trippa02 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Hey guys, Over the past week and a bit my blue ram has gone a funny darker colour and doesn't seem to be as active as it usually is. Any help here would be greatly appreciated as to what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serenitynow Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Hey - poor fish, eh? Does he look a bit chunkier than usual - he looks chubby but my eyes are shot from too much bas OK - here's some questions to give a better idea of what it may be. Water - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph & temp - give us numbers How long has it been up and running? Water changes - how often, how much and what you put in and how you do it. How old is he & how long you had him? Has he been doing the wild thing - ie breeding? Poo - whats it like? Eating - is he & what do you feed? Energy - whats he doing - is he listless, on the top, in the corner? Other tank mates - who, and how long you had them? Changes in tank - moved it around, introduced anything recently? Treated for anything in the tank recently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 yes i know a guy who did buy crap loads of these little guys and most changed colour and died ..and yepo roo from BAYFISH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trippa02 Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Does he look a bit chunkier than usual - he looks chubby but my eyes are shot from too much bas - Yes slightly a lil bit bigger but not much bigger Water - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph & temp - ammonia is 0, nitrite is at 80, nitrate is 0, ph level is neutral and temp is between 26 to 27 degrees How long has it been up and running - The tanks been running for 2 and a bit months now Water changes - I've changed 40% of the water once since i've had it going How old is he & how long you had him - We've had him for 1 month and and he is not that old at all we got him a few weeks after he taken to the pet shop from the breeder Has he been doing the wild thing - No not breeding just swimming in the tank, no unuasual behaviour apart from in the last 2 weeks started to slow down and change colour and go quiet Poo - No idea Eating - is he & what do you feed? I feed all the fish flake food and frozen blood worms Energy - whats he doing - is he listless, on the top, in the corner? He is now sitting quietly in the plants Other tank mates - who, and how long you had them? ok I have 2x opaline gouramis, 5x dwarf gouramis, 4x clown loachs ( which have white spot atm), 2x ghost knives, 4x Chilli barbs, about 11x rummy noses, 2x guppies ( which were the test fish for that week after we had the tank running to see if its suitable for more fish), and 3x blue rams including the sick one. Changes in tank - moved it around, introduced anything recently? added 5 more rummy noses in the past weeks Treated for anything in the tank recently? Just white spot which seems to pop up a bit in this tank and i dont know why.. Thats all i know at the moment if you need anymore info just msg me and I'll tell you what i know thank you for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie123 Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Water - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph & temp - ammonia is 0, nitrite is at 80, nitrate is 0, ph level is neutral and temp is between 26 to 27 degrees If your test results are correct and your nitrites are at 80ppm and 0 Nitrates your tank is not cycled or its taken a massive mini cycle for some reason. I am surprised any fish are alive in that tank with those readings. You need a massive water change immediately and then you need to sort out your filtration and work out why after over 2 months your tank has not fully cycled. Even if you put the results back to front and you do have 0 Nitrites but Nitrates at 80ppm that is still toxic to your fish which means you are not doing enough water changes. Most cichlids can handle Nitrates up to around 50ppm before it starts to effect them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serenitynow Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Hey trippa - glad you posted this - was going to reply again your pm, but now others more experienced than me will be able to assist. In addition to what aussie has advised I would also suggest that in future you commit to weekly water changes - 25 - 30%. As aussie said your tank is suffering from nitrite poisoning and you need a massive water change. You may have to do small ones every second day until nitrites are reading 0 I would also suggest that you purchase a bio booster - seachem stability, or aquasonic have a good range too. This will assist your tank in cycling. Also ensure that all new water is heated and treated with a good conditioner - I use Prime and find it great. Are you medicating whole tank for white spot or are sick ones isolated? What size is your tank? What filtration have you got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trippa02 Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Ok I just did a 40% water change and re-tested the water, nitrite is now at 40ppm and everything else is 0 and neutral. temperature is at 26 degrees. As for what type of conditioner I use, i was given this stuff from the aquarium at stafford called Biotec - Amtrite Down. The tank size is 230ltr its a 2ft by 2ft by 2ft cube. The clown loachs with white spot I separated them into another tank and I'm treating them separatly. Another thing I forgot to mention that I've added lately is that flourish by seachem kit that helps your plants grow and keeps them looking green, theres the excel, iron, the gravel tabs and this other stuff in the kit that u add twice a week. Since the blue ram got sick i haven't used this stuff apart from the gravel cubes. The filter system I'm running is an aquaone 1000 filter with a seachem active carbon packet in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie123 Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Nitrites at 40ppm is deadly still to fish,infact any reading of nitrites no matter how much is toxic to fish. If you have another tank some where i would be moving those fish immediately until you sort that tank out and get it back under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trippa02 Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Just to let you all know the tank is back under control and my lil bubba blue ram is coming back to colour she looks like she will recover well. I went out and bought seachem - Prime and stability control which seemed to get my bio back up and well and remove the nitrite readings down, I'm also replacing my active carbon in my filter system. Thank you to aussie and serenity now for helping me out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie123 Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Good to hear its all going good now. Glad to help. Lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serenitynow Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Good to hear she is on the mend - you've done well to save her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briztoon Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 G'day trippa02, Glad to here that your rams are recovering. Just would like to make a quick of observation. Activated carbon has a good reputation for removing impurities form your aquariums water. However it has a limited lifespan. Once the activated carbon has been exhuasted (having reached full saturation from impurities absorbed from your aquariums water) it can actually start releasing toxins back into your aquarium. Many people use Purigen made by Seachem instead now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
