redness on my fish's scales?

Question

I bought 4 Blue Rams Friday and noticed that one was always picking on another. I also notice that they both have a redness on their sides(almost like blood)(while the others dont.) is this from fighting or something else? Thanks for all the answers

Answer 1

Check your ammonia levels, they're suppose to be at 0

also your nitrites, they're also suppose to be at 0

If not, your tank is cycling, and rams should only be introduced in a fully cycled tank

If it's not cycled, you will see a nitrite and ammonia spike, once they go down, your nitrAtes will start rising

Once all your parameters are where they suppose to be, your tank is cycled

For right now, do a 50% waterchange right away, check your water daily, feed only as much as they will eat in under 3 min twice a day and net out the rest
and keep doing every other day partial waterchanges of 15% until your tank is done cycling



hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 2

Sounds like they may have a case of "velvet" a stress induced fish disease similar to Ich. Is the redness around the lateral line?

If it is, it's easy to cure if you caught it early enough. Go to your petshop or fish supply store and buy Maracide or Maracyn 2.

Maracyn 2 works better, but is also a lot more expensive. There are plenty of other fish medications out there, but I've found that these work the best.

Oh! and remember to take the activated carbon out of your filter while you're medicating the tank. Replace it and do a water change when the treatment is over.

Good luck.