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Gang,

Funny how things happen. I was going to my LFS yesterday to buy some Seachem Equilibrium for the 125G that I am setting up right now. You can read more about that tank Here.

Anyway, they didn’t have it so I decided to take a stroll through the fish isles. I stopped in front of the Ram tank, as I have done quite a few times in the past as I intend to add a pair to the 125. I always tried to identify males and females, but I never could with 100% certainty say which is which.

Well, my eyes were getting big when I observed a male chasing others away from the center of the tank, except for one. Given her pink belly and her tolerance of the male, I new I have to have them. Not only were the genders clear, this was obviously a couple.

What can I say; they are now in my 29 until the 125 is ready to go. I hope they will like it there.

Any advice?

Ingo

LITTLE_FISH attached this image:

The pic shows the female with a little bit of the male visible behind her in my 29.

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 24-Sep-2005 09:49[/font]

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

They're probably familiar enough with each other that they will readily pair up again in your tank. Despite my earlier thoughts about them, it turns out that German rams are pretty easy to breed. I've seen multiple spawns in the same store tank, and you know that a fish that spawns at the shop will be more than happy to do it again in somebody's home. They're nice fish, and yours have good coloration despite having just been moved between two locations. That's definitely a good sign.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thanks,

That was also a reason why I bought them, they were by far the brightes colored of them all in the LFS tank. Clearly alpha male and female (if there is such a thing).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Congratulations Ingo, rams are my favourite fish by far! It's not only for the good looks but also for their very interesting behaviour. Yours seem to have nice colouration on them and that will only get stronger. To get the best out of them make sure you feed them with some live or frozen food at least twice a week and their colours will become vibrant. Don't worry too much if they seem to be fighting or ignoring each other, it's just part of their behaviour and what makes them really interesting (to me, at least)

One thing though. Knowing how you've worked hard on planning your planted tank I have to warn you that when breeding, rams can play the aquascapers. They will dig pits in the substrate and might uproot smaller plants. Once you move them to the 125G observe where they like to hang around most and add a small slate just there. Once they spawn they will do it on the slate instead of in a pit in the substrate which means they will not mess with plants too much. They will still dig a pit for when the wrigglers and then the free swimming fry, but that will not be as bad. My tank looks like a war zone now as my two Bolivian rams decided to spawn all of the sudden and they took the liberty to uproot most of my Hemianthus callitrichoides. At first I did try to plant it back but they are quite insistent. Blue rams are not as bad as bolivian rams as they are smaller, but even blue rams can wreak havoc.

I don't mean to discourage you at all! No matter how many times I've seen them spawn and go through the process of raising the fry, it's still fascinating to see that. You will definitely love those fish.

Gang,

I found out two more side effects of the Rams:

One is that they are mean snail killer machines . I always had a few (relative) snails in my tanks and as soon as I added them to the 29G they went to work. They hover in front of a piece of wood or a plant, observe, and then shoot forward and the snail is a treat. They don’t go after the grownups but that is good as they will continue to create new treats. It is fun to see how, after eating a snail, bits and pieces of shell are expelled from their mouths.

The other one is not all that nice. I placed a larger pebble with a net and Riccia in between in my tank about 3 weeks ago. It took me a while to collect the little pieces and to create a nice matt so that I could cover the pebble. It just had started to grow in nicely when I added the Rams. Within 2 days, the pebble is almost bare again. In particular the female Ram rips the Riccia out and I first attributed it to a breeding behavior mentioned above by Untitled. But she actually eats it and she also seems to like my Xmas Moss.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Congrats on your ram pair, very nice !
I bought 4 recently and think they're great !

I find your snail comment interesting, what kind of snails are they eating ?

The Amazon Nut...

You know, I have no idea what the snails are called, but they have a round shell and seen to stay rather small (maybe up to 1/4 of an inch). They also don't eat my plants but nibble the algae of it.

The platies eat them when they just hatched but the rams go after them even when they get a little larger.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Are those the pest snails? I wish my rams would kill them...

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

sirbooks,

Coincidentally, the latest issue of TFH also mentions Rams as snail control fish. I read about it this morning. It seems to me though that the Rams are losing the interest in snails at the moment.

This morning I saw them sit over a gravel area where I dropped an algae wafer the night before and quite a few snails of all sizes where still eating the remaining bits. The Rams didn’t seem to care.

But – they start to chase other fish away from this area of the tank (except the Otos, hm), I guess they declared this spot their home. Well, they will have to move sooner rather than later as they will find a new home in the 125.

Also, they finished off my Riccia stone, nothing is left .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Best of luck with your rams, Ingo. As you know in the Hospital forum I'm having some problems with one of my golds. They really are my favorite fish next to my angels but they are so sensitive to water quality. I had a hard time getting any blues to survive past the first day. I did manage to get one to prosper and she is now my favorite fish. I'm fairly certain it's a female and would love to get her a male to breed them.

Congrats on the lovely couple

Little Fish, I had pretty much the exact same experiance today that you just did. On a whim wandered into one of my LFS and saw a tank of rams. This is kinda rare since I almost never see them where I live. Needless to say I picked out 2 german blues and hurried home to add them to my tank.

Anyway they are GREAT. They already paired off. Well at least I think they did. I am pretty sure they are male and female (one has a really red belly) and I have yet to see them more than a couple inches apart.

And almost the best part. Like you said they are eating the 1/4 inch PITA snails that I picked up from some live plants at a LFS I never go to anymore. Had the darn things everywhere, now maybe 3 or 4 that I can see. I LOVE it.

I also noticed them nibbling on some of the green algae I have growing on some caves I had in the tanks. The algea doesn't bother me too much, in fact I think it makes things look more natural since the tank is pretty well planted. But its nice to know they have snacks in between feedings.

These two (Han and Leia) are quickly becoming my favorite fish I have in all 3 of my tanks. The way they interact with each other is amazing to watch. Its really like a family and they have only been in my tank for about 6 hours.

These are my first cichlids and I have to say I love em already.

2 questions though. Any particular food they really love? They were eating flakes when I first let them in the tank.

And, will my 3 cory catfish pose any problems? If they do they can be moved into my 29 gallon tank where I already have 6 cories. I read that since they both hang at the bottom problems might arise. Haven't seen anything yet but the rams are still small (just under an inch) so who knows.

Rams aren't picky as far as food goes, and they'll appreciate just about any live and frozen fare that their small mouths can consume. They love meaty food, and any change of pace from the typical flakes, wafers and pellets.

Corydoras catfish will not pose an actual threat to rams at all. The only difficulties between the two types of fish will occur when the rams are breeding. The cichlids will protect their eggs and fry, and will attempt to drive off any fish that come near them. Cories are curious bottom feeders, and may not figure out or heed the fact that the rams are intent on protecting their brood. The catfish will likely get nipped and chased off by the rams, but they will rarely suffer serious harm.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Well Guys, Bad News …

My Rams dies today.

I have been away for two days and when I came home they both were listless sitting at the bottom of the tank. I immediately grabbed my breeder box and placed the male into it.

He made about 6 flips, seeming to loose the sense of direction, and died on the spot. I added the female and she hung out at the bottom of the breeder. I tested the water to see if anything bad was going on. Nothing – 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate (I add nitrate for plant growth).

A few minutes later the female was also “standing” in the water, means head up towards surface, tail down towards bottom. I had to put her down. What a bummer, and loved them so much and had them for only one week. There were no visible signs of illness and I am wondering what could have caused this dramatic change from the happy fish that I left on Friday to the status of today.

Sorry guys,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

Sorry to hear about your Rams. IMO Blue Rams are one of the most sensitive fish sold in fish stores and most people purchase them because of their saltwater-like colors.

It could have been a number of things.

Acclimation - These fish need to be acclimated very slowly over the course of several hours to insure the highest survivability percent. Also if they recently were acclimated at the LFS (within a few days) and then re-acclimated by you that is definitely going to increase the likely that they will not make it.

Temp - These fish definitely prefer warm soft water (82 - 85F) Many times they are housed with Discus for this reason. Of course like many fish, if temp change is too much they will not only get sick, but die.

Water Quality - They do require pristine water with a very mature biological filter.

Tank Mates
They don't do well with this time of stress either and if any tank mate is more agressive then they are they will die.

It probably had nothing to do with you, they are just very sensitive fish that don't adjust well to most aquarium water environment. The Bolivian Ram is a much better choice.



Last edited by tetratech at 02-Oct-2005 18:53

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