German Blue Ram Questions

[fish_keeper2]

i was wondering on this set up: 29 gal AGA tank. stock would be: 1 angel fish, 3 male guppies, 3 albino corries, 3 ottos, 1 M/F pair of german blue rams. decor would be driftwood, lots of live plants, and substrate is either gravel or one of those types made for planted tanks. will this be a good set up? also what do i do to breed the rams?

 

[ArielC]

i wanted to have some blue rams in my 35 gallon also. i was looking to keep two, and ive heard that male/ female is better than male/ male. If the male female combination spawns in my tank, will they hurt the other fish, and will the fry survive?

I plan on having

5 or more rumy nosed tetras

6 neon tetras

2 zebra danios (to cycle the new tank)

1 or two dwarf gouramis

male/ female german blue ram

5 cory catfish

 

[AndyTaylor]

ArielC.....2 male rams will not tolerate each other in your tank..... 1 of them will be killed so it's not a case of M/F being preferrable, it's the only way you can do it.
Rams, being Cichlids, can be aggressive during breeding but generally should be fine in a community set-up.
They are quite difficult to sex so it may not be easy to get a pair.
Do a search on here for blue rams before you do anything and read everyone's experiences.

Also, please don't use fish to cycle your tank, it's unneccessary and cruel. Do a search for 'fishless cycling' and spare your Danio's a shortened lifespan.

 

[fish_keeper2]

german blue rams arent herd to sex. ive read on several sites that females tend to be smaller, fatter, and have a red/pink spot on their bellies where as the males are slightly bigger, thinner and more yellow and no red spot.

from our own fish index: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=34986

Females have a pink belly and are fatter. The dorsal rays are also shorter. Males have longer black dorsal rays and a more of a yellow tint to their bodies. Males are sometimes larger than females.

btw i know not to cycle with fish. i have plenty of established tanks so that i can seed the tank once i get everything to set it up.

 

[AndyTaylor]

Sorry, fish keeper2, that response was aimed at ArielC's question below yours.... I think your proposed setup sounds fine....I've never had any of my rams breed so i can't help there.

I don't agree about the sexing issue though....It's very easy to say that females look different from males because of x,y and z but when you're looking at an LFS tank full of juvenile blue rams the differences are very hard to spot, IMO. I've also found that shops rarely stock females, around here anyway.

 

[fish_keeper2]

oh ok. luckily the lfs where i got my female has older ones so sexing them isnt a problem. i just need to get back there and get a male.

ive decided to change my stock a bit and leave the guppies in the ten gal and make a spieces only tank with 3 male guppies and 6 females. in the 29 gal once i set it up will have 1 angel fish, 1 m/f pair of german blue rams, 3 albino corries, 3 ottos and 5-7 schooling fish. im still decidig what schooling fish i want. right now im inbetween neons, glo lites, and harliquin rasboras but im favoring the glo lites.

 

[AndyTaylor]

Get Harlquins, I have a shoal of 14 and they're brilliant. Always active, completely peaceful and beautiful when they color up.....and they're tough too, very tolerant of changes in the water.. IME