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When I got my first German rams they were very small, very young. They adjust well to the tank, started growing and showing good color quickly, except for one.

He is basically a deformed fish, but I prefer to call him a runt. He's less than half the size of the other rams and his body is thin and narrow. His spine is bent...from the side the last third bends upwards; viewed from above it also bends towards one side. Also from above it's easy to see his head is larger that the rest of his body. He's rather thin and in certain lighting the internal organs can be seen. He doesn't swim smoothly but rather in a stuttering, shaky way on a head-down angle.

But he is as active as the other fish, eats well, and shows no signs of illness. He hangs out with the other rams, and while they occasionally bicker they never pick on him. The only problem I've had is after I recently did some filter maintenance he got stuck in the intake, luckily I was around when it happened and was able to resuce him.

I was talking with a lfs employee not long ago and he said I should destroy the fish Even if there was a chance of breeding I wouldn't do that, just put him in another tank....I see no reason for getting rid of a fish that's not suffering or ill, just because it doesn't look right.

Anyhow, this is my odd little friend PeeWee










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Poor little guy.. I'm glad to hear that he continues to do well for you, Theresa.. I tend to feel the same way as you when I see a "runt" in display tanks.. I'd say the chances of him successfully breeding are pretty slim to begin with, so why not just let him live his life as long as he can..

Good Luck with him..

aaaawwww hello PeeWee
He's cute!

You know,
I keep seeing tons of fish that are "malformed" or "deformed" like your sweet like PeeWee.
I think if more breeders conscientously culled their fish when they were newborns, we wouldnt be stuck with the choices we have to make on our fishes lives and wellbeings, and we wouldnt end up buy fish that die easily either.
My sister bought a gold ram once, and it didnt have a swim bladder that I could see at all!
I visited this pet store shortly after the gold ram died, and saw they had a whole tank full of gold rams just like this one, that had to visibly struggle just to keep a half inch off the ground. I razzed out the fish store pretty harshly for first buying these fish from whatever local breeder they get them from, and second charging $17.99 each for them! They claimed that "all gold rams swim like that". I was pretty choked I tell you.
But anyway, PeeWee is cute, and kudus to you Theresa for keeping him! We dont always see that the fish we buy are deformed when we buy them, often not until much later. I applaud you and anyone else who allows these handicapped individuals a chance at a complete, happy life! After all, they made it this far, they deserve it!


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Oh I can identify with this one... I have a few "abnormal" fish that are happy and not suffering and I refuse to end their lives Their genes will not spread past my front door so I feel no guilt about it.
Well done to you Theresa, I'm glad I'm not the only one that still treasures the unique