Help with rams

[mak]

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?????

 

[2la]

Hexamita would be my guess as well. Given that this seems to be a pattern with your fish, you might consider quarantining all new rams for two to four weeks and treating with medicated food during that time. By the time the fish actually get sick and stop eating, it's much too late to treat with medicated foods.

 

[mak]

I haven't bought any new rams in over two 1/2 years... I just take the "next generation" from the spawns, which makes it all the more confusing... I can breed them like anything, but my adults all seem to die young.

 

[Randall]

Hexamita?

Dear Mike,

In the absence of ammonia and since your fish exhibits white, stringy feces, I'd say intestinal parasites are a pretty good guess. How are the nitrite and nitrate levels, please? I'd guess that both are low to nonexistent, if your fish are spawning regularly. Also, how much water are you changing and how often, please?

If we can assume that intestinal parasites are the culprit and that this has been an ongoing problem, perhaps treating with Metronidizole for twice the recommended term will do the trick; say, six doses over two weeks vs. three doses over one week. Given the size of your tank, perhaps your local retailer can order Metronidizole for you in bulk, otherwise six doses will be quite expensive. Treatment should be preceded and followed by a partial water change, and all carbon should be removed from the system for the medication to be effective.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[mak]

ram death watch ended

Unfortunately, I just fished the latest casualty out, after succumbing. He ended life with dropsy - just a symptom of underlying problems? Meanwhile, another pair of rams is preparing to spawn, & I've got one aggie that's just lead her pack of young out. Go figure. I'm guessing that the stress of spawning & defending territory from a pair of aggies wore down his defenses.

I've got a friendly neighborhood vet who sells me metronidazole at his cost, 250 tablets 250 mg each, so treating tanks is not a problem. I've been soaking the fish's frozen brine with the metro & been feeding all my tanks with this for the past week.

The only nitrate in the tank is what I add to fertilize the plants. I'm trying to keep it in the "detectable" range & add enough to get abt 3 ppm every couple of days. I'll admit I've not tested for nitrite in a while, since my tank is pretty well planted. (&*^%! duckweed does pretty well with 400 W of PC lighting!) I do abt 20%- 40% water change every week. The 55g growout tank in the basement does a little better on water changes, but then with a hundred juvie rams & 50 aggies, the fish load is a _little_ higher :wink:

I'll keep dosing with metro & see if I can wipe this out.