Sara Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Bear, my male Blue Ram has his spine severely bent at a right angle...not a head-and-tails-in-the-air type of bend, though. If you look at him from above, he looks almost like a 'C'. Ahhh! My quarantine tank is currently being driven back to me (it was on loan), but I'm not sure what to do next. Bear can straighten out his spine and swim/flop around when the female ram picks at him, but when he's resting (hiding in the plants, etc.), he goes back to that 'C' shape. He's obviously quite uncomfortable, but he's trying to eat so that makes me think he's not totally lost. My first instinct was TB, but it just doesn't make any sense...this literally happened in the past 24 hours (he was totally fine last night when I fed him) and his curve isn't typical of TB. I think it must be some sort of injury. Does he have any chance of recovering? Or should I just euthanize him? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?...I did a search but only came up with bent spines in reference to inbreeding and TB. Other details: - 10 gallon tank - temp 78-80 - pH=7.4 - ammonia & nitrites=0 - nitrates=5 - other tankmates are a female blue ram and 4 panda cories. I posted this on another forum that I am on and all we've come up with is QT, melafix and salt. Any suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated...Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I"m sorry i dont' know what could be wrong with your ram. BUt i think that your best chance of saving him would be using a Q tank and keeping the water in perfect condition(i wouldnt' add salt). You could add melafix but that is used more to treat wounds, fungus and infections. I dont' think it will do much for a bent spine. SO you say he can straighten out and swim when he tries? and when he's resting he is curved like a C? What other tankmates is he with? COuld any have possibly injured him? Does he have any marks or any other signs on his body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Sara How long have you had this fish, and at what stage of it's life is it currently at? (fry/juvie/adult) This may be a long shot, but scoliosis (curved spines) in fish can also be caused from vitamin deficiencies, and/or an improper balance of amino acids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Thanks for the replies, degrassi and RD. I came home from work and Bear was dead...I suppose that I wasn't really surprised. RD - I'd only had him a couple of months, and he was still fairly young...definitely not an old age thing. And I'm fairly sure that it wasn't a lack of vitamin...this literally happened overnight! I fed him on Monday and he was fine, Tuesday he was bent in half. degrassi - he was in a tank with another blue ram and four panda cories, so I can't imagine any of them beating him up that badly. Either than the curve, he had no visible signs of damage. Anyway, I attached a picture that I just took so you can get a better idea of what I'm taking about. The pic is with his underside facing the camera(head on the left, tail on the right)...both his head and tail are resting directly on the tank bottom. After looking at the pic, does anyone have any more ideas as to what might have caused this? Poor Bear... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I'm sorry to hear that he died. I dont' know what could have happpened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Bummer, sorry to hear that Sara. It's impossible to say what brought that on so suddenly. Normally with a young fish I'd suspect TB, although in this situation I'm really not sure? A fish can have TB and show little to no symptoms, but I'm not sure about the curved spine showing up so suddenly? This is an interesting read: http://www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html BTW - just in case by the remote chance it was TB, please be careful handling that fish, and you might want to use gloves in that tank for the next little while, just to be on the safe side. (especially if you have any cuts/scrapes on your hands or arms) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Thanks for the article, RD...much appreciated. I will definitely be careful taking down the QT, just in case...especially since I cut my hand last night while setting it up Wow, is my 10 gallon starting to look bare... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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