=================================================================
CURRENT STATUS
June 12th, 2011: After almost nine months in the tank, I donated one male and one female Ram to a forum member. I don't think this tank was big enough to keep four of them comfortable. I hope the remaining male and female in my tank will settle in and hopefully mate at some point, now that there is not competition for space.
MARCH 13th, 2011: The tank has been rescaped to open up the floor more (pic in my siggie), and I have found a good home for two of the four Rams. They will be transferred after the new owner's tank is cycled for them.
FEBRUARY 25th, 2011: The four Rams are all maturing well. A lot more territorial aggression, but none seem to be pairing off. I think they are starting to get too big for this tank and am considering re-homing two of them soon.
JANUARY 14th, 2011: Almost four months in, and all Rams still appear healthy and active, but celibate!
AFTER ONE MONTH: The fours Rams have not shown any pairing off yet; they do exhibit some territorial behavior, but shoal together whenever the tank is cleaned; they beg for food like puppies whenever we approach the tank.
AS OF OCT 1st: Day 11: As more experienced forum members predicted, it took about 1 1/2 weeks, and the Rams are no longer afraid of us. They will come up to the front of the tank and stare at us when we approach (probably hoping for a shower of pellet food).
AS OF SEPT 28th: Day 8: Interesting food fight caught on video and posted down in the thread...
AS OF SEPT 26th: Day 6: Four Rams still hanging in there; still afraid of us human types. I think relations are starting to thaw a little.
AS OF SEPT 23rd: Day 3: Rams still seem well; currently afraid of anyone approaching the tank, so we don't see a lot of them yet.
AS OF SEPT 21st: Day 1: Four Rams are swimming in the tank!! Currently hiding, as they have only been in there for an hour.
=================================================================
Hi all,
After a 30 year break from fish keeping, I set up a 26 gallon freshwater tank with my kids over the past few months. After a patience-testing, 70 day fishless cycle, we have had 2 1/2 months of fish: Zebra Danio, Glofish, and Neon Tetras.
The tap water I have here in South Carolina (USA), is extremely soft: pH = 6.0 and KH/GH = 0. Upon asking this forum for suggestions for some larger, centerpiece fish (that would do well in my water type), I finally decided to try and get a male/female pair of Bolivian Rams.
The recent economy has gutted the LFS market in my area, with only the big box Petco/Petsmart stores surviving. Those stores never stock Rams, so I had to widen my search net. I located a large LFS in Charlotte, NC, (1 1/2 hour drive) that does stock Rams. They ordered the Rams for me from Singapore over a week ago, and they will hopefully arrive at some point this week (Sept 13th).
Due to the difficulty of sexing juvenile Bolivian Rams, they told me they cannot guarantee selecting a male/female. So I plan to buy four Rams and see if we get lucky enough to have two that pair off. I will then re-home the other two Rams, since I don't think my tank is big enough to handle four adults.
================================================================================
TANK PREPARATION
================================================================================
After doing my research on this forum and other web resources, I decided my tank needed a lot more planting, and perhaps a bit more cover.
My tank as it appeared prior to our first stock of fish: (all artificial plants)
PLANTS:
So I removed some of the artificials, and I added Amazon Swords, Water Sprites, and a Java Fern. My tank has very low level lighting (0.60 WPG), so I needed low light plants like these.
LIGHTING:
Also, I switched up my light bulb from an 8,000K blue'ish spectrum bulb, to a 6,500K green'ish spectrum that should be more plant-friendly. It made a big difference in how the tank appears.
ACCOMODATIONS:
The last thing I did was to add an additional shelter (in addition to the island cave) - a terra cotta pot from Lowe's that I boiled in water for 30 minutes prior to adding to the tank. I wanted two shelters in case the Rams are skittish at first, and since the males might be territorial.
So here is my tank as it appears today:
The only other thing I want to pick up is a flat stone in case I'm able to get a breeding pair that try to spawn.
CURRENT STATUS
June 12th, 2011: After almost nine months in the tank, I donated one male and one female Ram to a forum member. I don't think this tank was big enough to keep four of them comfortable. I hope the remaining male and female in my tank will settle in and hopefully mate at some point, now that there is not competition for space.
MARCH 13th, 2011: The tank has been rescaped to open up the floor more (pic in my siggie), and I have found a good home for two of the four Rams. They will be transferred after the new owner's tank is cycled for them.
FEBRUARY 25th, 2011: The four Rams are all maturing well. A lot more territorial aggression, but none seem to be pairing off. I think they are starting to get too big for this tank and am considering re-homing two of them soon.
JANUARY 14th, 2011: Almost four months in, and all Rams still appear healthy and active, but celibate!
AFTER ONE MONTH: The fours Rams have not shown any pairing off yet; they do exhibit some territorial behavior, but shoal together whenever the tank is cleaned; they beg for food like puppies whenever we approach the tank.
AS OF OCT 1st: Day 11: As more experienced forum members predicted, it took about 1 1/2 weeks, and the Rams are no longer afraid of us. They will come up to the front of the tank and stare at us when we approach (probably hoping for a shower of pellet food).
AS OF SEPT 28th: Day 8: Interesting food fight caught on video and posted down in the thread...
AS OF SEPT 26th: Day 6: Four Rams still hanging in there; still afraid of us human types. I think relations are starting to thaw a little.
AS OF SEPT 23rd: Day 3: Rams still seem well; currently afraid of anyone approaching the tank, so we don't see a lot of them yet.
AS OF SEPT 21st: Day 1: Four Rams are swimming in the tank!! Currently hiding, as they have only been in there for an hour.
=================================================================
Hi all,
After a 30 year break from fish keeping, I set up a 26 gallon freshwater tank with my kids over the past few months. After a patience-testing, 70 day fishless cycle, we have had 2 1/2 months of fish: Zebra Danio, Glofish, and Neon Tetras.
The tap water I have here in South Carolina (USA), is extremely soft: pH = 6.0 and KH/GH = 0. Upon asking this forum for suggestions for some larger, centerpiece fish (that would do well in my water type), I finally decided to try and get a male/female pair of Bolivian Rams.
The recent economy has gutted the LFS market in my area, with only the big box Petco/Petsmart stores surviving. Those stores never stock Rams, so I had to widen my search net. I located a large LFS in Charlotte, NC, (1 1/2 hour drive) that does stock Rams. They ordered the Rams for me from Singapore over a week ago, and they will hopefully arrive at some point this week (Sept 13th).
Due to the difficulty of sexing juvenile Bolivian Rams, they told me they cannot guarantee selecting a male/female. So I plan to buy four Rams and see if we get lucky enough to have two that pair off. I will then re-home the other two Rams, since I don't think my tank is big enough to handle four adults.
================================================================================
TANK PREPARATION
================================================================================
After doing my research on this forum and other web resources, I decided my tank needed a lot more planting, and perhaps a bit more cover.
My tank as it appeared prior to our first stock of fish: (all artificial plants)
PLANTS:
So I removed some of the artificials, and I added Amazon Swords, Water Sprites, and a Java Fern. My tank has very low level lighting (0.60 WPG), so I needed low light plants like these.
LIGHTING:
Also, I switched up my light bulb from an 8,000K blue'ish spectrum bulb, to a 6,500K green'ish spectrum that should be more plant-friendly. It made a big difference in how the tank appears.
ACCOMODATIONS:
The last thing I did was to add an additional shelter (in addition to the island cave) - a terra cotta pot from Lowe's that I boiled in water for 30 minutes prior to adding to the tank. I wanted two shelters in case the Rams are skittish at first, and since the males might be territorial.
So here is my tank as it appears today:
The only other thing I want to pick up is a flat stone in case I'm able to get a breeding pair that try to spawn.
They want nothing to do with the large Rams yet. Normally half of them are down at the bottom looking for food scraps.
