Why Are Rams So Hard To Look After?!

[Jay-93]

I have a community tank and the last 6 fish to die have all been rams!

3 Gold Rams
2 German Rams
1 Electric Blue Ram

Tonight, a female Gold ram is panting very heavily and I can't imagine it being alive this time tomorrow. I'll only have one Gold Ram left.

Water is 6.8ph and 82f. Can anyone give advice?!

 

[Man of fish]

I may not be helping but a quick google search (or others) can confirm this but I think rams need a higher ph than that. I'm going to google it and check.

 

[Jay-93]

Thanks I thought with them being cichlids, a PH between 6 and 7 would be okay..

 

[Man of fish]

I may not be helping but a quick google search (or others) can confirm this but I think rams need a higher/lower ph than that. I read on google gbr s like the ph around 5-6 and couldn't really find info on the others.

Oops I hit reply instead of edit ....

 

[C.J.]

I don't have much experience with rams, but my friend does. They're picky with their water conditions. The pH can vary with them a little, but isn't as important as water hardness. What's your gH and kH?

 

[Jay-93]

Would that be in the wild? I've heard captive bred fish from that region (such as discus) have become more resilient to PH parameters.

I don't have much experience with rams, but my friend does. They're picky with their water conditions. The pH can vary with them a little, but isn't as important as water hardness. What's your gH and kH?

Sorry, I don't have a kit to measure those

 

[onidrase]

All of those rams are basically German Blue Rams. Your pH is fine, they actually prefer pH below 7, not what man of fish suggested.

Being german blue rams (the gold and electric blue are just color variants) they are very very fragile to water conditions. You need to not only look at pH, but also your ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and water hardness. Even the slightest amount of ammonia or nitrite in the tank can cause big issues. How long has the tank been running for? How large is it?

I'd also look to make sure that none of the other rams are picking on the one that is struggling.

 

[sovereign]

I would suspect a protozoan infection on the fishes gills especially if they dont have finrot or fungus and if their are fine threadlike mucus strands coming out of one or both gills.especially if you have lost 6 fish so quickly 24/36 hours period.
secondly if they are panting out of 1 gill only and not flaring both gills it may be a gillfluke infection like small worms that dig into fishes gills. you would need a protazoan medication if if it is the first problem, or gill fluke worming medication if it is the second. sorry to hear about your losses and good luck

 

[Jay-93]

I would suspect a protozoan infection on the fishes gills especially if they dont have finrot or fungus and if their are fine threadlike mucus strands coming out of one or both gills.especially if you have lost 6 fish so quickly 24/36 hours period.
secondly if they are panting out of 1 gill only and not flaring both gills it may be a gillfluke infection like small worms that dig into fishes gills. you would need a protazoan medication if if it is the first problem, or gill fluke worming medication if it is the second. sorry to hear about your losses and good luck

Sorry, I wasn't very clear with my original post. These have been the last 2 months, I've lost 6 fish in that time (all rams).

She is gasping through both gills, lights are all off now. She is laid on the sand, upright. She isn't being bothered by anything.

 

[jacko32]

how often do you change the water and are you using water conditioner
whats the tank size and what other fish do you have in with them
the pH is fine rams like soft acidic water below 7.0 should be fine
there also extremely sensitive to nitrate

 

[onidrase]

How often do you do water changes? do you use any live plants? How big is the tank? How long has it been running?

 

[Jay-93]

The Tank has been running roughly 14-15 months now. The dimensions are 4ft x 12" x 15"

Having discus in the tank I tend to do a 20-30% change every 2 days. I use RO water occasionally, but usually tap water because it is 6.8 here. I use no chemicals, and I have about 8 pieces of bogwood.

 

[elsamarie]

I have 2 electric blue rams (male & female) our pH is 7.6 and water hardness around 15 ... the shop I bought them from said they would be fine and the have been bred and raised in local conditions (we are Lincolnshire so knowing our water is hard I specifically asked at shop whether they would be ok). We have now had them 4 months and they appear to be going strong ... they show excellent colours and they are so friendly, they always come up to the glass to see you.

 

[moochy13]

bolivian rams are a lot more tolerant than any other rams.

 

[Tizer]

fussy fish, tiz why i just admire them in the shop and not my own tank.