Need Some Info On German Rams

[abzorbd]

Hi. I looked at the species page for German Blue Rams and it didn't say much about water. It says that they are sensitive to quality and to keep the temp at about 80. I am thinking of keeping some of them and was hoping to find out what kind of ph they need and all other aspects like salinity if any. Acidity. etc.

What would be the best kind of substrate to use also. Crushed coral, sand, gravel?

Any help anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.

Oh also I am hoping to keep a 20 gallon species tank so how many would be ideal for this. Tank dimensions are 30x12.5x12.5 so it's a 20 long.

 

[dthoffsett]

According to cichlid-forum.com they need a PH of <6 with very soft water. Here's a link.

[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=421"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=421[/URL]

 

[Colin_T]

German Blue Rams are simply the normal blue ram that is bred in Germany.
Rams like soft acid water with a temperature between 24 & 28C. They will tolerate water temps outside this but are happiest around 26C.
Don't add salt to a ram tank, they will be ok with small amounts but don't need it.
Keep the general hardness (GH) between 50 & 150ppm and the PH between 6.0 & 7.0.
Again tho they are pretty tolerant of water conditions and will tolerate a GH of 200ppm or more and a PH up to 7.5 without any problems.

They will eat most frozen or live fish foods and many will take flake or pellets foods.
If you want to breed them in a group get a couple of pairs and have lots of plants, wood and rocks in the tank. Each pair will set up a territory and you can watch them have their little arguements over trespassing.
Male rams develop longer first dorsal fin rays and females get a pink belly.

 

[abzorbd]

ummm. thanks. Your two posts kinda contradict each other but thanks anyhow.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Colin_T is correct. Some females don't always have a pink belly, so rely more on finnage for sexing. They do not need a pH less than 6, I cannot think of a single fish that NEEDS it. In fact, I think most fish would die in a pH less than 6 (besides discus).

Ryan

 

[abzorbd]

Thanks. What about substrate? What would be a good choice?

 

[Larissa]

Rams are originally soft water fish and come from areas with very low pH HOWEVER, most rams are bred and raised in water conditions that are harder than their natural habitat so you don't have to worry too much about pH and hardness as long as you don't have the water of Lake Malawi coming out of your taps - if you now what I mean. However, rams are very sensitive to nitrate and ideally this should be kept as low as possible (between 0 - 20ppm if you can). Stable - rather than optimal - conditions are a must for this fish. The more stable you can keep your temp, pH, hardness etc. the better (even if it's not perfectly replicating their natural habitat). Also, rams come from warmer waters than most fish and like temps up to 82 D.F. Substrate wise, sand is probably better because they tend to sift through it looking for food, digging nesting holes etc.