the male will get fed up and the female will be bullied until dead. This can take weeks, even a few months, depending upon the individual fish. Their interactions during this time usually suggest what is going on, but every aquarist does have to learn to recognize the signs. A video would probably help us, but when you take it, do so after sitting motionless in front of the tank for some time, so the fish forget you are there and will be more likely to be normal in their interactions.

 

[Shoople]

I'm not at all certain what your first sentence here means, so I will explain about bonding.

Rams must select their mates. This means that in a tank of rams, a male and female may (or may not) bond. The males will be continually "charging" at each other, while the females tend to just cruise around picking at the substrate for food or similar. If one of the males remains in the general vicinity of a female, without driving her away, there is a possibility they will bond. Nothing is guaranteed.

Within the confines of the home aquarium, the male will establish his territory which is usually the entire tank floor unless the tank is very large. If he bonds with the female, they will spawn and may live in harmony. If they do not bond, they may spawn a few times but at some point the male will get fed up and the female will be bullied until dead. This can take weeks, even a few months, depending upon the individual fish. Their interactions during this time usually suggest what is going on, but every aquarist does have to learn to recognize the signs. A video would probably help us, but when you take it, do so after sitting motionless in front of the tank for some time, so the fish forget you are there and will be more likely to be normal in their interactions.

Thank you for your advice. When I get home from school I will try to take a better video to show what they do.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Is the photo for your male?
Can you take a few more photos of both male and female?

There is a possibility that both are male as what eaglesaquarium said.

I forgot to mention something just now.
If the oxygen level in the water is low, you will see more fish are breathing fast instead of just one fish.
So, if only one fish that is breathing fast, then it's not due to oxygen level in the water.
You had done right to separate the two fish.
5 gallon tank should be sufficient for only one fish.
Continue to monitor the fish.

 

[Shoople]

Is the photo for your male?
Can you take a few more photos of both male and female?

There is a possibility that both are male as what eaglesaquarium said.

I forgot to mention something just now.
If the oxygen level in the water is low, you will see more fish are breathing fast instead of just one fish.
So, if only one fish that is breathing fast, then it's not due to oxygen level in the water.
You had done right to separate the two fish.
5 gallon tank should be sufficient for only one fish.
Continue to monitor the fish.

That is the photo of the female. The males fins are much longer I don't have a photo right now.

 

[Shoople]

That's my two rams interacting. The small one is a female.

 

[Byron]

That's my two rams interacting. The small one is a female.

I would separate them permanently, or the hounded fish is not going to be alive much longer. I have had this with a pair of Bolivians.

 

[Shoople]

I would separate them permanently, or the hounded fish is not going to be alive much longer. I have had this with a pair of Bolivians.

I cannot keep her in that separate tank forever, so I think I am going to go return her but I heard these ram chilid shouldn't be left alone so should I bring them both?