GBRs are dying...

[pjaldave]

So I bought 6 GBR and have sexed them well, 3 males and 3 females. I quarantined them for 3 weeks, during that time, one male died, about why, it is still unknown to me. Extremely rapid breathing, but not gasping for air and losing coloration. No ammonia, no nitrites and 10 nitrates in the QT.

So After 3 weeks of quarantine, I did put the 5 remaining GBRs into my community tank (100G) with all the other occupants. They lived well for a week, then 2 pairs spawned. Not sure of what happened to the eggs but most likely eaten, because i can't see any wigglers.

After spawning, one of the female died, she had her left pectoral fin attached to her body for a day, i did research but nothing came up. Then just today, I saw my two remaining men doing the same thing as the one died in the QT. So I think, they too will die.

Anyone experienced here knows what's happening?

Parameters in 100G:

ammonia = 0ppm
nitrites = 0ppm
nitrates = 10-20ppm
pH = 7.6
gH and kH = both at 13 degrees
temp = 28C

[ridgenesss]

Just curious, are the water parameters in your qt tank the same as your main tank? As far as ph, gh and such.

Did you drip acclimate then? I wanna say GBR's thrive in ph levels of around 5.0-7.0

[pjaldave]

Oh right, forgot to mention the params in the QT. They're all the same with pH, kH and gH. Temp was at constantly 30C for first 2 weeks and lowered it to 28 for the 3rd week to get them acclimated to the temp of my display tank.

I did drip acclimate them into the QT and into the display tank. People will tell that GBR that are bred in captivity will adapt to higher pH well.

[ScottishFish]

Rams aren't the most boisterous of fish and don't generally get to the food first. Could it be that in the 100g they aren't getting enough food and are just wasting away? What are their tank mates?

[pjaldave]

I make sure they get food by dropping a piece of algae wafers which are cut into pieces in the day and shrimp pellets before turning the lights off. So that they don't need to compete for the flakes. And yes, I see them nibbling at the food before I turn the lights off.

Tankmates are, congo tetras, cherry barbs, glowlight tetras, white skirt tetras, zebra danios, julii corys and SAEs. And, well, shrimps and Otos.

[Lady Hobbs]

awww....sorry you are losing these fish. I know how excited you were to get them, too.

[pjaldave]

i know LH... this sucks.. the thing that sucks most is I don't have any clue of what's happening to them :(

[ScottishFish]

Could they be stressed? Danios are fast fish

[pjaldave]

If they are stressed, so be the remaining females. But the females are in good shape and hovering around the tank. And they don't breathe as rapidly as the males.

I know danios are fast fish, but they stay on the top part of the tank, and the GBRs stays mostly on the mid-bottom part.

[KingFisher]

How long has the 100g been up and running? It has been my experience with GBRs that they do much better when added to well established tanks. I waited until my tank was running for 6 months before adding rams and they were very healthy and lived a long time.