Something wrong with Ram

[EMdina]

Hi
I bought a new Blue Ram on Monday...he's eating and swimming just fine...acts perfectly content...however, I noticed a white poofy looking thing protruding from his underbelly...near where he poops (do fish have 'anuses'?- shows what I know about fish anatomy) )
Any ideas what this could be? Should I return him? I do not want him to contaminate the rest of my fish...
BTW- my water parameters are all right where they should be....so I know that isn't the cause...
TIA
E

 

[smb]

Could it be fungus? That might grow on scrapes of a fish and maybe he scraped himself there?

If you have a hospital tank that is cycled, I would put him in there as a precaution until we can all figure out what it is.

 

[EMdina]

I don't have anything that he could scrape himself on, I don't think...there aren't any 'sharp' edges...could it be from a 'bite'? I have another Ram that chased him around the first 2 days...he's since backed off, but he might have gotten him...Is that a possibility...
I have a 10G, but it isn't cycled...It has the rocks, and about 30% water from when I took it down a almost a month ago- just have it sitting on a shelf (trying to figure out where to put it and what to put in it)- but I don't think that would be acceptable...
I was considering taking him back...I was skeptical in buying him in the first place as I know that group had just been treated for 'ick'...This particular fs is in the process of expanding and relocating and I think they may be letting their existing tanks slip in quality...I told my husband I wasn't going to buy anything from them until they move and I'm sure they're back up to standard, but I just couldn't resist...I just love the Rams...and this little guy is beautiful...wow, I love to ramble...:
E

 

[EMdina]

I just took a closer look and it appears as though the poofy white thing is coming out from the inside...like a blockage of sorts...as opposed to being 'on' him...does that sound like anything anyone's heard of?

 

[Mogo]

Could be the beginning of a white poop? Keep on eye on his poops for the next couple days, and make sure it looks normal. I would take smb's suggestion and set him up in a hospital tank asap.

 

[Starry^]

well,
just yesterday one of our rams died, we are pretty sure he had hole in the head disease, which apparently cichlids are more prone too than other fish.
usually this at its worst stages becomes a mass of fluffy white gooey looking stuff hanging off their heads or side of their bodys or something, though fungus like this can appear anywhere on the body of a fish.
does that description match what your seeing in your fish..?
Its hard for us to tell without a picture, but if its fungus, get your fish out of the tank quick, because risk of infecting other fish is reasonbly high.. though our ram had his disease for ages and did not pass it on to our other fish,though we had moved him to a hospital tank before he started having the white fungus hanging off his body, if your fish starts breathing very rapidly and stops swimming around and stuff, you might have to put it out of its misery.
there are different ways to cure fungus and diseases of such, we use a bit of tonic salt for things like white spot and bump the temp up, which always seems to work, however if it is a bacteria, like columnaris, you need to buy something else, as salt and heat will help the bacteria spread faster.. ugh.. its so horrible I know.
I HATE when our fishies get sick
goodluck



Starry^

 

[EMdina]

stages becomes a mass of fluffy white gooey looking stuff hanging off their heads or side of their bodys or something, though fungus like this can appear anywhere on the body of a fish.
does that description match what your seeing in your fish..?

That is an exact description of what it looks like...I haven't seen him go to the bathroom, so I was wondering if he had some internal thing going on- that was coming out...but it definitely sounds like what you've just described...I am going to take him out and put him in my daughter's tank for now...she has a couple of glowlights in there...less fish and smaller tank to contaminate...that is the only option I have right now...like I said I have a 10G but it is not cycled..just sitting there with some dead funky water in it...I was going to get it running, too, so I'd have a tank to use in such a case like this...I'm such a procrastinator...
Thank you for your suggestions...I'm going to try and fix this little guy...
E

 

[Lateral Line]

Could also be an intestinal worm infestation, they frequently pop their "heads" or whatever out of the fishes anus.

 

[Starry^]

if you have a 10gallon unused tank, then use it, just fill it up with clean water making it warm and get it up to the right temp and everything, add your water dechlorinater and then put him in, we dont cycle our hospital tank if we desperately need to use it, we just make sure that the water is clean all the time, with one fish in it the ammonia and nitrates arent going to spike in an instant, and if you keep the water clean it shud be fine, saves worrying about infecting the glowlights as well, if he has got hangy off white stuff, and hes not eating and is looking pale and not swimming or anything, then hes probably going to die pretty soon, the one thing that you could buy that possibly will save him is stuff called :metronidazole, or di-metronidazole,its used for the treatment of a disease called hexamitiasis,or hexamita, otherwise known as hole in the head disease. but this isnt always proven to work , but is probably the only thing that will work if you want to save him.
we tryed salt firstly and it didnt do anything for our ram.it was then too late to try the metronidazole. he suffered horribly, and we had to put an end to it although it sounds horrific and horrible, its the kindest thing to do.
my boyfriend put him in a plastic bag and banged him very hard against a wall. quick and painless.
goodluck EMdina



Starry^

 

[EMdina]

I will use the 10G then...thanks so much...he is still swimming, eating, and his color is excellent...so, hopefully, I've caught it in time...I have salt; is that what I should try first and how much should I use?
Thanks again....
E

 

[Starry^]

I recommend salt, for fungus, adding 2 teaspoons of aquarium salt per 10litres, and bumping your temp up to say 26c.dissolving the salt first in a small amount of water before adding it to the aquarium.

However the only problem is that, if the condition is not fungus and is a bacteria, the higher temp and salt could make it worse by helping the bacteria to multiply quicker.
The condition which our ram had was a bacteria, and though we didnt get the chance to try it, the metronidazole would have been the best bet.
Its very hard to diagnose these things as fungus and columnaris bacteria look very similar.
because it is on his stomach, I am thinking it is fungus, try the salt for a couple of days, if it gets worse or doesnt look any better after that, I recommend doing a full water change to get rid of the salt and then trying the metronidazole.
(will have all the directions for use on the bottle.)
asking for a 'hole in the head' disease treatment, if your not too sure what to look for at the store.
if the salt works.. it was fungus. I hope it does



goodluck, I hope this has helped and your fishie gets better

Starry^

 

[EMdina]

Thank you!!!

 

[Starry^]

Anytime



Starry^