Spinning ram cichlid help

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Hawaii Predator

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
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Hawaii
i turned on my tank today and my ram cichlid was swimming in spirals around thw whole tank. whats going on with it?
 
What are your water parameters? Temperature? What do you feed? How old is the fish? Tank size and tankmates? We need more details here.
 
parameters are fine, flake and hikari algae discs for the bottomfeeders, loaches etc, close to a year old, 55 gallon, fish is like almost 2 inches, tankmates: pearl gourami, various tetras, a dojo loach, 8 glass catfish, bkack skirt tetras, 3 siamese algae eaters, albino cats, panda cats, a few hatchetfish, and 4 fantail gups.
 
its eye on one side is a little gray which is unusual because they were both red the last time i checked ( a day ago)
 
Hawaii Predator;3093960; said:
parameters are fine, flake and hikari algae discs for the bottomfeeders, loaches etc, close to a year old, 55 gallon, fish is like almost 2 inches, tankmates: pearl gourami, various tetras, a dojo loach, 8 glass catfish, bkack skirt tetras, 3 siamese algae eaters, albino cats, panda cats, a few hatchetfish, and 4 fantail gups.
What exactly are the water parameters? What test kit do you use? I am very sorry about this but I am not entirely convinced your water parameters are "fine". It's not giving weight to what is causing your ram to behave like that. What is your temperature? Is the ram a year old or were you referring to other fish?
 
i know fish and i wouldnt jeopardize their health just because im too lazy to do a test.
i have to buy another master test kit the next time i go into petco and the closest LFS is almost 2 hours worth of driving away. so im sorry, but im gonna have to wait at least two more days until i can find the time to drive into kona to get another master kit. i cleaned my 55 and did a 25% water change last sunday and the temp is 73 degrees farenheight. i have alot of plants and sand sustrate in my tank. i clean it with a water siphon. i did a two week routine test with the master kit last week and all of the parameters are fine based on what "fine" means to fish experts and what is in fish care books.
the only thing it could be is when i cleaned out my rena xp2 on sunday when i removed the spray bar and one peice of waste fell out. i scooped it up and threw it away, along with cleaning the whole system (tubes, spray bar, heater, filter media, etc). no disrespect, but im not a noob when it comes to fish care. this is just a funny case ive never seen before.
saying that the parameters are fine, what do you think the problem is? it cant be ick because i cant see any salt spots or specks of any kind on the fish at all. its fins arent deteriorating, no pop eye or fungus infection that im aware of, or no worms on its body that i can see.
is it just getting old? or is there more than that? the rest of the fish in my tank are fine and ive had no deaths in my tank besides the hatchet fish jumping out of a small hole in my glass top, which i cover with a towel after cleaning.
 
the ram is almost a year old. we got him 8 months ago when it was just a fry. all the fish in my tank are less than a year old.
 
Hawaii Predator;3094073; said:
the only thing it could be is when i cleaned out my rena xp2 on sunday when i removed the spray bar and one peice of waste fell out. i scooped it up and threw it away, along with cleaning the whole system (tubes, spray bar, heater, filter media, etc).

How did you clean the media? If you ran it under tap water then it could have killed off your bacteria. I know that you are not a noob, so I am sure you wouldn't have done this, but other than that, I got nothing...sorry.
 
No disrespect was taken or given however I would like to clarify that I never said you are a noob or anything for that matter. It's against my principles to call another hobbyist a noob. The term is relative to the term "newb" except it is more offensive in the sense it refers to people who are stubborn to digest the truth contrary to their beliefs however this is another issue.

The term "fine" is subjective even in books and internet which is why I requested you to post the exact figures. Elaborate "fine" as you read in books. I rarely find books that reliable except for general information. As I see it, most fish seem fine when the nitrate is 20-30 but most fish including chocolate gouramis react sensitively when nitrate reaches that level. Blue rams are no exception to the rule. They are very sensitive fish and a lot of us know that.

I see the issue with your specs. Temperature is very low at 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Could you please explain why your temperature is very low? What thermometer do you use and what brand is your heater? Blue rams last no more than two years. Blue rams also prefer temperature no lower than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Your temperature is ridiculously low for the ram but the change will adversely destroy your other fish in the long run such as the dojo loach which prefer temperature no higher than 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
 
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