Help! My German Blue Ram Is Swimming Sideways/contorted Body

[LucyLu]

Hi all

I've just come home and my german blue ram is looking very poorly. Her body is almost contorted and she can't swim. I thought she was dead when I got in but she's alive.

What's wrong? Is it swim bladder? I don't have salts and my LFS is closed. I'm worried about her is there anything I can do to help her? All the other fish are fine and I did 10-15% water change on Tuesday.

If you need pic I'll try and get one.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do.

Thanks,
L

 

[Fishy friend2]

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Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[LucyLu]

Tank size: 2ft by 1ft. 60l
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 0.3ppm
kH: not sure. strip test and it's 10ºd
gH: not sure. did a strip test and it's 14ºd.
tank temp: 28 degrees.

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): no lesions. staying at the bottom of the tank. contorted body/curled up. looks dead. gills not inflamed. looks slightly paler than usual.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10-15% once a week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: no chemicals. soft fine gravel. plants.

Tank inhabitants: 2 platys and 6 black neons. Plus this 1 german blue female (am/was going to get a male for her)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): nothing recent.

Exposure to chemicals: not to my knowledge

Digital photo (include if possible): I can't get a clear pic.

Should I take her out and put her in a dark quarantine tank?

Lx

I've actually just done a high range PH test too and it's coming out as 8-8.2! How do I lower the PH?

Aww. She looks in a bad way.

 

[HayzH]

whats the ph of your tap water?

 

[Fishy friend2]

Try feeding peas, and fast her for 2-3 days

 

[LucyLu]

whats the ph of your tap water?

It's between 7.4 & 7.6.

FishyFriend2 - I've tried but she's not eating. She's very ill. I have set up a quarantine tank to move her to. Just waiting for the water to heat up a bit as it's a bit too chilly right now but will be ok soon.

Aww to be honest, I don't think she's going to make it. She's just laying at the bottom of the tank curled over. I've had to cover her with a cave so the platys wouldn't pester her. It's not looking good... I feel really helpless.

 

[LucyLu]

It's died. Absolutely gutted as she was fine yesterday.

Will get some driftwood tomorrow to try and keep the PH down if indeed that was what caused the issues.... I tried driftwood before and no matter how much I soaked/scrubbed/boiled it kept on discolouring the water. Grr.

Or if I use peat, what do I do with peat and where do I get it from?

Sorry for all the questions.. I just don't want to lose another fishy.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it.

Lx

 

[Fishy friend2]

I'm sorry that that happened to you, I know what it feels like to loose a very loved fish rest in peace little fishy

 

[LucyLu]

I'm sorry that that happened to you, I know what it feels like to loose a very loved fish rest in peace little fishy

Thank u! I will wait for everything to mature and settle a bit more and then think about getting some others to add to the tank. I'm going to get some peat balls to lower the PH.

 

[Ruskull]

I'm sorry that that happened to you, I know what it feels like to loose a very loved fish rest in peace little fishy

Thank u! I will wait for everything to mature and settle a bit more and then think about getting some others to add to the tank. I'm going to get some peat balls to lower the PH.

The problem with lowering the pH is that it'll fluctuate depending on water changes. I used driftwood to lower my pH since my tap is around 7.6 or so. Believe it or not, the pH is usually lowered to around 7.0. Now whenever I do a larger water change I'm raising the pH back up. From what I've been told here & elsewhere, slightly high pH that is consistent is better than pH that changes all the time. I have a brand new bottle of API pH Down that I only used once for this reason.

Oh, and sorry for your loss. I get very attached to my fish also

 

[dconner2]

I am sorry to hear about your fish dying. Blue rams are one of my favorite fish. I just wanted to give a little advice for future fishes. I am going by your description earlier about him being curled up. Usually that is a sign of exhaustion in the fish meaning something in her water quality parameters changed. It caused stress on the fish. It could of happened days prior and might have not been noticeable. What happens in when a fish experiences a change like that it has to exert energy to help keep its body functioning normally. If it is exposed to a change in water quality for long, it can use up all its stored energy and die from exhaustion. Some fish are more sensitive than others, but its just some friendly advice for next time.