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Whats wrong with my GBR tail?

clambert122

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I like many others have been trying my hand at German Blue Rams, and have been mostly failing.

2 of 4 have died for no reason I can find, and this one looks to be on the chopping block.

But his tail looks all clumped and stuck together.

The top of his dorsal is kind of whitish, but it doesnt seem like ick exactly. Its hard to get a shot of him because he just wont stand still for a selfie. There seems to be some white coloring that wasnt there at the back of the fin.

Just did a water test


Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5.0
PH - 7.6
water hardness level of 148 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg


Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 

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It has fin rot, which is normally caused by a dirty tank and or ammonia, nitrite levels that burn the fins and allow bacteria into the wound.

--------------------
How often and how do you clean the tank?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

How often and how do you clean the filter?

--------------------
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

If there's no improvement after a few days with salt then look for a broad spectrum fish medication that treats bacteria and fungus.

--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
 
It has fin rot, which is normally caused by a dirty tank and or ammonia, nitrite levels that burn the fins and allow bacteria into the wound.

--------------------
How often and how do you clean the tank?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

How often and how do you clean the filter?

--------------------
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

If there's no improvement after a few days with salt then look for a broad spectrum fish medication that treats bacteria and fungus.

--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.


That seems weird. As he's the only one out of over 30 fish in the tank showing an issue.

I change out 6 gallons a day, 35 gallons a week, 140 gallons a month in a 150 gallon tank. I have bumped it up to do 30 gallons a day for the time being.

The filter is a sump, and I rinse the media every couple weeks in tank water. I have 2 power heads creating a good amount of surface turbulence.

The substrate does not get vacuumed as per recommendations I have gotten here. Its a planted tank.

Because I am doing almost a 100% water change every month, I have live plants, and a fairly decent clean up crew in 2 phantom plecos, 4 corycats, 5 khuli loaches, and an assortment of mystery / trumpet snails, it was recommended not to vacuume.

As far as I can figure, my tank is pretty immaculate in terms of water condition though.

And as I stated, Ammonia and Nitrites are 0.

I do have some nitrates ( 5.0 ) due to being a planted tank, and plant food. ( Seachem Flourish )

The inside of the tank glass gets cleaned at least once a week, usually twice.
 
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