Electric Blue Rams

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Electric Blue Rams

My LFS generally always has these in stock; I was wondering; how big do they get (I’ve found minimal information via searching); required tank size (say per pair), and I’ve heard they are best kept in groups, is this true and how many do you need?

My LFS only sell them in breeding pairs; how easy are these to breed?

 

[Always Learning]

For information on them, just look up Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi or German Blue Ram. They're the same thing.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

For information on them, just look up Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi or German Blue Ram. They're the same thing.

Thanks.

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi,

I cant help with breeding information but heres alittle general info on the GBR's

Best kept in pairs or groups, min tank size for a pair would be around 20-25 gal

They require a low PH of between 5.5 and 6.0 and a higher than usual temperature of between 28-32 celcius. They are also intolerable to nitrates above 20ppm so regular water changes are required and obviously depending on the nitrate reading of your tap water they may not be even an option.

Due to these specific requirements they dont make good community fish as most freshwater fish will not enjoy the higher temperature that GBR's require, so if you want rams for a community setup then I'd suggest bolivian rams.

If GBR's are kept outside of these parameters they are lucky to live longer than a couple of months.

Hope this helps a little

Andy

 

[nmonks]

Just wanted to say, nicely done! Couldn't agree more with what you've said here. It's a shame these fish are sold as "community fish" because they're not, and as you say, they need very specific conditions to do well.

It's also worth mentioning that ram cichlids are notorious for being "juiced" by fish farmers. This means they're treated with hormones and/or antibiotics prior to sale. This makes them seem more colourful and more hardy than they actually are. After a few weeks or months the treatment wears off, and they go back to being delicate, difficult to maintain fish outside of the very precise conditions outlined here.

Cheers, Neale

Hi,

I cant help with breeding information but heres alittle general info on the GBR's

Best kept in pairs or groups, min tank size for a pair would be around 20-25 gal

They require a low PH of between 5.5 and 6.0 and a higher than usual temperature of between 28-32 celcius. They are also intolerable to nitrates above 20ppm so regular water changes are required and obviously depending on the nitrate reading of your tap water they may not be even an option.

Due to these specific requirements they dont make good community fish as most freshwater fish will not enjoy the higher temperature that GBR's require, so if you want rams for a community setup then I'd suggest bolivian rams.

If GBR's are kept outside of these parameters they are lucky to live longer than a couple of months.

Hope this helps a little

Andy

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Hi,

I cant help with breeding information but heres alittle general info on the GBR's

Best kept in pairs or groups, min tank size for a pair would be around 20-25 gal

They require a low PH of between 5.5 and 6.0 and a higher than usual temperature of between 28-32 celcius. They are also intolerable to nitrates above 20ppm so regular water changes are required and obviously depending on the nitrate reading of your tap water they may not be even an option.

Due to these specific requirements they dont make good community fish as most freshwater fish will not enjoy the higher temperature that GBR's require, so if you want rams for a community setup then I'd suggest bolivian rams.

If GBR's are kept outside of these parameters they are lucky to live longer than a couple of months.

Hope this helps a little

Andy

Thanks

I did read up about them on wikipedia and it had similar information (I just like to double check when it comes to wiki). I'd love some, however I think their pH range would be out of my range . Never mind.

 

[Always Learning]

Hi,

I cant help with breeding information but heres alittle general info on the GBR's

Best kept in pairs or groups, min tank size for a pair would be around 20-25 gal

They require a low PH of between 5.5 and 6.0 and a higher than usual temperature of between 28-32 celcius. They are also intolerable to nitrates above 20ppm so regular water changes are required and obviously depending on the nitrate reading of your tap water they may not be even an option.

Due to these specific requirements they dont make good community fish as most freshwater fish will not enjoy the higher temperature that GBR's require, so if you want rams for a community setup then I'd suggest bolivian rams.

If GBR's are kept outside of these parameters they are lucky to live longer than a couple of months.

Hope this helps a little

Andy

For wild caught ones, I agree. But for most which have been tank bred through generations, then no, I don't.
Discounting what I have heard from ther owners and just using my own, then they're more than happy and are breeding readily in a tank with a PH of 7 and 26-27C.

 

[nmonks]

Couldn't disagree more. The farmed ones are more prone to Mycobacteria infections than wild-caught ones. Odd specimens may succeed in generic community tanks. But I get messages maybe once a week over at WWM about sick ram cichlids. If you spend some time talking with retailers, you'll get the same basic story, and like guppies and dwarf gouramis, ram cichlids are fish they'd often prefer not to stock.

Cheers, Neale

For wild caught ones, I agree. But for most which have been tank bred through generations, then no, I don't.
Discounting what I have heard from ther owners and just using my own, then they're more than happy and are breeding readily in a tank with a PH of 7 and 26-27C.

 

[MBOU]

Agreed.... rams (except Bolivians) are seriously on my 'don't want to stock' list. Waste of time.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Hi,

I cant help with breeding information but heres alittle general info on the GBR's

Best kept in pairs or groups, min tank size for a pair would be around 20-25 gal

They require a low PH of between 5.5 and 6.0 and a higher than usual temperature of between 28-32 celcius. They are also intolerable to nitrates above 20ppm so regular water changes are required and obviously depending on the nitrate reading of your tap water they may not be even an option.

Due to these specific requirements they dont make good community fish as most freshwater fish will not enjoy the higher temperature that GBR's require, so if you want rams for a community setup then I'd suggest bolivian rams.

If GBR's are kept outside of these parameters they are lucky to live longer than a couple of months.

Hope this helps a little

Andy

For wild caught ones, I agree. But for most which have been tank bred through generations, then no, I don't.
Discounting what I have heard from ther owners and just using my own, then they're more than happy and are breeding readily in a tank with a PH of 7 and 26-27C.

Interesting.

My LFS have a list of rare breeders and they get their stock from them (I assume) they always seem to have them in.

 

[Always Learning]

'Farmed' ones, no matter what the species, are never as hardy. That's not exclusive to rams by any means. Find out where the Rams have come from, as all but one of my LFS round here, are supplied by local breeders and they're not washed out, fragile deaths waiting to happen.

 

[nmonks]

If I was being generous, I'd say about 1 in 100 rams sold in the UK is from a local breeder. So you're incredibly lucky, and I'd guess live in a soft water area where breeding rams is easy. Here in the hard water southeast of England, breeding rams in tap water is basically impossible, so virtually every retailer imports them. Given most of England has hard water, and most of the population live in hard water areas, unless a shopper knows otherwise, it's safest to assume any rams on sale are farmed, not locally bred.

Another factor for those in urban areas is their intolerance of nitrate. London tap water commonly has 50 mg/l nitrate, and if exposed to that for long most cichlids get sick, let alone rams. Again, if you live somewhere with nitrate-free tap water, your experience of rams may be very different. But relatively few people in England enjoy nitrate-free, low hardness water -- hence my disapproval of rams as "community fish" for casual aquarists.

What's amusing about this conversation is that even back in the 80s, people considered rams unreliable fish. There's a statement to that effect in my old copy of Baensch's Aquarium Atlas.

Cheers, Neale

'Farmed' ones, no matter what the species, are never as hardy. That's not exclusive to rams by any means. Find out where the Rams have come from, as all but one of my LFS round here, are supplied by local breeders and they're not washed out, fragile deaths waiting to happen.