- Messages
- 27
- Location
- River Falls WI
Hello everyone,
I've got a problem with my rams. I can't seem to keep adults alive past about 8 months to a year.
The symptoms - they go off their food, hang about near the top, look morose & dark for a few days, then die. This happens to individuals rather than to all of them - I've got one male who's in the morose stage right now with five other rams in the tank & the rest are OK.
This has been an ongoing problem for a couple of years. Suspecting hexamita, sometimes dosing with metronidazole works, sometimes not. (I suspect coincidence.)
The odd thing - I can't stop them from spawning. The ones I've got now are about the 5th generation from my original ones, and my LFS calls me now instead of their wholesaler when they need rams (I've got abt 150 in the basement in growout)! The particular male which looks bad spawned 6 days ago.
BTW, I've got aggies as well (also spawning regularly), and they don't have the same problem.
Tank parameters - 80 - 82 F, GH, KH abt 4 (mixed tap/RO water), pH 6.7, CO2 injection, planted 125 g tank with peat in substrate (had same problem on a 55 g). No measurable ammonia, I'm supplementing with Seachem Fe and KNO3 for the plants (targeting NO3- to 2-5 ppm). Other inhabitants right now are SAE's, ottos, a dozen neons and two pair of aggies.
Thanks for any suggestions.
mike
P.S. - I just took a look at the sick one - stringy white feces, but he's acting a little better (I'm in the 4th day of every-other-day metro treatment). Hexamita?????
I've got a problem with my rams. I can't seem to keep adults alive past about 8 months to a year.
The symptoms - they go off their food, hang about near the top, look morose & dark for a few days, then die. This happens to individuals rather than to all of them - I've got one male who's in the morose stage right now with five other rams in the tank & the rest are OK.
This has been an ongoing problem for a couple of years. Suspecting hexamita, sometimes dosing with metronidazole works, sometimes not. (I suspect coincidence.)
The odd thing - I can't stop them from spawning. The ones I've got now are about the 5th generation from my original ones, and my LFS calls me now instead of their wholesaler when they need rams (I've got abt 150 in the basement in growout)! The particular male which looks bad spawned 6 days ago.
BTW, I've got aggies as well (also spawning regularly), and they don't have the same problem.
Tank parameters - 80 - 82 F, GH, KH abt 4 (mixed tap/RO water), pH 6.7, CO2 injection, planted 125 g tank with peat in substrate (had same problem on a 55 g). No measurable ammonia, I'm supplementing with Seachem Fe and KNO3 for the plants (targeting NO3- to 2-5 ppm). Other inhabitants right now are SAE's, ottos, a dozen neons and two pair of aggies.
Thanks for any suggestions.
mike
P.S. - I just took a look at the sick one - stringy white feces, but he's acting a little better (I'm in the 4th day of every-other-day metro treatment). Hexamita?????