# I think my ram is dying, help?



## Emily (May 4, 2010)

My ram has been swimming funny this afternoon. In addition to the bizarre movements, he/she has dark eyes and looks stressed out. I am thinking the fish is on it's way out, but if anyone has any ideas of why this is happening (or if it's fixable?) that would be much appreciated. It's a 90 gallon tank and all the other fish are business as usual and look totally fine. I am including a video so you can see how he's swimming, the quality is terrible and I apologize for that, somehow it became much worse when I transferred it off my iphone. Also, you can skip to 25 seconds in.

Another thing I noticed -- two of my rams seem to have tiny holes on their head area. I just saw this today, they are so small they look like little white flecks, almost like ich. One of the rams with them is also the one swimming funny and I am thinking the symptoms are probably connected... Please help!

Dying Blue Ram - YouTube


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

It looks like maybe it's some kind of swim bladder problem. Have a look at this: Swim-bladder Disease


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Emily, if in doubt, check your water parameter first. I haven't heard of hole in the head problem with dwarf cichlids. I guess it will happen and dwarf cichlids are too small to notice. Very good observation of you, btw. How old are those rams or how long you have had them?


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Sorry I was busy the last couple days, but I got around to checking my water tonight and taking some photos.

*Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: just under 5 ppm*

Unfortunately the pictures I got aren't the best quality but hopefully you can make out the tiny craters and discolouration in the head...





































I got these rams about a year ago from you, Charles. They were wild caught and juveniles. I know dwarf cichlids have a short lifespan but I am hoping this isn't age related yet and it's something fixable. I heard hole in the head disease can be caused by nutritional deficiencies so I'll include what I feed them: Hikari Cichlid Gold (a meatier food) and HBH Spirulina Pellets. Any thoughts on what could be causing this would be much appreciated


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Oh geez, huge photos, so sorry...


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Ok the ram with the most craters is looking noticeably worse today, the wounds are bright red with white centres, near his eye. Any insight would be really helpful as I am at a loss for what to do and I don't want to lose another fish. His behaviour is still normal.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

The ram looks a little worse this week, and I have started to notice he seems a bit more listless than the other ones in the tank. I am going to assume this is HITH disease and am thinking of picking up metronidazole if I can find it, as I heard this can be an effective treatment if you soak food in it. Does anyone know where I can get this, and will it hurt the other fish in my tank?


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