There are a few people experienced in malawi cichlids on this site unfortunately I am a beginner in Africans so my suggestion would be to surf the site and maybe trying to pm a couple of these people.
I also totally agree with Warren, however it is a pity the authorities cannot show consistency when sentencing people in other categories of crime and then maybe some punishments would not look unfair to some.
I did read about it somewhere and that it is some form of disease or lack of something but I cannot recall or find the information. ( I have looked and will try again )
I would not keep ramirez with angels I think bolivian butterfly's would be more suited.They like the same ph levels as angels,grow bigger than rams and are a lot hardier. Rams are not the easiest fish to keep. Other than bolivians I would only keep corydora's with angels.
Discus are not hard to keep but they do need good water, changed regurlarly, they do not need bb tanks, that is usually what breeders use for spawning and bringing on fry.
I suggest you take a water sample to the lfs for second opininion and make a list of EVERYTHING YES ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN THE TANK and eliminate 1 by 1 till route cause is found.
I use internal filters and sponge filters for my small tanks, external filters on my larger tanks,another option depending on budget and number of tanks is a compressor connected to under gravel/ box/sponge filters.
Do not take someone else's word that you bought a stainless steel commercial heating element and use it on your discus tank then find out it was copper underneath the coating. :evil: :evil: :evil: