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Yea!!! I just got my first bolivian ram and he/she is starting to color up though I did my research I still have a few questions.

1. When do they reach sexual maturity?

2. I feed frozen brine shrimp, cory pellets (for cory's but the ram likes them) and some flake can I use veggies to supplement the diet?

3. I think my ram is a female but I am not sure if I introduce a male and she is not ready to breed will there be fighting?

4. I want to use tetra's as dither fish what species would cope best with the ram I personally like bloodfins but I dont want to stress out the ram too much.



"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

Congrat's on the rams. They'll do great with tetras (just about any species except for bucktooths...mine are with phantom tetras), and I'd go ahead and try and add a male - they're really pretty mellow cichlids even with each other...and their sparring is mild at best.

What you're feeding sounds fine. Try some skin off steamed/cooked peas or lima beans - mine love them. They'll eat anything that hits bottom, and they'll come up for flakes, too...they're just very easy to keep, easy going cichlids.

Eric

Last edited by Big E at 11-Sep-2005 21:20

Rams are very beautiful fish & they do fine with Tetra's. They reach maturity, at about 10 months & the more food variaty, the better for them. You can try feeding them vegetables & see how it goes. The male has a longer dorsal fin, but sometimes it's difficult to see the difference.



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Thank you!!

I just have one last question My tank is 12 gallon and I have 2 panda cory's and of course my ram if I add a 2nd ram will it be overstocked or will I be able to add a small school of tetra's or get more cory's?

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

You don't have the space for another ram, so just go with more cories. Pandas are group-needy, but are fortunately pretty small. Maybe go with seven or so more of them, then your tank will be fully stocked. The cories need good water quality, so you don't want to overdo the fish load.

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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."

7???? Wow my LFS said 2 cory's would be fine together is that true? I was planning to add 4-5 bloodfin tetra's that would really mess with my plans. Also if it helps the tank is planted and I could water changes more frequently will that increase the capacity?

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

While that is true technically, Corydoras really shouldn't be without like company. They are very social fish and are much happier and more active in large groups. Though you may be able to squeeze in the tetra school with the cories and ram, I just wouldn't do it in a tank that small. Bolivian rams produce a fairly large amount of waste for their size compared to a similarly-sized Corydoras or Characin.

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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."

So would 4 Cory's, 4 tetra's and the ram work? I know tetra's need to be in a group of 6 but im afraid that just the ram and cory's will be boring.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

I'd just stick with cories and the ram. The more Corydoras you have in there, the more active and playful they'll be. C. panda is one of the most active cory species, so you won't have to worry about them being boring. Certain other members of these forums can attest to that. Bloodfin tetras aren't too active anyhow, at least judging by what I've seen of them. They tend to just hang in the water column a lot.

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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."

"1. When do they reach sexual maturity?"

In my experience, all the Rams I have were about
2 inches in size when i bought them, and all were
sexually mature.


"2. I feed frozen brine shrimp, cory pellets (for cory's but the ram likes them) and some flake can I use veggies to supplement the diet?"

Bolivian Rams are indeed omnivores, and will appreciate the addition of some veggie wafers to their diets. My rams enjoy an algae wafer each every 2nd day.


"3. I think my ram is a female but I am not sure if I introduce a male and she is not ready to breed will there be fighting?"

It is very hard to determine gender in young rams. If it is quite small it will be almost impossible to determine.
When older there is some sexual differentiation, but it may not be much.

"4. I want to use tetra's as dither fish what species would cope best with the ram I personally like bloodfins but I dont want to stress out the ram too much."

What I would do if I were you would be to return the Panda Corys to the Fish Store, keep the Ram,get another ram, as they are a bottom swimming fish, and enjoy company.
Then get the Bloodfins to fill the tank in. I would go with a pair of Rams and then 6 Bloodfins.
Just my opinion though, Boliv Rams are one of my fave fish and are very interactive with each other.
Probably why I have 5


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