My Rams

[Mikaila31]

I bought these 9 guys at an auction a month ago for $7. They still look mostly like little gray fish and are very shy. In just the last week the biggest ones started getting a few spots of blue on their heads. Can't really see it in any pics, but I'd thought I'd share them anyways. The biggest one is about an inch long with the rest being slightly smaller. There was one runt in the bag, who I'd thought would die on me but he's still going strong and is only 1/3" long .

Oh yeah, they are suppose to be German Blue's.

 

[flash22]

dont look like german blue's to me thay may be bolivian rams tho as thay havent got much colour

How long thay been in the tank ?? as thay do colour up when settled

have a look and my blue rams here (and my new gold rams)...................

[URL="http/"http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=265682""]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=265682[/URL]

 

[Mikaila31]

I'm pretty sure they are. Some are just starting to get some of there blue. They been in the tank a month. When I first got them, most where about 1/4" long.

Heres a pic a few days after I got them. They look alot more like rams now, then they did back then.

 

[RadaR]

They are German Blues. Will look stunning given time!

 

[paul_219]

Very nice pics. Lovely fish.

 

[kribensis12]

I will be looking for weekly updates!

 

[Mikaila31]

Update

They are starting to look and act more like rams every day. They are getting a lot bolder, so I've been able to get some better pics. You can see their colors are starting to come in!

You can see the runt in the center of the last pic. I'm wondering if I should do anything with him. He seems fine and healthy, but I'm concerned. His small size means he gets chased the most. All the other fish are at least twice his size. I was wondering if I should move him to a different tank or not?

Also at what size do they start pairing off? I've only kept lone rams before, so I'm new to the whole pairing up stuff. I'm guessing it should be easy to tell when two have paired? I can house up two 4 pairs in 3 different tanks, if I have too.

 

[flash22]

there coloring up nicely

unfortunately Ive lost my 7 blue rams and 2 gold rams due to a bacterial infection (lack of water flow behind my terracing)

 

[Mikaila31]

Update Dec 16th:

They are coming along quite rapidly now. Think I am starting to see some male and female signs. The runt is still there, and still very small. I still can't figure out what his problem is. Is it normal for some to just not make it?

Possible female

Possible male

Runt

Runt compared to the others

 

[Jim Curtis]

I would say your 100% accurate on your sexing. Females have red bellies males dont. Pretty easy to identify sex on a GBR. I just got a few of them myself.

 

[limerickbandit]

The Runt as you call him,from the pic looks more like an agassizi?
Is he anything like this?

LB

 

[Mikaila31]

I'm pretty sure the runt is a GBR, he didn't look any different than the others when I first got them. His dorsal fin is definitely rounded in the back. They where all about 1/4" when I first got them, with the runt being slightly smaller. Most are about 1" now but the runt is 1/3". I've had these guys about 2 months now and the runt has grown barely a quarter of an inch! Not sure what, but something is defenetly wrong w/ him....

These guys need to hurry up and grow. I've already got 50+ endler fry ranging from 2 months old to newborns. None of my other fish eat them. I need something to eat them, before my tank explodes! I've decided I'm going to move the runt over into their tank. That way he doesn't have to compete with the larger rams.

I've got 2 females and one male for sure. The other 5 look like they need another week before I will be able to tell.

 

[Mikaila31]

Update!

The rams have been in there permanent tank for a while now. I'm not sure how many I currently have , I did lose the runt. The rest won't stay still for counting. Also I can still only sex 3 of them. They are all growing, but most have only faint colors. Is this normal? Do only the dominant fish get really colorful or what.

Also these guys don't seem interested in eating the endler fry . They are in with the adult endlers, but seriously I leave the fry in there for a week and they swim around in the open and none of the fish bother them.

 

[Carter]

looking good dude...


This one here, was the guy i had back in the day... as you can see i had a serious out break of black hairline algae...

but this guy was about 2 - 4 months old...

I just wish i had a photo of him when he became fully mature... the red and black mixed in with the blue is amazing... and the fins are beautiful... dude, if you feed them right, and such, you will have some nice looking rams...

 

[poconoboss]

To me, this is the fun part of fishkeeping, watching your fish develop and change color.

Good Luck