camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I started with 5 rams, now I have one. no signs of any dead fish in or around the tank. stocked with guppies and some small plecos.good lids that are on all the time except for water change day.anyone have any ideas on what has happened to them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 What type of rams Cam? As you probably know blue rams are notoriously hard to keep alive, and once a fish dies it doesn't take long for them to decompose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 ummm Blue? I have no idea of the type that they are, but they look diffrent to all the ones that I have seen around town recently. I would of thought if it had dided and decompsed I would of smelt or seen something, but there has been no signs of that at all. And I had no idea that they are hard to keep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I haven't heard of anyone managing to keep them alive longer than a year in NZ. Too overbred they reckon. I have 12 growing at the moment and from what I have read online they require even more care than discus and practically the same conditions e.g. high temp, low current and pristine water conditions. Also when doing water changes they should be smaller and more frequent than usual, I do about 20% every 2 days and keep tank temperature around 28c. I will upload photos of mine in the next few days once I find a new psu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Interesting, tank sits around 26.5 and it gets about 25% at least once a week sometimes twice or more if I am doing work in there and remember. If they dont live very long, why on earth do so many people want them so badly? $30 odd bucks for a fish that lasts less than a year does not sound like value for money for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 ummm Blue? I have no idea of the type that they are, but they look diffrent to all the ones that I have seen around town recently. I would of thought if it had dided and decompsed I would of smelt or seen something, but there has been no signs of that at all. And I had no idea that they are hard to keep. I don't know what kind of plecos you have, I'm assuming bristlenoses. They can easily eat an entire tiny fish like a blue ram overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 L002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 They've probably got about a 2/3 blueram sized stomach each then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 sigh :ske: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 What's your water perimeters like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Gezzzzz, now your asking the hard questions. not sure but will check them all later once the little one gets out of the pool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I haven't heard of anyone managing to keep them alive longer than a year in NZ. Too overbred they reckon. I have 12 growing at the moment and from what I have read online they require even more care than discus and practically the same conditions e.g. high temp, low current and pristine water conditions. Also when doing water changes they should be smaller and more frequent than usual, I do about 20% every 2 days and keep tank temperature around 28c. I will upload photos of mine in the next few days once I find a new psu. only one year??? I have some in the shop that came in at adult size and are still here one year on, happy an healthy, all my personal ones have lived over 3 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 PH 7.2-7.6 Nitrite 0-0.25 Ammonia 0-0.25 Nitrate 40-80 What do these numbers say to you? I seldomly check my water so have no idea what means what. I just figure the lower the numbers the better. Except for ph depending on fish species. This tank is planted, and my first or second actual attempt at it, so odd numbers maybe a result of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 all your readings are WAY above rams specs and seriously above anything comfortable for any fish....... pH: 6.0 - 7.0 (for rams anyways, best to have stable pH than exact) Ammonia = 0 (all tanks must be 0)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nitrite= 0 (all tanks must be 0)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nitrate = <20ppm (40 is supposedly the safe level but imo anything over 20ppm will cause long term damage. make sure you check your nitrate regularly, its the slow killer and the only one you will not see effects on your fish from untill its too late.... untill you can see the issue in the fishes eyes :sage: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Agree with the above. pH in particular way to high for RammyJammies :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 sweet, will get onto lowering the ph this weekend. What causes the nitrate to be high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Its just the end result of your filter doing its job, best way to lower it is waterchanges, lots of waterchanges! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 so the filter doing its job cause's nitrates to be high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Check the tap water. Ours is very high in nitrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Will do this afternoon. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flosty Posted January 12, 2013 Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 Cam, I wouldn't be surprised if the decomposing bodies of your missing rams have caused the spike in parameters Other than that if the tank has been set up for awhile you should have no ammonia or nitrites. The spike could be dead fish or maybe you are over feeding? I am guessing you know all about the nitrogen cycle,ammonia to nitrite,nitrite broken down to nitrates nitrates are removed by water changes or if your tank is planted thats a good way of getting rid of nitrates as the plants feed on this As for lowering the ph, if you have a low tds then you can successfully lower it,but if its high it tends to just bounce straight back So if soft water is what you are after , best bet is something like rain water or reverse osmosis water or if the tank is planted you could run some diy CO2 which will lower it as the CO2 lowers ph. Whatever you do consistency is the key,you don't want to be bouncing the ph all over the show. Thats why with "most" tank bred fish it is generally recommended to use aged tap water as that is all that is needing unless breeding for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 The tank has been established for around 3 months now, this may sound bad but I am not overly worried about the Ammonia and Nitrite, as when I put the numbers on here I was on the side of caution for dodgy reading of charts by me( does not mea I am not going to do anything about it however). The Nitrate is the one that I thought was high to start with. Definitly not over feeding, I feed normaly every 2nd or sometimes 3rd day. The tank is planted and runs a DIY co2 at the moement but it needs to be recharged( thanks for reminding me) I have purchesed a pressurised kit and I should have that in the next 6 weeks to try and keep that part as stable as possible. This is basicly my first real attempt to branch out of the African cichlid lifestyle as well as the first smaller tank and planted tank set ups that I have done, so that part of it is still a learning curve for me. Thanks for your comment and input Kyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flosty Posted January 13, 2013 Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 I would do a large water change to knock those nitrates down,something like 80% I don't keep rams but my discus get these changes all the time and love it and yeah your co2 will definately help to bring down the ph If you have soft water to start with it bring it down even more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted January 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 I just did a 25% and will do one a day for the next few days. My africans love huge WC as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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