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Can someone give me the skinny on Bolivian Rams, After having Blue Rams for a few years, I've decided to move toward bolivians. I believe the blue rams are not impossible, but very difficult to keep long-term. I have a pristine S.A. tank with a large school of cards, rummys, otos and haven't lost one in over a year, but my rams seem to develop internal infectation after about 6 months and die.

I've read some articles that they actually acquired with this infection already in them.

My Scapes

blue rams come with lots of problems. the bigegst issue is acclimateing them and getting to live more then a few months. it seems they have alot in common with ottos. they just fall over for no apparent reason.

bolivians are much hardier but dont be fooled by the hardyness. liek blues they bring parasites and diseases with them because they are so hardy. if you have much love for your main tank i would QT any ram for a few weeks. i didnt and my tank sufferd columnaris which is NOT a friendly disease at all.

all this could just be coincidence or my bad luck. who knows im no scientist. but any future ram i get will be QTed for sure.

on a GOD note, after you get past all the new fish hassles lol they are GREAT fish. i have a male and female in my 75g tank made up of SA and Asian fish all under 5 inches. these fish stand out from the rest and demand your attention. they have more color then most lead people to believe. ill agree they dotn sport the blue rams sparkly reflectives in such a large area but they do have them. they also have neon pink, blue, yellow, and darker greys and blacks. they deffinetly explode with personality and arnt shy at all about being in the wide open.

anyway its a great fish and was worth every penny. just remember like the blue ram they arnt agressive and dont do well with pushy tank mates especielly during feeding.

hope this helps...if you would like some more in detailed info let me know and ill find some sites for ya.

Thank alot Sin!

Do actually have a question. I only purchased one Bolivian.
If I was going to get another sounds like you recommend a male and female. The only I just got has alot of red on the
back of the tail fin. What's the easiest way to sex them.




My Scapes

When larger, the male has flowing filaments on the tail fin (and sometimes the dorsal fin).

The female is a tad smaller without these flowing filaments. When younger, it's often best to buy 2 large, 2 small and see if you get a pair.

Eric

like mentioned its pretty tough to sex when they are young. when older the males show the flares and females dont. another way thats not fool proof but often has better odds then flipping a coin is females have rounded dorsal fins ( top fin ) and also the fin on the bottom between their tail and side fins will be rounded. females also lack in color but mine actually has more.

by the way a solo ram will be fine in the tank alone as long as you are happy with the situation. you just miss out on their breeding colors which ive yet to see but i hear its great. bolivians dont hit maturity till after a yr old or something so it takes a while and even then males are picky about a mate. you could have 1 male and 5 females and he may never decide on one. personally i went and found what i thought was a male and female and just waiting to see if they ever give me eggs to go ooh and ahh over lol.

if you wanna garantee a pair the only way i can think of is to look for an obvious male. leave absolutly no doubt in your mind and tak ehim home. then go out and find 6 possible females ( depending on tank size, dont do this in a 10g lol ) and hope there is one he likes. its just oen of those things that you have no say in the matter really. you can only get the best odds and hope for the best.

i went back and found my link haveing this very same conversation a month ago or so.
here is the [link=Link]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Cichlid%20Central/53995.html?200502020145" style="COLOR: #00FFFF[/link]

this has a picture of what i believe to be female and male. the fish on the left you will notice the rounded fins as mentioend above and the male showing signs of those flares also mentioned above.

ill get a new pic of my male tonight to show you his flares now.

here are those trailers, sorry for the poor quality. best i could get since hes learned i bring food he doesnt sit still if im near the tank lol. shes no better either she kept getting in the shot lol. anyway here ya go. ( they are small and just starting to grow in.)

Sin in Style attached this image: