My new fish is alive but not moving

[Chelsealynn]

We have just set up a tropical fish tank, we have 2 orange headed blue rams.
Only had them roughly 1 week after letting the tank cycle and ensuring the water was safe before getting them
Yesterday we got home to find 1 of them stuck behind the filter, once moved he was fine. Today getting home he was lying on the floor on its side but still alive and when moved does swim a little but like he has no energy. Not really sure what’s happening as this is our first time owning tropical fish.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[FishFinatic77]

Have you noticed any bloating? If you look at him from above when he is upright, do his scales stick out like a pine cone? If they do, then he has dropsy which is almost always fatal. You can try feeding him some blanched and shelled peas. If he doesn't eat them, you can try soaking them in garlic. Good luck!

 

[utahfish]

What are your water parameters, temp, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, GH KH

 

[seangee]

Do an immediate 75% water change using dechlorinated water of roughly the same temp as your tank. Keep some of the water in a bucket and test for ammonia and nitrite. then post the results here. If you do not have the test kits for those do a 75% water change every day until you are able to test those parameters.

This is always the best first response to any fish issues, nevertheless once we know the test results we can advise further.

 

[CryptFan]

Since the tank was not properly cycled, the conditions are probably out of whack. @Byron

 

[Chelsealynn]

Have you noticed any bloating? If you look at him from above when he is upright, do his scales stick out like a pine cone? If they do, then he has dropsy which is almost always fatal. You can try feeding him some blanched and shelled peas. If he doesn't eat them, you can try soaking them in garlic. Good luck!

No there was no bloating, unfortunately it didn’t last more than another hour. Thank you though

 

[Chelsealynn]

Do an immediate 75% water change using dechlorinated water of roughly the same temp as your tank. Keep some of the water in a bucket and test for ammonia and nitrite. then post the results here. If you do not have the test kits for those do a 75% water change every day until you are able to test those parameters.

This is always the best first response to any fish issues, nevertheless once we know the test results we can advise further.

Yes we tested the levels last night and they do seem to be quite high now. Not sure where we went wrong or why they are suddenly so high. Would our best bet be to still do a 75% water change? Thank you.

 

[Essjay]

Assuming you mean ammonia and nitrite, the reason they went so high is because the tank was not cycled before you put the fish in. Letting the tank run is not cycling, I'm afraid. Here is a link on how to cycle a tank

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Since you still have one of the fish, you cannot use this method now ( though it does explain well what cycling is), so you need test every day and do a water change whenever you have a reading for ammonia or nitrite above zero.
Getting live plants would also help as plants take up ammonia as fertiliser and they don't turn it into nitrite. Floating plants are especially good at this.



Rams are quite delicate fish, so any ammonia and/or nitrite in the water will quickly make them sick. They also have particular requirements - they need soft acidic water and warmer water than most fish, which does make choosing tank mates a bit tricky.
Do you have hard or soft water? You give your location as Walsall, and your water company would seem to be South Staffs? If it is, look at the attached table and tell us what is in the CaCO3 mg/l and Degrees (German) columns for your location. [WA is Walsall; BB is Walsall Wood]
The water needs to be around 28 deg C for rams; if it's lower than that I suggest you turn the heater up slowly.

 

[Byron]

I agree with other members who have suggested this is a cycling issue most likely.

Moving ahead once you have dealt with this (do the major water changes Colin advised, and read the info essjay linked) before you get any more fish research the species so you know their requirements. Unfortunately most fish stores lack knowledgeable staff when it comes to fish species and requirements, and different fish have very different needs when it comes to water parameters (hardness, pH and temperature) as well as other things like numbers for sholaing species, etc. Two rams for example are likely to be trouble, but we can go into this later once the immediate problem is resolved.

 

[raone]

My guess is your fish are dieing from Ammonia poisioning, I would recommenced doing a 90% water change straight away, you are in a fish in cycle so will need to do plenty of huge water changes to keep the fish you still have alive, use warm water to match the water temp as much as you can.