Bolivian ram help fast please!

**Gouramifreak42** · 06-12-2012, 08:39 PM

One of my two bolivian rams is dying and I do not know why, while the other ram is the picture of health! It's floating on the bottom, fins moving rapidly, while its dorsal fin is completely down. It also appears to have lost all it's color, it is a faded gray color. It's mouth Is also gasping rapidly. What could be wrong?

**ScottishFish** · 06-12-2012, 09:47 PM

What's your water parameters? Is your tank cycled?

I suggest you do an immediate 75% water change to give you more time to figure it out. Do this then post back on all the details, tank size, tank mates, maintenance routine, feeding, water parameters, how long tanks been running etc then we can try and figure it out

**escamosa** · 06-13-2012, 07:22 AM

I agree with Scotti. We need to know all of what he has asked for, plus we need to know how the tank is set up, and if what you have is one female and one male, or two males. I'm not too concerned about aggression if it's two females, but two males and sometimes one male and one female in the same tank isn't a good combination. At the moment, without knowing what Scotti has asked for, I would guess that you could be having some aggression issues, since your other Bolivian is ok.

**Gouramifreak42** · 06-13-2012, 02:53 PM

I did the water change and tested the water. Everything seems normal, and the tank is a 29 gallon with another Bolivian ram, two German rams, an angelfish, a gourami, a rainbow shark, a polka dot loach, and a rubber lip pleco. No one bothers anybody in my tank, but I do think I have two males. I feed them every other day, change the water 25% every week, and change the filter cartridges every month. I have a penguin 350 biowheel filter. The tank is set up with plenty of hiding spaces and territory space.

However, the Bolivian ram seems normal now, it's swimming around fine. I don't know what the heck Is up with it. I was gone for 6 days though, and I put one of those 7 day feeder blocks in. Could eating that be a problem?

**AquaCats** · 06-13-2012, 03:03 PM

IMO, the tank is way too small to have two ram species. Those are going to compete for territory. That's pushing it with the Angel, too. And the shark.

Why are you feeding every other day? Also, the dietary requirements of your cichlids are going to be different than that of your loach/shark. They require a more vegetable diet (algae). Are you providing that? Along those lines, I've had no problem with feeder blocks and my rams during trips, so I wouldn't say that.

My guess is that it's aggression. I know you said territory is not an issue, keeping that many rams in one tank, and two males of the same species is a problem. The species you have in there are incompatible.

**Gouramifreak42** · 06-13-2012, 03:31 PM

Okay, if the species are Incompatible, what should I do if rehoming is not an option? And buying another tank is not an option as well? And I do give the rams an algae tablet every other day. They love it! It's just strange, no one ever bothers anyone in my tank.

**AquaCats** · 06-13-2012, 05:22 PM

I don't know what to suggest if you don't have another place to put them. It may not be the problem at all. My rams rarely bother each other, either, but even in a 75 gallon, I still occasionally see nipping and chasing (and that's with male/female pairs). I'm just guessing. How old is the ram? Could it be that it's just his time to go?

**imma24** · 06-13-2012, 05:49 PM

How long have all these fish been sharing a tank? I agree, that certainly is a lotta fish for that sized tank - some will outgrow the tank too.

**ScottishFish** · 06-13-2012, 06:41 PM

I know you said your water parameters are 'fine', but fine to some people is not to others so specific readings would be better

The simple route of the problem is this; Your tank is way overstocked, your Ram is stressed to the max and there will be some serious aggression issues.

If nothing is done then you will end up with specific dead/injured fish or diseases like whitespot due to overly stressed individual fish, like your ram.

My best advice is get on the phone to a petshop and see about rehoming some fish. Maybe not the answer you wanted but its one that will solve the problems.