FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Uh Oh. . . . might just be me but this might not be good. . . probably one of 2 things. Either they're stressed out and scared or they might be a little shocked if you didn't acclimatize them properly. Rams are quite sensitive to water chemistry IME so you really need to treat them with some TLC (tender loving care). How were they acclimatized and have they started moving around yet?

Well initally the two were at opposite end of the tanks but now are right next to each other. However, they are sill stationary...

I acclimated them by adding 1/3 cup of tank water every 15mins for 1hour. I would like to point out that the Cardinals are active, swimming from one side to the other constantly. And my Amano Shrimps at first swam around endlessly but now have settled down a bit. I put some food flakes and the Cardinals/Shrimps eat some. But the Rams didn't move at all.

Hopefully they will start to move around tommorow I hope.



[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-02 20:25][/span]

Sounds to me like they weren't acclimatized properly. IME rams of any type are quite sensitive to water chemistry. At this point all you can really do is wait and see. Best case scenario is that they're not comfortable in the tank yet and should perk up soon. I'm thinking they might have been shocked in the move though so i really hope you don't lose them.

I like to use the drip method for acclimatizing new fish. You just set a piece of airline tubing or something similar to drip a few drops of water into the bag every few seconds. Wait until the pH in the bag is exactly the same as the tank before you introduce them. It took me 4-5 hours to acclimatize my blue rams when I first got them using this method.

For now, just increase aeration on the tank and the temperature by about 2 degrees every 4 hours until you get them up to about 84. That's usually the temperature I like to keep them at and the higher temps will increase their metabolism allowing them to adjust to the water faster. Good luck with them, I'll say a little prayer for your new babies.

Bolivian rams are not blue/gold/german rams - they are hardier than heck and not sensitive to water any more than your average jack dempsey or convict.

My guess is that they're in a new place and none too happy about being ripped out of their environment at the LFS.

Eric

Hmm but do lfs every have a good planted tank to begin with not mine. Are they male and female?

Well, its early morning and they are still stationary. However, they do move and hide if somone goes close to the tank. One of them constantly flaps its fins/dorsal/tail but the other one still doesn't move its fins very much. I'll update later tonight or earlier if I see them become more active. As for the Cards and shrimp, active as always.

I'm not 100% sure if I got a pair but they're always next to each other. And one of them has longer dorsal and tail fins. So hopefully they are indeed a pair.

Good news. They are a bit more active now. Although they still are pretty shy and hide most of the time together. They move from one spot to another spot periodically throughout the day.

Its nightime and I just turned the lights off and I instantly saw them moving about more freely. Maybe a couple more days and they will be more used to their new tank!

Here's some pics!
http://photobucket.com/albums/v347/djsly/

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-03 20:24][/span]

That's great news...I figured they were just shy. It does sound like you've got a pair on your hands. I have 4, and 2 recently paired up. He's really interested, but while still staying with him she's being quite coy.

They're great fish. Soon, they'll hang out in front and follow you around like the food diety that you are. :-)

Eric

I just spent some time watching them with the lights turned off! Even when they're in front of the tank, I can come close to them and not scare them off. Also, I put some pellets in and they ate for the first time!

One odd behavior I would like to point out while watching was that the larger one (female I think because she has shorter fins) sometimes pokes the male on the side. I don't think she's nipping him because it looks more like a "Go There!" gesture. ]

I just got 2 new Bolivian Rams and both of them are staying stationary since I put them in the tank. Is this common for introducing new fishes? My new Cardinals seem to be fine, they're moving about.

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-02 18:59][/span]

So you think that the "poking" isn't nippig but just a sign of dominance? I hope so.

Thanks for your help so far Eric!

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-04 07:56][/span]

Yep, I think the poking is a paired fish kind of thing - like a married couple nudging each other to get some point across...although who knows what they're really saying to each other in their own way!

Watching my pair with the unpaired other two fish (who I feel bad for these days), the pair definitely is "going after" and not just nudging the other fishes. When they nip the other fish, the unpaired fish flee and are chased. When the pair nudges each other, no one takes off escaping across the tank.

I hope that helps, but it's pretty obvious when you have a pair and unpaired fish - the nudge is cute, the aggression isn't.

Eric

Cool

Here's pictures of my tank and fishes. There's 2 pictures of the Rams hiding under a driftwood.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v347/djsly/

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-04 11:51][/span]

Cool pictures. I took a few pictures last night on my digital camera...I'll try to update my web page and post a link of the pair tonight (provided the pictures are good - it's hard to tell at first glance on that little camera screen!).

Here are 3 pictures I took - not the greatest quality, but my camera doesn't have a macro mode...

Male:

http://www.gbronline.com/crowshaven/Male%20Bolivian%20Ram.jpg

Female on left, male on right:

http://www.gbronline.com/crowshaven/Female%20Bolivian%20Ram%20Left%20&%20Male%20Right.jpg

Unpaired female being chased by pair (larger file):

http://www.gbronline.com/crowshaven/The%20Chase.jpg

Eric

[span class="edited"][Edited by Big E 2004-08-04 21:41][/span]

Hi Sly,

Sorry to go off topic, but what type of cory are those? They are SOOOO cute!

Those Cories are Trilineatus (http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Corydoras+trilineatus). And yes they are very cute.

Good pics and nice tank! I see that your Rams are more matured than mine because of their vibrant colors.

According to your the pictures you pointed out to be male and female, I do have a male and a female pair

And just for fun, I saw the [font color="#000080"]male[/font] poking at the [font color="#008000"]female[/font] tonight. But the [font color="#008000"]female[/font] struck back when she turned around and use her tail to slap the [font color="#000080"]male[/font] in the face a few times. I thought that was funny. ]


[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-04 23:18][/span]