Gold Rams

[chesterjohn]

How difficult are Gold rams to keep? What is their ideal ph and temperature?

I can't find much about them on the internet, but after seeing some in a fish shop, they have changed me from wanting bolivians

 

[Peggers]

I think Gold Rams are just a colour morph of German Blue Rams Mikrogeophagus ramirezi so they'll need the same conditions as them. GBRs require higher temps, around 80F, than most community fish like so don't make ideal community tank mates.
This is their species index.

 

[markandhisfish]

as said above care of golds is basicly the same as for german blues . can be acclimatised to surprisingly wide ph range ime . more important is to keep the stats perfect and stable .

 

[meguro]

as said they are mikrogeophagus ramirezi, just like blue rams. temperature 28-32C, pH 6-7, soft water (low hardness), min tank size 20gal 2ft

bolivian rams rarely look any good in lfs, im surprised the golds showed much colour

 

[chesterjohn]

bolivian rams rarely look any good in lfs, im surprised the golds showed much colour

The bolivian rams hardly had any colour at all. I only wanted them after seeing some pretty ones on google images, but don't really want to get plain fish as my centre piece fish. Would they get more colour when settled in a nicer tank?

The golds were lovely, a really nice colour and bright.

My tank ph is around 8. Probably a bit too high for them

 

[meguro]

The bolivian rams hardly had any colour at all. I only wanted them after seeing some pretty ones on google images, but don't really want to get plain fish as my centre piece fish. Would they get more colour when settled in a nicer tank?

The golds were lovely, a really nice colour and bright.

My tank ph is around 8. Probably a bit too high for them

yes the bolivians would get more colour after settling in to a proper tank and maturing a little. it sounds like the lfs is decent too if the gold rams were showing nice colour

here is a juvenile male of mine. ive had him ~4-6 weeks now. he was basically all one colour when i got him, he even had very little red on his fin edges and lacked the two tone body colouration

here is my adult male for comparison. he was also rather bland looking when i first got him.

additional pics

 

[markandhisfish]

is the lfs local to your area? if so ask them what they are being kept in.if it is just local tapwater and they are doing well then theres no reason why they shouldnt do equally well in your tank, provided you can give them the clean water and warm temps they require.

 

[Glenbo1981]

The bolivian rams hardly had any colour at all. I only wanted them after seeing some pretty ones on google images, but don't really want to get plain fish as my centre piece fish. Would they get more colour when settled in a nicer tank?

The golds were lovely, a really nice colour and bright.

My tank ph is around 8. Probably a bit too high for them

yes the bolivians would get more colour after settling in to a proper tank and maturing a little. it sounds like the lfs is decent too if the gold rams were showing nice colour

here is a juvenile male of mine. ive had him ~4-6 weeks now. he was basically all one colour when i got him, he even had very little red on his fin edges and lacked the two tone body colouration

here is my adult male for comparison. he was also rather bland looking when i first got him.

additional pics

To be fair, one picture is light and the other is dark.

 

[meguro]

yeah the tank light is rather poor in the tank that the fish was in then. the link i posted has other pics of the male in the same tank as the first pic shown. the backgrounds and substrate are also different. no flash was used in either pic

but the male in the bottom pic usually has a more washed out colour after spawning, as opposed to before spawning. whereas the females colour is usually the reverse. the pics in the link are post-spawn whereas the pic above is pre-spawn

 

[chesterjohn]

They are lovely. But I've taken a shine to the gold rams. I think I'll ask the shop about them when I get back from holiday. If not, I'll have some Bolivians.

Would there be any problems in putting a pair of each into a tank together?

 

[Glenbo1981]

yeah the tank light is rather poor in the tank that the fish was in then. the link i posted has other pics of the male in the same tank as the first pic shown. the backgrounds and substrate are also different.

This makes a dramatic difference

Get a photo of the same Firemouth on a black background then on a light background.

My 2 Bolivians look the same as the bottom pic because they have always been in a tank with a dark background and black substrate.

 

[meguro]

Would there be any problems in putting a pair of each into a tank together?

bolivians prefer a temperature of 24-27C as opposed to the gold rams 28-32C. though over spring/summer my tank is hardly below 28C for around 3-4 months, and the bolivians are still going strong. main thing is to make sure u have plenty of aeration either via airstones, surface agitation, plants etc.

personally i would go with just one type instead of mixing. and it depends on what else u want to stock. few fish appreciate 28C+ for long periods of time

This makes a dramatic difference

Get a photo of the same Firemouth on a black background then on a light background.

My 2 Bolivians look the same as the bottom pic because they have always been in a tank with a dark background and black substrate.

the bot pic is still quite a light substrate and a med-dark blue background but its a t8 light instead of the t5 on the top and linked pics