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Post by babygeige on Oct 23, 2008 16:17:04 GMT -5
Very nice pictures. Rams are so cute! I hope everything turns out ok with the shy one!
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 23, 2008 17:39:27 GMT -5
came home tonight to find 2 rams in my tank - searched the floor around it (no way he could've gotten out) eventually my daughter and I took everything out very slowly and found his body tocked way up inside one of the mopani roots - he must have swam up there and got stuck or chased in there and got stuck - regardless, now I know the pain of losing a cichlid....I fully resigned myself today at work to move him in w/ the platys if there was any sign of aggression when I got home.....the other 2 are fine - all water parameters are great! it's not my fault but I still feel bad.....  |
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Post by bikeguy33 on Oct 23, 2008 19:20:27 GMT -5
that surprises me. this lil guy may have been sick and in a weakened state to begin with. with a case like this in the future tho, i`d recommend just moving stuff around a little. the sub dominant may step up and become the dominant. in many cases when this happens as well....the new dominant male is often a better king than its predisesor. with cichlids this very often happens.btw.....sorry to hear half are gone......but i bet the 2 you have are good and strong and will give you a few years of great entertainment.
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Post by babygeige on Oct 23, 2008 19:28:17 GMT -5
Oh how sad! I'm so sorry! Poor little fish.
I have read though that rams can sometimes just die shortly after purchase. They're supposed to be very sensitive. Maybe you just got a really super sensitive one.
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Post by brenda on Oct 23, 2008 19:51:54 GMT -5
Ohhhh...I am sorry for your loss John. We know it's not your fault. It is just frustrating and disappointing. I would also gues he was weaker...Which may also explain why he was hiding.
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 23, 2008 20:32:36 GMT -5
thanks all for your kind words - Billy, don't quite understand what you mean by moving stuff around just a little? I was looking for a body at that point - I never messed with anything after I put them in yesterday - have requested 2 females, if they can't do that, I'll stick w/ what I have til I learn more
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Post by bikeguy33 on Oct 23, 2008 22:27:57 GMT -5
what i meant is....moving plants and tank stuff to alter the fish surrounding just a little. they declare an area by dominating a land mark.....move that landmark and they are blind.....time for another to come forward maybe
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 23, 2008 22:42:44 GMT -5
took stuff out, one at a time and put it back exactly where it was just like if I was cleaning the tank - found it after I moved a rock, put it basc, moved another rock, put it back rocks and pulled the driftwood, removed the dead fish and put it back....no permanent or different alterations - maybe I'm missing something - am kinda bummed at the way this day is ending - posted on another thread a lost another fish tonight too from a fifferent tank
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Post by brenda on Oct 24, 2008 8:43:44 GMT -5
Sorry again John... What Bill is trying to say is that with Cichlids they are very territorial...So if you have 1 or a couple dominent fish that are harassing everyone, a lot of times what people do to curve that aggression/dominent fish is move decor around. If you change the way the decor is to some totally different arrangement then that dominent fishes territory no longer exsist...which means he is not as tough as he was. When you change decor sometimes it allows a less dominent fish a chance to establish a territory and become higher on the totem pole. So if you would have ended up with 2 males, 1 will always be more dominent and may pick on the other but if you change all the decor then the tables can sometimes turn and it may balance them out or maybe even the less dominent would become dominent over the other...Just by something as simple as changing their environment. Does that make anymore sense?
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 24, 2008 10:27:18 GMT -5
thank you Brenda, that explains a lot and thank you too Billy, sorry I didn't understand
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Post by cashay on Oct 24, 2008 13:28:02 GMT -5
SWEET!  |
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 24, 2008 18:01:59 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear that Murdock. I'm having a similar problem with a guppy I isolated to give birth but I didn't float her in the bag long enough by accident. She got super stressed. I've been checking paramters daily. So far, nothing's wrong except the PH that I am uping slowly with Marine Buffer.
I wish you and your rams good luck Murdock! And don't worry about them dying. Even for experienced fishkeepers, getting a new fish species is a learning process and you can expect to loose a few before you get the hang of it.
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Post by Carl on Oct 24, 2008 18:39:23 GMT -5
Just jumped in on this thread while out of town, sorry top read that you lost one of your Rams John, not much I can add since others already covered the subject well, so I just want to say sorry.  Carl |
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Post by eve on Oct 31, 2008 20:26:01 GMT -5
first of all congrats john sorry about your loss and your pics are great to your info about rams yes, they will absolutely change colors you will also notice, if you do have a pair, that one will always be more colorful then the other if you would have had 2 males and 1 female, the easiest way to find out, is by taking out the more colorful one in a matter of only minutes, if the other is a male, it will color up gorgeously couldn't believe it either, but when i got mine from my LFS, he showed it to me and i could watch it happen, it's the most amazing thing to watch for the moment, it's kinda hard to say what you have but keep updating with pics, and i'm sure soon we can tell as for the one that died, i assume it was already sick to begin with which is unfortunately very common with rams in particular they're extremely sensitive to environment changes |
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 31, 2008 21:26:30 GMT -5
Eve - thanks you so much for respoding - is good to hear from you! wondered where you've been when I needed you most! if anybody could help me I knew you could! I now have 3 again and they are a happy little group - the 2 replacements are at least a month older and there is the dominant one who tolerates the other 2 well - it is not uncommon to see them all together - Ramses, the older dominant one whom I am sure is a male hangs a lot w/ the lardge siver dollar in there - they are very social and share the tank w/ 3 quarter sized silver hatchets and 3 rasboro tetras - it has turned into a very well balanced community tank - thanks for clarifying the color changes! I knew I wasn't going crazy - thanks again - John
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 31, 2008 21:43:34 GMT -5
Nice to hear from you Eve! Glad you're still here!
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Post by eve on Oct 31, 2008 21:48:49 GMT -5
thanks, glad to be back  no, you're not crazy at all i'm glad everything is going good for you, i explained in another post why i wasn't here it's amazing to watch them, i love mine, and am very happy to have chosen them |
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