cichlid help needed for m- Ramirez(?)

[carolgrn]

I purchased 6 cichlids (1male/5female or so we thought)
They were sold to me as 'Angel' cichlids. I believe they are 'Ram, Butterfly Cichlid, Ramirez Dwarf Cichlid, Venezuelan Ram, Butterfly Dwarf Cichlid' (got that from one of the admin posts)
This looks like them: Microgeophagus ramirezi

I have been searching websites for days trying to get ideas on sexing and problems. Keep getting many various outcomes.
1. I think I ended up with 4 males and 2 females (because of the black line through the eye and also because those were chasing each other.
Some of the sites state that the female has the colored belly and some say the male has the colored belly. Where I bought them thought that the difference was the black line through the eye is more bold and went all the way through to the chin for the males and that the females was much lighter (like a blurr).

2. I saw (what I thought was) 2 females rubbing themselves against the bridge in the tank. Did not know I needed to worry about it.
Did water change. Had 2 fish die. I searched for hours to get ideas on the problem. Some say ick. Some say flukes. I see no white spots on any of the fish nor do I see anything in the gill areas.
Some sites said add stress relief. Some sites say add salt. Where I bought them said add salt.
I did both and raised the water temperature up to 80(it was always around 76/78. That's when the 3rd fish died. I still have the 1(possible female) rubbing. 2 of (what I think were) males I separated seem to be doing okay, but none of the fish appear to have the coloring they had developed earlier in the tank.

This is what I was wanting to get:

They seem to think that these fish will develop the long fins as they mature.(?)
Any help available???

 

[Wailua Boy]

My advice is be sure to house these guys in softer water conditions and they are a little sensitive to high nitrates. Gill flukes are actually microscopic opposed to ick, which can easily be spotted.

Males usually have longer fins and females should show reddish when ready to spawn.

This is a species I don't keep often because I live in a very hard water area. Hopefully someone with more experience with this fish can offer advice. They are very cool fish. I have nocticed a breeder on Aquabid who is offering some incredible rams imo.

 

[carolgrn]

Since this morning I had 2 more die. I now have 1 that is suppose to be a male.
I have been told that I have hard water. What do I do about it.

What name should I search for to find them?

 

[carolgrn]

Just found these pictures of sexing:
http://www.aquaeden.co.uk/how_to_sex_german_blue_rams.html

 

[fishbum]

For what it's worth, the second pic you have is of a long finned ram. There are short and long finned varieties. If yours do not have long fins, they never will.

You can generally keep these in hard water as long as they are tank bred and raised. They may not spawn, but they should not die either. They also do better in warmer temps. Like 83 or above. So as long as you do not have wild ones, the hard water may not be your problem with them dying.

What size tank do you have? Whats the water temp? Did you cycle the tank before you added the fish?

 

[carolgrn]

55 gallon. The temperature has been 76/78 and was raised to 80. Yes, the tank was established before the cichlids were included. I have lost 2/3 of the original fish that were introduced.
Have water parameters checked often. Always told they are good regarding chlorine, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia. Never mention high ph or soft/hard water issue.
I have still been searching online and now wonder if the ph might be the problem. I have high ph. When I mentioned to someone last year that I had tried 'ph decreaser' they advised against that unless I had a lot of experience with fish.

 

[Wailua Boy]

Altering pH of a established tank is not worth the risk, a high pH probably won't result in death, now a huge pH fluctuation could create big issues. I think something else is amiss.

 

[fishbum]

If you have hard water you won't be able to lower the PH anyway. But messing around with it is not a good idea unless you know what you are doing.

The flashing the rams are doing could from a lot of things. It is hard to say for sure.

I would keep increasing the temp of the tank. Get it to 82 or 83. You could also try treating with metronidazole. Without knowing for sure what is wrong, that is something you could start with if you want to try the medication route for the fish you have left.

 

[carolgrn]

Metrodnidazole?
Like "Prime"?
Still have 1 cichlid hanging on. Everybody else in the tank is still doing well - far as I can tell