The same tank I was having severe problems with gourami's in is now seeming to affect non-labyrinthine fish. 2.5 days after adding 'Tut' a German Blue Ram, he's showing simlarities in the behaviours of the 4 gourami's who saw their last days in this tank.

There's either a small case of fin rot, or the tetras (red skirt minor) are still nipping at several fins, this I doubt because I've watched him fend of his own territory (As the newest fish in the tank) unprovoked, today.

His color isn't as bright as it should be, but is slightly brighter than when he was first added. His breathing seems very aggrivated (as it was yesterday) and he's not eating (as of today). The rest of the fish do well with the bubbler off during the day because there's quite a bit of pearling on the plants and the powerhead keeps the micro-bubles moving and the surface tension broken...however I turned the bubbler back on when I noticed he was still breathing hard when I got home today..

This is a 30gal and I treated with 10mL melafix today, have removed activated carbon (he still is alert and curious as I couldn't seem to avoid pouring the melafix right over the top of him, as though he was anticipating food even though he wouldn't take any earlier.

Params are good and all the rest of the fish are more than happy.

Anything else I can do to prevent what I'm hoping won't be the inevitable...

Thanks in advance.

What's the temp of this tank? I have my 35 gallon planted tank range from 75 to 90 degrees when the lights are on, and I have a good cooling fan too.

I believe higher temps make a lot of bad things die. Also, do you have any salt in there to help with the slime coats?

It was 80F. Rams want 78-86. He's f'ing dead. Died yesterday AM.

Maybe its these freaking lead weights (supposedly aquarium safe) I have on my plants...Though I can't understand why the other fish have been perfectly fine for 2 months..
I've gone through 4 Gouramis, 2 Otos, and now a fucking Ram.

Those still fine are the 3 red skirt minor tetras, 3 celebes rainbows, raphael, and surviving oto, who've been in the tank over 2 mos.

Maybe the newcomers just get too stressed when I add them as the red skirt minors get all freaking territorial.. The day before Tut died he was chasing their asses all over the place though, unprovoked. Or perhaps this was just a last attempt to show that he was alive and kicking so he wouldn't get picked at in his final hours...

Maybe I need to get rid of the tetras. The rainbows seem to make better dither fish. Either that or this tank is just too tall to hold any sensitive fish.

In any case this is real discouraging. I waited 2 months until I was sure the tank was stable. I want dwarf cichlids so bad. Whether rams or apistos...:( I know this was a healthy fish...the second day having him I was nearly able to hand feed him...

Well here goes...on my second go around with Rams. These are much more juvenile than Tut, one is suspiciously female looking and the other is undoubtedly a male. Hopefully they'll pair up (Assuming both the store owner and myself were right) lol.

I removed the DIY pvc cave I made, removed all plant weights I could find, did a spic and span gravel vac, have the nitrates at <5ppm and ph +/- 0.5 off of the LFS I bought them from, raked the flourite to get out any sulfur pockets, put the top back on to prevent any possible pH shifts from the tank being open-top (near a door, and the A/C vent), and moved the red skirt minor tetras to another tank. If they die this time, I'll know there must be some kind of lingering bacteria only effecting certain types of fish...gouramis and rams.

Why such a bacteria wouldn't have effected panda corys, otos, tetras, celebes rainbows, amanos, snails, and striped raphael catfish for 4 months is beyond me though.

As of right now they're checking out the tank. They're such pretty fish, I hope they make it.

Do you use aquarium salt? I hear it's good for preventing bacterial infections.

Yeah I always use salt as preventative. Many fish I have don't like a full ''recommended'' dose of it though, or at all for that matter, so I always underdose per maybe a 1/2-3/4 ration.

Gumbii what do you know about mass asian bred Rams? I've read that they're much less hearty than domestic bred or wild fish, particularly the females because they're given hormones to make them appear ready to breed at a young age and also to bring the color out in juveniles, male and female. Mine are juvenile and show lots of color. Not as much as they would if they were spawning, but still as much color on the other ram I had which was about 1.5" larger.

Also, does it hurt anything to treat newly introduced fish with melafix even if there's nothing yet wrong with them? I'm assuming it does otherwise I guess everyone would recommend it. I know carbon decreases the effects of treatment but mine is practically non-functioning and there's so many plants in there, it doesn't concern me.

As of today 24 hours later, they both still appear healthy and are associating more with each other and moving around the tank.

Here's a couple pictures.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29841459@N ... 131227971/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29841459@N ... 131227971/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29841459@N ... 131227971/