[athensfish]

My female blue ram developed a weird growth on her right lower fin in 2 days. Now she has stopped eating and I don't know what it is to treat it. Any suggestions? Picture is fuzzy but look at the blob on the lower fin. It is very bloody looking also.

The water parameters are o nitrate, nitrite, ammonia. Temp 83F, pH 7

 

[nonyabiz]

It sounds like a fungus/infection. IS she still alive? Fish dont seem to last long if not treated right away. i would use primafix and melafix (not sure of exact spelling of the two products) combo to treat. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Guest]

Yikes! Looks like either an ulcer or gas bubble disease.. i can't really tell very well from the pic, honestly.

wait... all your parameters are at 0? in a cycled tank there's no way nitrate would be at anything less than 20. is the tank cycled?

i would recomend lots of water changes for now, no doubt about that. as for treating it, whatever it is, well i'm not an expert on ailments such as these so somebody else with a little more expeirance hopefully will help you with that.

 

[Shotgun]

can you give us an update on him?

try raising the temp a little more. It may ward off or kill any other pathogens in the water. do 25% water changes every other day and vaccuum the gravel when you do your waterchanges.

Keep us posted.

 

[athensfish]

Unfortunately my little fish died the same day I posted the picture. It was so fast. Both of the blue rams I got from the store that batch developed weird growths. One on the side and one on the picture you saw. They both were fine for a few days and then grew the weird spots rapidly. I had melafix in the water when I first put them in the Q tank and left the temp at 83F. I know I should not get fish from that store but they are the only ones locally that have any available. I just still don't know what it was. It didn't look like fungus. Gas bubble disease I never heard of but I can definitely see that it could look like that.

KillzKayZ-Both of my tanks always have 0 nitrates even though they are cycled...I have lots of plants so I have to add extra fertilizers to have any nitrate show up at all and then only for a few hours until the plants use it up. I think it is normal for planted tanks to not have detectable nitrates.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I guess I will not be attempting to get my poor male blue ram a friend anytime soon unless I can find a better place to buy them.

 

[nonyabiz]

i got all my fish from stores for the same rasons as you. Just check all the fish in the tank and ask when did they arrive. If they just arrived wait for at least four days before buying. Then you an see the fishes health in the tank and see if any are dead in tank too. This isnt 100% to insure a good fish purchase but it does help a little. Dont let it discourage you from getting your male a mate. Sorry to hear about the loss.

 

[star_rider]

your best bet when getting new fish is to QT the new fish.

I keep sponges in established tank filters to be able to keep new fish in a safe QT tank.

there are many reasons for this but the easiest explanation is to keep an eye on the new fish. and allow it sometime to adjust before moving it in with the general population. Another reason is the obvious.. prevent spread of disease.
I am sorry to hear you lost the ram. they are terrific fish and when adults will display amazing colors.
I usually avoid getting fish from local fish stores and prefer to find local breeders.

hang in there and good luck.
don't give up on rams.