Why Is My Electric Blue Ram Turning Black

I have a 75 gallon freshwater community tank with a ph of 6.6 a temperature of 74 and 0 ammonia nitrites and nitrates.

My tank consist of 2 freshwater angelfish (we will be selling them soon). 3 albino Cory’s 3 peppered Cory’s and 2 sterbaI Cory’s (we will get more of each soon) 4 red platys, 2 small clown loaches (my dad bought them on impulse, when they are larger we will sell them), 6 glofish tetras, 6 serpae tetras, 3 black phantom tetras ( we will get more later; some had died when we first got them) 4 cardinal tetras( getting more soon), 1 common goldfish (he will be moved later), bristlenose Pleco, 3 Denison barbs, some ghost shrimp, and one long fin cherry barb (I’m looking for more), and of course my electric blue ram.

When we got my ram a few months ago he was perfectly healthy, we also got him a female that was sickly looking when we got her. After two or three months she died. After that my electric blue ram acted completely normal. Until about a week ago when he started being lethargic and this morning my ram was turning black. About two weeks ago he started turning paler, then he turned black this morning. All he had been doing was sitting in a corner all day, he lost his appetite as well.

Could you guys please tell me what’s going on? Also is my tank overstocked?

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Well, first of all, electric blue rams need a temperature of over 80 degrees. 74 degrees is quite cold for them, and their immune systems are weakened when kept below 80. Really its 10 degrees too cold as far as I know. The problems that many people have with these guys stem from incorrect temp as far as I've seen. Angels and quite a few of those fish like it a bit hotter too if I'm correct. Bolivians are more my thing though so I can't help too much otherwise, I'll tag the GBR man in to help you more than I could coralbandit

 

Thank you so much

 

8-10 degrees too cold and too many fish for a ram to be comfortable IMO.
You have cool water and very warm water fish together ..Something is going to give like it or not ..
They all don't like the same and more 'delicate 'fish like the ram will not tolerate being kept under other fishes chosen parameters ..
Many fish are flexible and can accept a wide range of conditions ..
Rams are not one of those fish .at all.. They need to be #1 in the tank IMO .
The site is having issues so I have not seen any of your pics .

 

My mother is wondering if it’s best to put him down... is it? I don’t want to but if he survives for another week then I can sell him to my LFS. Does anyone think he’ll survive that long?

Originally my tank was 77 degrees however it dropped when my heater broke. I’m trying to fix it. Are there any fish that can’t be kept together in this tank? I try my hardest to keep them alive but I’m only 12 so I can’t spend a lot of money and as far as my parents are concerned we can just replace them. It breaks my heart to see them suffer though.

 

The rams and cardinals are fish that want 84f.
All your other fish are fine in mid 70f water and are not very demanding.
But both the ram and cardinals are not very flexible and even under good conditions have much shorter lives then the other fish you have .
I have roselines and clown loaches in my tank and they are my favorites .
All the tetras should be fine ,so if getting the heat up is a problem just see how the ram and cards do .All the others should be perfectly happy in your tank the way it is now .
Good for you trying to do your best ! That is what makes great fish keepers .We all keep learning every day so hang in there .

 

Well it's great that you're trying and looking for help. It's clear that you care too. Well done! I'll upload the pics here in a way that everyone can see them, the pics aren't working 100% on the site at the moment without the app so this is how they have to be seen.

 

Thanks you so much! I’ll sell the cardinals with the ram later this week. I had thought the cardinals would be fine but if not then I will sell them to the store. Thank you guys for helping me!

 

He looks skinny ?
Possibly an internal worm issue ?
If he is only fish in this condition it may be best to put him down and not have to treat the whole tank or possibly have other fish infected ..

 

Thanks... is there any humane ways to put him down that are cheap and easy?

 

I let ice cubes cool water in a glass for a couple minutes then drop fish in cup .
Small fish like the ram pass in under 10 seconds usually..
Sorry about the ram ..They are pretty tough to keep if not set up in tank mostly for them .
I breed them and ship all over the country..Most people with fish store rams have problems with their fish from day 1 and they usually don't last long .Store rams are so bad many have sworn the fish off saying they would never own one again !

 

Maybe when I’m older and have more space and time I’ll try again. But as for now I just want to thank you for helping me! It’ll be sad saying goodbye to him but if it will end his suffering I will. I don’t think he would last for the next week. Thanks for helping me though!

 

Maybe when I’m older and have more space and time I’ll try again. Thanks for helping me though!

You are very welcome .