Pick-me-up Medication

[Nosnibor]

Hi everybody ,

I have a Dutch Ram who's really feeling under the weather, I have checked my water composition for all the main levels and all is at zero apart from Nitrate which is basically at my tap level as we did a large pcw last night.

He's been feeling like this for about 4 days now and he has lost all his beautiful colours

My question is, surely there must be a small medication pick-me-up for fish that aren't feeling too good. I have gone over his condition with the lfs who are usually very good (I didn't get any response on here you see) and all he said was that there was nothing I could do, then waffled on about me buying a £50 tank and some mollies and cycling the tank with them what the hell, so I ended the conversation and reverted back to my trusty fishforum

Anyway all my other fish are feeling fine, the female Ram was having the same symptoms a couple of weeks ago but pulled through after a couple of days but this guy doesn't look too good. I have him quarantined in a breeding net tank.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

Martin

 

[The-Wolf]

there are such things and if you want to spend your money on them then look for
King british general tonic or tetrameciac general tonic.

I would say however that you should check your water parameters first to see if there is something amiss there

 

[Nosnibor]

there are such things and if you want to spend your money on them then look for
King british general tonic or tetrameciac general tonic.

I would say however that you should check your water parameters first to see if there is something amiss there

Cheers Wolf,

I've checked my water: pH 8.0 (always been that) / Ammonia 0.0 / Nitrite 0.0 / Nitrate 25mg (tap water level).

Is it really worth getter the other test kits like for water hardness etc...?

So is the King British general tonic and Tetrameciac general tonic worth it? Does it work well and are they easy to get?

Cheers
PS Is there a simple reason why the Ram is gasping constantly, do you know the reasns why? I mean like what's the connection with feeling ill.

Martin

 

[@ombomb]

How long have you had the fish?

They really don't thrive in a ph greater than 7, most fish seem to adapt fine, but IME rams are rather more fragile than most fish

 

[Lynda B]

How long have you had the fish? Any possibility that the fish is getting old? If that's not the case, and as has been suggested, your water is fine, then you might want to look into a compatability chart and see what "buddies" this little guy might require. Maybe his neighborhood just isn't right.....

 

[Nosnibor]

How long have you had the fish?

They really don't thrive in a ph greater than 7, most fish seem to adapt fine, but IME rams are rather more fragile than most fish

I've had the fish in there now for about 6 to 7 weeks. I'm actually looking at getting a CO2 system (Hydor CO2 Green NRG Exclusive System) so that should lower the pH I hope.

Since I've had the Ram quarantined in the Net Tank in the aquarium I have noticed that he hasn't pooped at all, he's been in there since yesterday afternoon. I was thinking about getting:

King British Revitaliser Tonic
• Revitaliser Tonic is a blend of liquified salts & is a fast acting solution for fish suffering from constipation or perceived swim bladder problems
• It also stimulates the internal osmosis stabilising mechanism of fish, flushing the skin & scales of excess body slime & surface discomfort
• Regular use of Revitaliser Tonic helps to keep fish healthy & stress free, enabling them to better keep disease organisms at bay with their own immune systems
For use in Tropical & Coldwater Aquariums

What do you think?
I've also seen:

Vitazin
Multi-vitamin supplement

Vitazin is a blend of vitamins and amino acids, which stimulate good health, disease resistance and convalescence.
Vitazin is also high is B12 which combats anorexia in all fish. Vitazin can be used in conjunction with SeaGreen, to increase the plankton count and the growth of macro algae in seawater aquaria and to boost the vitamin content of all seawater and brackish water, tropical freshwater, coldwater and pond foods.

Uses
Encourages a healthy appetite
Encourages good skeletal and scale growth
Replaces vitamins in the aquarium water
Shortens the recovery time after an infection

Do these sound anygood? Still looking for others.

Cheers

Martin

 

[Lynda B]

What are you currently feeding?

The general rule of thumb is never to add more chemicals to a tank than you absolutely need to.

 

[Nosnibor]

B)-->QUOTE(Lynda B @ Jul 9 2007, 11:05 AM) [snapback]1684234[/snapback]
How long have you had the fish? Any possibility that the fish is getting old? If that's not the case, and as has been suggested, your water is fine, then you might want to look into a compatability chart and see what "buddies" this little guy might require. Maybe his neighborhood just isn't right..... [/quote]

Thanks Lynda,

All his buddies are in my signature, I did loads of research before I introduced that chaps and got a lot of advice, basically they all said that it would be fine.

The only bully was the female Bristlenose 'Suzy', but after about 4 weeks of being bullied about the male Bristlenose 'Dan' had enough and stood for it no more

The other small issue is the male Pearl Gourami who is selfish and refuses to show off his beauty, he hides a lot you see. So I am coaxing him out slowly and sitting in front of the aquarium whilst working (like I am now) so he gets use to it, it seems to be working but it is very time consuming

Martin

 

[Lynda B]

Some fish are real nosy and want to be around us. Others really like to keep to themselves. I just got some zebra danios for my tank and, like I was told would happen, all of a sudden, the red eye tetras have come out of hiding. Kind of strange how that works, but it does.

Good luck to you!

 

[Nosnibor]

B)-->QUOTE(Lynda B @ Jul 9 2007, 11:07 AM) [snapback]1684238[/snapback]
What are you currently feeding?

The general rule of thumb is never to add more chemicals to a tank than you absolutely need to.[/quote]

That's sounds like sound advice

I was looking in to getting and setting up a hospital tank before adding the pick-me-ups. We are feeding them Nutrafin Max flake food and TetraPro Colour, we also bought for a little change for them Nutrafin Max Complete Micro Granules for the small ones in case they miss out but they didn't like them.

Martin

 

[Lynda B]

Do you ever feed live foods, like brine shrimp and bloodworms? Mine go crazy over them. I only feed them a few times a week, as a treat because they are very fatty and rich. You might want to try that to perk up your little guy.

 

[Nosnibor]

B)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lynda B @ Jul 9 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]1684243[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Some fish are real nosy and want to be around us. Others really like to keep to themselves. I just got some zebra danios for my tank and, like I was told would happen, all of a sudden, the red eye tetras have come out of hiding. Kind of strange how that works, but it does.

Good luck to you! [/quote]

OMG how strange, I find it all so fascinating. We first got only a pair of Pearl Gouramis but only the female was coming out, so after about a month we introduced two more sexy looking females for the male but I think he is either gay or a nocturnal lover

The large female Pearl was a little aggressive when we first ontroduced the new girls, but now she is like a mother and they follow her around as she teaches them about the way of life

I introduced a Bamboo Shrimp just over a week ago to add a little more excitment to the aquarium, he was out for the first couple of days but now is in hinding a lot I've been told that he is either going through his molting period or is in cahoots with the male Pearl.

Martin
PS The two Pearl Gouramis (a few weeks ago), I was hinding and waiting with my camera and a 150mm lens just to get photos of him. They're a little bigger now.

B)-->QUOTE(Lynda B @ Jul 9 2007, 11:17 AM) [snapback]1684247[/snapback]
Do you ever feed live foods, like brine shrimp and bloodworms? Mine go crazy over them. I only feed them a few times a week, as a treat because they are very fatty and rich. You might want to try that to perk up your little guy.[/quote]

Ah, I have a frozen food mix that I give them every Sunday morning as a treat. I haven't looked in to the treat foods much so that's why I bought the mixed one.

Martin

 

[Lynda B]

beautiful fish....

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i would think your priorities would be (in this order)

1 - lower your pH, i'd recommend adding peat to the filter, i think 8 is a touch high for rams which are not always very adaptable
2 - maintain immaculate water conditions, twice weekly water changes for now should help
3 - research rams specific feeding requirements and introduce a greater variety of foods to them, live, frozen, vegetation etc

IMHO there is not a lot of 'general ailments' that can't be fixed by a really good diet and sparkling clean water. It should always be first port of call if a fish looks unwell but exhibts no specific symptoms.

i would be tempted to try picking up some RO water from an lfs and re-mineralise it to a lower pH and the nitrates will be considerably lower. see if it makes a difference.

 

[Nosnibor]

i would think your priorities would be (in this order)

1 - lower your pH, i'd recommend adding peat to the filter, i think 8 is a touch high for rams which are not always very adaptable
2 - maintain immaculate water conditions, twice weekly water changes for now should help
3 - research rams specific feeding requirements and introduce a greater variety of foods to them, live, frozen, vegetation etc

IMHO there is not a lot of 'general ailments' that can't be fixed by a really good diet and sparkling clean water. It should always be first port of call if a fish looks unwell but exhibts no specific symptoms.

i would be tempted to try picking up some RO water from an lfs and re-mineralise it to a lower pH and the nitrates will be considerably lower. see if it makes a difference.

Thank you Miss W,

I'll go out soon and pick up some Fluval Peat for the filter and I'll check with them about te RO water.

I've been looking in to getting a CO2 system for the plants, I understand that the pH will drop with that, is that quite effective?

Martin