Hi

When I came home from work I noticed my blue ram with a swollen vent andwhat I thought looked like eggs inside. There was also something string like attached. When I looked again 20 minutes later the vent was back to normal and I can't see any eggs anywhere.

If it weren't eggs, what was it?

was the string white??

sounds like a bad poo to me.

if white and stingy could be the first signs of something nasty

or could be nothing at all

doesn't sound like eggs to me.

Was a white string, yes.

All looks ok now. Will keep an eye on it

http://youtu.be/UcJDY2sB-MQ

interesting lil video, might help you, if not still cool to watch

Congratulations, your fish pooped.

Thanks for video. Beautiful fishies.

I am not seeing that behaviour so must have been something completely different.

@Ira, funny response. If that was a poop, I have never seen a fish dump like that before... :lol:

if white and stingy could be the first signs of something nasty

Hmmmm, Ram doesn't look to well two days on.

It is mainly sitting just under water surface and it seems to be breathing a bit harder.

It is not eating either. Usually Ram grabs food out of my hand.

Other fish appear to behave normal although I am not sure about my bristlenose.

He appears to be more in the open and not move around as much. His breathing appears to be higher too.

Anything I can do to right now as a precautionary measure??

possibility of parasitic infection, or in worst case scenario mycobacteria.

check all your water parameters, increase water changes and pretty much try and get your system 100% healthy, the fish's immune systems should be up to the job if its early enough. also make sure your water movement is up to scratch (blocked filter?) and that your heater is preforming properly.

Also just as an extra precaution wear gloves in the tank as mycobacteria can infect humans causing annoying sores that don't heal properly (im sure im not the only poor sod here who's dealt with it)

The stringy white poo is one of the possible first signs of a myco infection (strangely enough it is not listed in these two articles)

but to show you how hard it is to diagnose myco have an informative read

http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Myco.htm

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/mycobacteria

only way to deal with it is to improve your water quality and cross your fingers

Hell, that is scary stuff.

I just did a waterchange yesterday. I do one a week normally.

Should I do daily ones or every few days?

I did test my Ph and that was alright. Have no means of testing other parameters right now.

Thanks for all your help :-)

yeah it is a bit scary, but easier if you focus on the fact that over 80% of fish are infected without ever showing signs.

doesn't hurt to do more water changes.

your LFS should provide free water testing, or you could get a master test kit for around $50

make sure you get pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, hardness is really optional if you are tight for $$$, but useful if you can get it

Just did a water change and noticed something on one of my neons.

I think this may be neon disease. Any thoughts?

I have taken him out of the tank and place him in a small tank.

Not sure if I should put him to rest or not?

The ram is not doing much. Pretty much lifeless...

is that a faded spot on its side? (can't tell if there is any fuzzy stuff on it)

yeah you did the right thing, quarantine will protect your other fish, and also when an infected fish dies the pathogens normally leave the host and hunt for a new victim. keep an eye on him, and note down how the disease progresses, this will help you with a positive id on whats going on in your tank

it seems to be a faded spot on the fish. Don't think it is ulcer like

Last time I checked there was no fuzzy growth on it.

I guess there is nothing I can do and the neon will just die?

I haven't spotted anything on other neons but what I did notice was that they stayed in one spot.

This is unusual for neons IMO. Anyway, since removing the other neon they started swimming around again.

Is it somehow possible that they sense the other one may be ill?

cheers

What is it with blue rams???

I tried to keep them but they showed similar symptoms then died.

I am starting to wonder if they like really mature tanks perhaps?

Good luck with yours.

How are your rams going?, i had mine for about 2 1/2 years and breed mine many times then one day my female did something similar to yours and and died a couple of weeks later