[dtress3]

I noticed my german balloon ram's one eye has clouded over. He is still eating, but I don't know how to properly treat for this. His coloring seems a little darker than usual, and he seems to be breathing fast.

Any ideas on what this is and how to best treat?

 

[dtress3]

I looked at the fish again this AM, and he also seems to have some white spots on his head...doesn't really look like ich to me, there's nothing on his fins or the rest of his body. I can't get a good pic of him though

 

[Robin]

Hi,

First thing you want to do is check your water quality by testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. Then check to make sure your filters are running properly. There should be a good strong flow coming out of the return tube.

Since cloudy eye is quite often an issue of poor water quality regardless of what your test results are do a 30% partial water change with a good quality declorinator and siphon the gravel.

Sometimes an eye will get cloudy because the fish has scraped it or injured it in some other way. You still want to start with water quality since injuries heal faster with pristine water condtions.

The white spots on his head may be some kind of fungus or bacteria. Is the fish new to the tank? How long has the tank been set up and what other fish are in there with him?

Robin

 

[dtress3]

Thanks for your feedback. I've read that these rams need very pristine water. The tank is about 3 months old. This fish is an original tank mate. He is in with two other german balloon rams, a rad tailed shark, 4 red eyed tetras, 4 headlight/tailight tetras, and 2 platies.

I need more testing strips, so I haven't checked water parameters, but I noticed this happened just shortly after I did a water change which stirred up a lot of waste. I usually keep up with weekly water changes, about 30% each time, but I skipped a week because of demands and OT at work. Hence, the added waste which was stirred up.

The tank is 29 gallons with a penguin 200.

 

[Robin]

Try doing daily partial water changes with a good quality declorinator for the next several days--week. 30% should be good. Then get back to weekly water changes, (I hear you about getting too busy, it happens to all of us. . .), and see if the fish improves. If he gets worse then you may need to treat him.

The thing with smaller tanks is that the water quality can go down pretty quick.

Let me know how the fish responds. . .

Robin

 

[dtress3]

He just seems to have very dark coloration, breathing rapidly, and has white spots on his head. Of course, there is cloudiness around his one eye, but that seems a little better. I have been treating with melafix for now, but I'm wondering if I should treat the tank with antibiotics? If so, what could be recommended?

 

[Robin]

For an antibiotic I'd go with Maracyn and Maracyn-two used together.

You're absolutely certain that the white spots are NOT ick?

Robin

 

[dtress3]

I can't be absolutely sure....I just find it odd that there wouldn't be any spots at all on the fins, or on other fish. I've always first noticed spots on the fins. It looks as though the white spots are gone, and the cloudiness is fading. His coloration is still dark today. I wonder if I should continue to hold off on antibiotics, and continue with just melafix and water changes.