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How early can they decide to pair off?

Sneaky Pete - how interesting! There must be regional variations...or maybe yours is older than mine and mine hasn't grown the dorsal filament yet.

Fish are great, there is always more to learn!

Eric

Hey Big E, I wanted to mention, I was looking at my fish this evening, and I saw that indeed, my bolivian ram male, the biggest one, has a long probably inch -1.5 inch long filament on the back end of his dorsal. It is identical to the tail filaments.
I will try to get a pic in the next day or two.


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Yeah I just hook it up to my kitchen tap, its the closest to my tank.
What I do is after I finish draining the water out I want and gravel vaccing, I take the gravel vac end back to the sink and put it inside a smallish tupperware container and turn the water on "fill" and then pop a thermometer into the tupperware container to get the temp right. Once the temp is right you use the easy switch on the python handle to turn the power off and you high tail it back to the tank and turn it on right away so it doesnt spring a pressure leak (so instructions say to do), then I add the dechlorinator right under the flowing stream of water.


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Yeah I just hook it up to my kitchen tap, its the closest to my tank.
What I do is after I finish draining the water out I want and gravel vaccing, I take the gravel vac end back to the sink and put it inside a smallish tupperware container and turn the water on "fill" and then pop a thermometer into the tupperware container to get the temp right. Once the temp is right you use the easy switch on the python handle to turn the power off and you high tail it back to the tank and turn it on right away so it doesnt spring a pressure leak (so instructions say to do), then I add the dechlorinator right under the flowing stream of water.


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[link=http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_python.php]http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_python.php" style="COLOR: #00FFFF[/link]
try this cheap sollution with the exact same method as a python with out the name on the bag.

That's not too bad a price for a python - I really like Big Als for all my tank hardware. Do you need a faucet you can screw the python onto? How do you add dechlorinator? If it makes life that much easier, I might wait for the next sale and make a jump myself!

Eric

I was actually doing water changes since august with a 3 gallon bucket. Taking 14 bucketfulls back and forth was a pain, so yes, when I say BigAlsOnline had pythons on sale for their boxing week sale, I bought a 50ft one, and no looking back now. It even works super on my 25g and 10g tanks!
They are not that pricey, I paid 59.95 for mine on sale (canadian dollars) Thats about 51.50 American by todays exchange rate. Not as pricey as I thought they would be.


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i do my water changes with 5g jugs for my 75g tank
"must have" items are new fish and lighting and what not. labor is free when ya do it yourself

Sneaky Pete - I don't breed them, but they choose to breed on their own . They're not the most frequent spawners, though. When they're getting ready to spawn, their colors get much brighter than in those pictures...it's like they're hopped up on steroids or something.

I wish I had a 90g tank! I'm stuck with a 29, but I'm not sure I'd want to mess with the water changes for a 90 since I don't own a python...that has to be a "must have" item for larger tank owners.

Eric

Your rams are very nice Big E!
I see what you mean, your guy has huge tail filaments!
Nice coloration on those two. Do you breed them?

Azrael- I keep my rams in a 90 gallon community tank. I have 2, and later on down the road when the stock naturally dwindles, I plan on getting some more. I would love to have a nice male and harem. Perhaps some Blue and Gold rams as well, or another dwarf cichlid like keyholes or cockatoos or the like.


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pete what size tank do you keep your rams in?

Sneaky Pete - pics as promised. Sorry if they're not the best quality, but my camera doesn't do great close ups.

Male in back here:
http://members.isp.com/crowshaven@isp.com/Bolivian%20ram%20pair.jpg
Male on top - notice the long filaments on the tail:
http://members.isp.com/crowshaven@isp.com/Bolivian%20Ram%20Pair%202.jpg
Male by himself, a bit fuzzy, but shows his bulkiness and colors well:
http://members.isp.com/crowshaven@isp.com/Male%20Bolivian%20Ram%201.jpg

Eric

I requested these both at a lfs and now they currently have them in stock for right now i plan on a getting a pair of bolivs and germans, each which will be residing in 2 10 gallons for now. Question is how teh heck do i tell sex. I haven't seen them yet so i don't know how old they are.

well i just picked up 3 baby rams. Hopefully i will end up with a pair

I'll see if I can get a good shot tomorrow & post it. The only pics I have are about a year old now.

Eric

Oh, and I have had mine since around February of last year, I suspect he is about a year and a half in age. My smaller male is less developed yet, and smaller, and I would guess is about 8-12 months old, possibly slightly older. I am unsure how long it takes Bolivian Rams to reach adulthood, as mine were both definetly not babies when I got them.
Could you post a pic of your Big E? Sounds like hes a beauty!


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I just say filamentous because when he waves it around, it seems very shimmery, thin, and floaty, like the tail filaments. I dont know about females if the dorsal is like this, but it is definetly obvious in my both my males.


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Sneaky Pete - is that really a filament or just a more pointed dorsal fin like on many other cichlid males? Mine has a pointed dorsal fin (at least more pointed than the female), but his caudal filaments are now longer than the filaments on your nice looking male.

How long have you had him? I've had mine for a year and a half to two years now.

Eric

My Bolivian Ram male - the big guy, has definetly long filaments on his tail, and a flowing filamentous like area on his dorsal fin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v359/SneakyPete79/Fish%202/Pictures14023.jpg
Heres a pic


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