sick german blue ram

Hey guys, so last week I got 3 male GBRs. I noticed yesterday that one of my rams has a very dark almost grey colouring. He just sort of stays at the back of the tank and on the floor. He may come out now and then but he won't eat and his fins are slightly clamped. He is also breathing fast. All the other rams, and the other fish are all fine. Any help would be appriciated.

 

Hi FM
Maybe some pics will help as well as tank mates wc routine tank size, water parameters ..... is there not a temple for this
In the interim have a quick read, these might answer your questions


Keeping German Blue Ramirezi
German Blue Rams

A few Pics of my Ram

here it is
Identifying Disease Questionnaire

 

General
Where do you stay? Fourways
How long have you been keeping tropical fishes? 3 years
How long has the tank been running before you added fish/this fish? 2 years
What fish do you have in your Tank (type, number and size)? Angels, tetras, rams, pleco, scissortail, rainbow shark, cherry barbs.
When did you last buy any new fish? A week ago (the rams)
Which food are you feeding and how often do you feed? Tetra flakes, morning and evening.


Disease
Describe the problem that the fish is having (behaviour, breathing, excretion (droppings), food intake, colour)?
Is the fish eating? No
Has the problem occurred before?:no
Have you treated the problem and how?no
Have you had any other problems in the past?ick last week
What were they?
Did you treat for these problems?
How?turned temp up to 29C

Your aquarium & Maintenance
How big is the tank. (L x b x h)?
How many litres of water?270l
What type of filter do you run? Internal built in
What is IN the filter? Filter floss and ceramic pieces
How many litres per hour is the filter rated for? I'm not sure
How often do you clean your tank? Weekly
How do you clean your tank? Clean glass if there's algae
How much water do you take out for Water change? 25%
Do you prepare your water for water changes?How and what do you add? Yes,aquasafe
What water do you use. (Tap, bore hole, RO)? Tap
What substrate do you have? Potting soil capped with pool filter sand.
What else is in the tank (Rocks, plants, fake plants, shells, anything else)? Rocks, wood, plants
Water parameters in your aquarium
Describe the water (smell and colour)?tea colour from wood, smells normal
Temperature of the water?29C (had ick)
No test kit.

Lights
What light do you have? One actinic one cool white
How long is the light on for? 12 hours
Do you have lots of plants in the tank (real or fake)? Real
How do you fertilize the plants? Idont

I replied with my phone, I'm at sxhool so I can't post a pic either.

 

Hey @Fishie Mitchie. When did you put the potting soil in the tank and how thick is the cap? When last did you do a water change?

 

The potting soil has been in for about 2 months, all the fish were fine. The cap. Is about 4-5cm

 

When last did you do a water change? Would it be possible to get your water tested? Specifically your PH.

Also, have you noticed your other GBR's eating the Tetra Flakes? I feed mine dwarf cichlid pellets. They are quite timid when it comes to eating and will stand back and let others eat their food.

 

The last water change I did was on saturday. I'm not sure about the ph but it could possibly be too high. Also the other rams are fine at getting the flaked food so Iit's not that.

 

As you will see from the links @Khalid gave you that we have been having problems with GBR's and the Prof gave a few suggestions. One is a nice low ph of around 4-5 and a tank temp above 28 degrees. Read the links and see if that solves any of your mysteries...

 

here are some pictures of him, it's not looking very good. He also wont use his fins to swim.

 

Okay guys so i was on my way to feed my pleco some cucumber and there he was, dead on his side:sad2: (the ram). I still don't really know what was wrong with him but i did notice when i took him out that his gills were sort of swollen and red inside? is this from him breathing fast or could there have been an infection? The gill covers were also open if that makes sense, they weren't flat on his body. If this helps his colours started fading on Saturday night and that's when he stopped eating.

 

gbr are very difficult to keep. also we dont have the best quality gbr's. allot of people lost theirs. they grt sick very easily. or they look healthey and just suddenly die. dont break your head about it. still sucks to lose a fish