Hi all! I have a couple of quick questions. I picked up 6 german blue rams, 2 gold rams, 8 rummy nose and 2 neons (they managed to hitch hike in the net) almost 2 weeks ago. Within a week I lost a gold ram and a german blue female. I noticed the gold ram the day before I found it dead had white poo, 2 days after that I found the female blue dead but she had normal poo. Assuming the gold had bloat or intestinal parisites of some kind is it smart to treat even the rummy noses & neons with jungle parasite clear?? I've noticed the gold that's left hasn't really eaten with the spunk that all the others have, so last night I started with the jungle parasite treatment.

Enough rambling...My main questions are...Will the rummies and neons suffer from the treatment? Do you think I'm using the right treatment??

I always second guess myself and need reassurance for treating bloat since I've only ever had one problem with bloat in the past and it didn't go well.

Oh they are in the 10g QT tank yet and will remain there till all are well and eating better. All parameters are good. a-0 ni-0 na-10 ph-7.8 temp 84f. Light feedings NLS smallest pellets & flakes 3 times a day. Did I forget anything???

I seem to remember Kim saying to withhold food while using JPC but let's wait for the Haven Hostess with the Mostest to speak for herself and not go off half cocked on my recollections!

Update: I went out and found this quote from an older post by Kim re Jungle Parasite Clear to use in the interim until she sees this:

"For probable bloat or internal parasites, I use 3 treatments, spaced 48 hours apart, with a 25% water change prior to the 2nd and 3rd treatment. I do not feed during this time."

Hope this helps!

Thanks Psuedo. I will withhold feedings. Tonight will be the 2nd treatment. I wish I didn't have to do this at all I was sooooo looking forward to adding them to the 90 gallon next week. Now that's gonna have to wait for another 2-3 weeks. worry wart!

And what if I don't have anything profound to say today, Don? Huh? What then? blinky

Correna, blue rams are one of the most fragile cichlids, IMO. So many people have problems with them. I've finally found some around here, twice in the past month or so I've run upon them in LFS, but I talk myself out of them every time.

Alot of people would say it's your ph, but I don't believe that is the problem. If the fish are raised locally, then your ph isn't going to be that much different from the ph they were raised in. With that being said, I've kept gold rams in 7.8 without any problems.

I can't say that you're doing the wrong thing by treating with the JPC, but it may not be the right thing, either. idunno

White feces can be due to a dietary change or many other things, and alone, it isn't indicative of bloat. In fact, as a sole symptom, white feces is considered harmless, but you've lost some fish, so this changes the way we look at it somewhat...However, they were NEW fish...That clouds the issue even more.

I'm also willing to bet these fish weren't fed NLS before you got them! Abrupt dietary changes, especially from flake to pellet rather than the other way around, can cause digestive problems. (I can't show you proof of this, but if you read on other forums you'll see what I mean. )

Also, I'm not too sure that the tetras and such need to fast...We know we can do it with mouthbrooders, but I'm not sure egg layers and live bearers have the same constitution!

Sooooooooooooo...I would continue what you've started. But, if you have any flake available, I'd offer that rather than the NLS pellets for a bit.

Does everyone seem to be tolerating the JPC okay?

Kim

Thanks Kim for your insight! Everyone is tolerating the JPC treatment just fine. I usually feed when I go home for lunch and didn't today but checked for the dreaded floating fish (which there was none) and they were all eager to eat but I didn't give into their cute little faces! I was doing a mix of flake and tiny pellets (not sure of the size, but what I would feed my new fry), but I will stick to the flake for the next couple of days and only feed once a day till JPC treatment is over.

Unfortunitly or fortunitly however you look at it the rams all came directly from germany and were in my suppliers tanks for about 4 days till I picked them up. The golds were in his tanks alittle longer. Even though they came from germany they are TR.

This is why it's always good to wait for the real expert to show up. Cloud 9

And Kim, when someone needs thoughtful advice I have never seen you NOT have something thoughtful and worthwhile to say. So stop giving me attitude, girl!