# Bolivian Ram in Trouble



## KARMAL (May 6, 2010)

Water Quality Parameters:

Ammonia- 0.25 ppm
Nitrite- 0.0 ppm
Nitrate- 0.0 ppm
pH- 7.6-7.8

Filter:
AC70

Dechlorinator:
AmQuel Plus

Water Change:
20-40% every Sunday (religiously done)

Today I wake up to find one of my Bolivian Rams acting quite sick. He was just sitting at the bottom of the tank, and his breathing was heavy and slow. He did not react to the other Rams poking at him and eventually just keeled over and let the water carry him around. I moved him to a hospital tank where he is still breathing heavy but is now upright and thankfully still alive. 
He has no white spots or any other physical symptoms, and as such I have not added any medication to either tank since I don't even know what I'm treating and fear the medication could make him worse. 
I purchased him and all other tankmates about a week and a half ago. All other fish are acting normally and exhibit no physical symptoms. 
My tank was completely cycled a little over a month ago. It was my first fishless cycle and I observed both an ammonia spike and a nitrite spike before the eventual nitrate spike that verified to me that the tank was indeed cycled. 
After that I introduced a couple Danios and Tetras (not the Bloodfins that are in there) to the tank just to put my mind at ease that all was well. Those fish stayed in the tank until I purchased the juvenile Bolivians last Tuesday (6/22). 
I test my water twice a day with both liquid and test strips (expiration date in 2012) to verify that my results are consistent. I am absolutely obsessive about water quality since I lost fish in the past because of it. 
The one thing I find unusual about my results is that I consistently test 0.25ppm ammonia with nitrite and nitrate zeroed out always. This makes me suspicious that my tank is not properly cycled since I am not seeing any nitrates. Note: I do have 5 live plants in this tank.

Would the lack of nitrates indicate an improperly cycled tank (Note: I have previously seen a nitrate spike)?
What is ailing my poor little Bolivian and what can I do to help him?

I can't imagine his weakened state was caused by toxicity in the water since I always either test 0.25 on the liquid test and 0.0 on the strip test, with zeroes on all others. 
He was the "runt" of the pack, being the smallest and least colorful. However he was never singled out and bullied by any of the other Rams. He did hold his ground, but while the others seem to have comfortable territories, he was always sort of left out, so perhaps he is just extremely stressed? The only other thing I can think of is internal parasites. How would those be treated if he's not in any condition to eat (he's not)?
All the Bolivians are juvenile, approximately 1.5-2.0 inches.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi

Was this fish acting normally yesterday? Eating and swimming? Did you see him eat?

Where these are relatively new fish they're all still under the unavoidable stress of travel, netting, bagging, variable water conditions, etc, so it's understandable that you have one that's struggling. Still, it would be nice to pull him through this.

Also, as you point out, he hasn't found his spot in the tank and is more than likely at the bottom of the tank hierarchy. He may have sustained a few hits when you weren't there to see it and is either too stressed to openly swim around the others or has sustained some internal injuries.

I would keep him in the hospital tank for observation and protection. Keep his water perfect. It may be he just needs some time away from stressful tankmates in order to get up to speed.

I don't know why you're getting a reading for ammonia. No nitrate could be the plants. Sounds like you've done everything right but I'd still continue to monitor the water parameters daily. Regardless of how it is cycled, IMO, any newly cycled tank is iffy for the first few months.

Robin


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

*Ammonia- 0.25 ppm*
Nitrite- 0.0 ppm
*Nitrate- 0.0 ppm *

Your answer is here somewhere ^
Nitrate builds gradually, goes down when you do a water change because you're removing it, then goes back up.[/u][/i]

A zero nitrate reading means

1) You did the test wrong

or

2) You have a lot of plants, which would absorb (ground) the nitrate 
which I really doubt could be the case. You don't have co2 and unless you have a lot of hornwort or anacharis nothing can really ground all your nitrate out without high light and co2 present

or

3) You haven't cycled your tank properly


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## KARMAL (May 6, 2010)

UPDATE: The Bolivian Ram died shortly after going in the hospital tank.

I visited a local LFS and they suggested it was a swim bladder problem and recommended Metronidazole, but he passed away before I was able to administer the medication.

He was acting normally the day before he first exhibited symptoms. I saw him eat, and he was swimming normally and even fighting back with the other Rams. However a genetic disorder does make sense since he was considerably smaller and thinner than the others right from the start. Looks like he was probably bullied to death because he was weaker. In hindsight I should have removed him from the tank once I recognized him as a runt.

I'm continuing to monitor the water daily and I'm seeing no change in the readings. What aquariam says makes sense. I don't believe I have enough plants to remove all the nitrate, so either both tests are wrong or the tank isn't cycled properly. As I stated, I did see all the spikes which indicated a cycled tank, but I suppose there could have been some die-back with the bacteria. Although even that is unlikely since I haven't removed any media from the filter or done a major cleaning on the inside of the tank.

But if the tank isn't cycled properly, why isn't the ammonia going higher than 0.25ppm? It's been that way for almost a month.

I will continue to monitor the readings, but so far everything in the tank is perfect. All fish are acting, swimming and eating normally, and the water is crystal clear.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The fish create ammonia, so when you start your cycle it makes sense that you have this:
0.25 ammonia
0.00 nitrite
0.00 nitrate

Bacteria start to grow that eat the ammonia, but they give off nitrite as waste. So you get this:
0.00 ammonia
1.00 nitrite
0.00 nitrate

Second part of the cycle, different bacteria grow that eat nitrite and give off nitrate as waste. When you have a robust colony of both types of beneficial bacteria, your tank is cycled and you get this:
0.00 ammonia
0.00 nitrite
10.00 nitrate

Are you shaking the nitrate test vigorously 30 seconds before adding bottle #2 and 60 seconds after? Lack of sufficient shaking can give you invalid nitrate readings.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Sorry the ram died.

*On the ammonia:* you're correct in questioning how it could remain at .25ppm for nearly a month. It may be that you're using the wrong test kit for the type of dechlorinator resulting in a FALSE high ammonia reading.
There are two test-tube type testing kits available, salicylate test kits and nessler. Only the salicylate type will give accurate results when using Amquel. Nessler type kits will give you a false high ammonia reading.
The same thing happens when using Prime.

As I mentioned earlier any newly cycled tank, regardless of how it was cycled, should be closely monitored for the first few months of operation, especially if your fish are showing any kind of symptoms.

Robin

There's tons of information on test kits, Amquel, etc on the Kordon Website. Check it out


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## KARMAL (May 6, 2010)

The test kit I am using is the API Master Kit, which is the salicylate type, and yes I follow the directions EXACTLY. I shake the bottle so hard my arm starts hurting! I do it in front of a stop watch so the time is precise also. 
Remember, I test with both liquid and test strips, the same tests I used when I confirmed an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate spike while cycling the tank. These separate tests have never had a deviation in readings between them. 
After my water change this last Sunday, everything was zeroed out (as it usually is after a water change), and went back up to 0.25ppm ammonia a day later. This is typical, and it generally stays at 0.25ppm till the next water change. However this time it has zeroed out mid-week. I have had zero readings today and yesterday. Nitrate continues to remain at zero. Interestingly enough the plants in my tank are thriving, so perhaps they are sucking up the nitrates. 
All other fish are behaving normally (I believe a couple even paired up), and I don't think I will ever stop testing my water daily.


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