Is My Bolivian Ram Scared Or Ill?

[Lewiscouse]

Is my Bolivian ram scared or Ill?
He's sitting near the bottom in the corner, he's new to the tank today and I only have two tiger barbs?

 

[Suleika]

May be helpful if you fill out this form

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Is my Bolivian ram scared or Ill?
He's sitting near the bottom in the corner, he's new to the tank today and I only have two tiger barbs?

Rams don't do well in anything but soft, acidic and relatively warm water at about 28 or29C.

If your parameters are far from this then they are very susceptible to internal bacterial disease and can perish in a few days.

That said, tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers and general bullies, especially when in too small numbers, i.e. less than six or so.

 

[KittyKat]

Is my Bolivian ram scared or Ill?
He's sitting near the bottom in the corner, he's new to the tank today and I only have two tiger barbs?

Rams don't do well in anything but soft, acidic and relatively warm water at about 28 or29C.

This is not the case for Bolivian rams and they do, in fact, prefer cooler, neutral water.

What you say something that is often said about blue rams, but in my experience, they are not anywhere near as picky as people make them out to be.

 

[Lewiscouse]

Yeah my water is about 24c and my water is 7ph?
The tiger barbs are fine with my ram so it's not them

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Is my Bolivian ram scared or Ill?
He's sitting near the bottom in the corner, he's new to the tank today and I only have two tiger barbs?

Rams don't do well in anything but soft, acidic and relatively warm water at about 28 or29C.

This is not the case for Bolivian rams and they do, in fact, prefer cooler, neutral water.

What you say something that is often said about blue rams, but in my experience, they are not anywhere near as picky as people make them out to be.

Yes, sorry, I completely missed the Bolivian bit. I disagree about the GBRs though, in my experience they are not very hardy fish at all and generally suffer if not kept in ideal conditions.

The tiger barbs are fine with my ram so it's not them

So you're watching them 24 hours a day?

 

[Gilli]

Tiger barbs are never a very good idea in a community tank especially with anything that has longish fins. you need to keep them in a very arge group to keep the battles between themselves.

 

[Lewiscouse]

From what I've seen today they are fine, i only put him in today

 

[ZoddyZod]

If the ram has only been introduced today then simply give it more time to settle in.

Many fish will take a while to adjust to new surroundings so it could simply be time is all that's needed.

How was the fish acclimatised to the tank?

 

[Lewiscouse]

It was left in the bag dropped in the tank for 30minutes, he's moving around abit now do I will see howit goes

 

[ZoddyZod]

You didn't gradually add tank water to the bag during that time then?

 

[KittyKat]

Tiger barbs are never a very good idea in a community tank especially with anything that has longish fins. you need to keep them in a very arge group to keep the battles between themselves.

They can be ok if kept in a school (which for these guys means at least in a group of 10-15, from what I have seen).

It was left in the bag dropped in the tank for 30minutes, he's moving around abit now do I will see howit goes

I highly recommend that you drip acclimatise next time. What you describe sounds like pure temperature acclimatisation, and the lack of water parameter acclimatisation can kill fish. I recommend you read http/blog.natureaquarium.co.uk/?p=498 and http/blog.natureaquarium.co.uk/?p=561

 

[Lewiscouse]

My ram is now settled swimming around and feeding

And I'm sitting watching now and the ram definatly has the tiger barbs under control lol

 

[Prime Ordeal]

And I'm sitting watching now and the ram definatly has the tiger barbs under control lol

It'll be interesting to see how long that lasts.

 

[Lewiscouse]

He's much bigger