Getting Ready To Keep German Blue Rams

[thegnu]

pH of 7.4 you can get away with lowering, i mean it probably can be done because the KH is probable low, but its best not to. rams will live in it. what bugs me is people who have got water with pH8 or even higher and they keep rams. then you have people who say it doesn't matter what the pH is, just match it to the water that your LFS keeps them in. well your LFS, if its not too far away, will be on the same water board as you and they dont do anything to lower their water so its the same as yours. if they are further from the waterboard then their water stays in the pipes longer, picking up more stuff from the pipes making it harder. the waterboard dont mind this as soft acidic water would have a more eroding effect on their water pipes, but now i'm rambling. if rams are in your LFS kept in water with a pH8, they arnt going to live as long as rams that are kept in water under pH7 and you are told to match it so your rams are going to last as long as theirs, about 3 months, if you are lucky. a ram should live anywhere between 2-3 YEARS so dont tell me that pH dosent matter. LFS get their rams in and count on selling them all as quickly as possible. they also have alot of tanks to keep them in and if they struggle in a particuler tank will try them in another tank the next time until they stumble across a tank that can support the rams better (water changes pH because a number of reasons which i dont want to go into here) so what i am trying to say is try rams but if they keep dying, draw the line and say i cant keep them. the pH scale is logarithmic. each pH1 (step) is 10X more acidic, alkaline than the next so pH6 is 20x that of pH8 10X10 so pH6 IS 100 TIMES BETTER TO KEEP RAMS IN THAN pH8

 

[thegnu]

i forgot to mention, look for "east european rams" as these can be easier. this could be where the conflicting experiences occur because some are hardier than others

 

[arabballin]

I know of an lfs near by that advertises local bred rams. Should i go for those or should i go for the eastern european ones?

 

[thegnu]

well thats better still. but it still doesn't guarantee success

 

[arabballin]

so tell me what will guarantee success.

As far as i know, nothing with fish keeping can be guaranteed.

But tell me how i can get close.

 

[thegnu]

if you want to keep rams seriously so they thrive they need to be the centre of your attentions so a species tank a biotope around them. tank mates, one pair of rams, ottos, corys and any tetras bar serpia. i have a shoal of cardinals.
a good small size of gravel that wont leach any pH changing stuff into the water. bogwood so it will leach tannins into the water. plants, 50% of the substrate to be covered with fast growing stem plants like cabomba to help with water quality, oxygen.
filtration, aeration, dont have it disturbing the surface to much as it will drive off valuable co2 causing plants to suffer and raise the waters pH.
your pH isn't bad at 7.4. never use pH up down left right or centre. the only thing i would add is blackwater extract as its more natural used in water changes along of course with a good dechlorinator. nearer pH8 and you are talking ro units and you have to be totally committed to that as it can be hard work.
water changes. your tank isn't that big so 15% every 4 days. when i change my water i change 20% at a time and i fill a plastic jug out of a 20L bucket and tip it in at a hight of 2 feet above the tank to help with oxygenation of the water and to stir the bottom up so the filter will clean this. it shouldn't be to much, along with a gravel vac where i feed them. feed an eye on nitrate levels, check once a week and if they rise do more water changes. keep them under 20ppm.
food. frozen bloodworm is the best food imo. mine get some everyday. if they dont scoff it down try another brand.i'm in the uk and i swear by ruto b.v. zevenhuizen-holland. for the other fish, and your rams i would feed a little tetra prima granules slightly broken up.
keep a good whitespot remedy at hand and dose at the first spot you see. cardinals are good at showing these.
enjoy them they will follow you up and down the tank greeting you. they are a terrific little fish and so rewarding but if you let them down they are very quick to suffer.

 

[thegnu]

oh and i leave my water that i use for water changes with a nylon stocking filled and tied up with sphagnum peat moss but it must be rinsed after it goes into the stocking until the pieces stop coming out, well almost. when it no longer stains the water renew it

edit; like you say there is no guarantee in keeping fish, this is just one way. good luck

 

[arabballin]

Well the more i hear the less i like. The LFS guy told me today of the 100 people that buy rams maybe 5 succeed. Now i dont know if these people are novice or pros or anything, but that statistic really made me think. Plus with everything thegnu is telling me, i really cant put that much work in. I dont wanna get a fish that are unhappy. I guess ill be looking for a new center piece. Im really dissapointed, but i guess im not ready for it.

Anyone got ideas for a good center piece?

 

[thegnu]

its not that hard, arabballin, and you have done your research. the people who fail who the LFS guy is talking about (although i dont believe its as high as he has stated) are people who just stick any fish in their tank they like the look of. I've read of people keeping rams with oscars, another had his in with firemouths, another stated he kept his in a brackish tank (he also stated they were doing well!!!!) these are the people who fail miserable because they dont research anything about fishkeeping, like water changes. rams are one of the hardest fish to keep WELL. if you want to see them at their best. their amazing colors, how they act in the wild. i think they are deserving of the best care that we can give them. this applies to any living creature. its harder to keep fish than it is to keep a hamster, a rabbit, a cat or even a dog. this is just my opinion, nothing of this is set in stone, but all these fish we read about that have got a "hard to keep" tag on them, they didn't get this for nothing.