How Many Rams In A 75 Gallon?

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RaechalLee

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I have a planted 75 gallon stocked with
 
4 angels
3 german blue rams
1 albino bristlenose pleco
1 golden gourami
 
 
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I was wondering how many rams would I be able to add in my tank?
 
I love Bolivian Rams but have always read to stick to either one, german blue or bolivian. Would it be a bad idea to add three bolivian rams?
 
I think I have two males and one female, or possibly one male and two females. >.<
 
 
 
 
 
 
Also, does anyone know if these are males or females? I have been trying to figure it out but I feel like something changes about them everyday :p haha
 
Dont know anything about rams but looks like 2 male one female, I would think the one with the least amount of coloration would be female, because most males in nature are more colorful for mating purposes or whatever lol.
 
I actually think the paler one is the male because he has longer and pointier fins than the other two. He normally has bright colors like the others but was getting picked on by another fish that I have removed since the pictures and was super stressed out. It's so hard to tell.
 
Male or not... your GBRs are stunning! :)

Welcome to TFF!
 
I am sorry to disappoint you, but imho you got 3 male GBR. The yellowish one looks not very fit with that sunken in belly. For how long have you had them? I would try to get 3 female GBR. You could also add Bolivian rams. But those are larger and would dominate the GBR. Personally I would stick with one species.
 
Btw do you know your water parameters. What are KH & total hardness? GBR should only be kept in soft water. Read here about GBR: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/mikrogeophagus-ramirezi/
 
hobby5 said:
I am sorry to disappoint you, but imho you got 3 male GBR. The yellowish one looks not very fit with that sunken in belly. For how long have you had them? I would try to get 3 female GBR. You could also add Bolivian rams. But those are larger and would dominate the GBR. Personally I would stick with one species.
 
Btw do you know your water parameters. What are KH & total hardness? GBR should only be kept in soft water. Read here about GBR: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/mikrogeophagus-ramirezi/
 
 
 
 
The guy at the LFS said he thought they may have been male/female of course he would say that though because I bought them quickly haha I know the washed out one is a male, he use to be a lot brighter and healthier a couple months he started going downhill. I've had him for about a year I would say now. He was my first ram and he paired with a female I had. I assumed they took out the third ram because I found him dead but no signs of bad water or anything. Then months later my female went missing and my male started to lose color. I figured out that my boyfriend's red tail shark was constantly chasing the rams and harassing them a lot, especially at night. I think he may have killed the female ram since she was so small and my red tail shark was about 6 inches or so. I decided I was going to get rid of the shark but then couldn't find the male ram so I assumed he was dead. Turns out he was just hiding really well and when I found him he did not look good at all. (tattered fins, sunken stomach, pale etc) I took the RT shark out a couple days ago and picked up the two new rams.
 
Since I've added the new rams the old ram's color has brightened up a lot compared to what it was but he still resembles more of a bolivian ram with his lighter colors now. I don't know if his coloring will ever come back. I think he was hiding behind my 3D background which is completely darkness and a tiny space for him.
 
One of the new rams seem to be doing a lot better than the other two. Bright colors all the time. The other ram (one of the new ones) follows the alpha ram around the tank but when he/she does the alpha ram usually attacks it or displays. Sometimes they follow each other around and are perfectly fine.
 
PH is 7.0 and I am not exactly sure of the hardness of the water in my area but I've never had problems keeping rams before.
 
Is there a separate kit to buy that will just test hardness?
 
 
 
 
if you wanted to mix it up with the rams, you could always add color morph variations, like the Electric Blues or Golds. The best way to determine the sex of the rams is by the blue speckles on their body. If it's a male, there shouldn't be any of the blue speckles inside of the black spot on their side. Also, there dorsal fin spike will be more prominent and males will develop orange coloration on their fins. Juvenile females will almost always have pink bellies.
 

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