New Ram

[Deano]

Went to my LFS today and saw a Blue Ram on its own i a tank full of lemon tetras. They were nipping at him and half of his tail had been bitten off! I felt really sorry for the poor Ram so i bought him to take him away from those nasty tetras!!

It is a really beautiful fish but his fins are a bit damaged. Will the fins grow back on their own

Also im having trouble sexing it. The first 3 spines on the dorsal fin are longer which i thought indicates a male....but it has a pinkish belly which females have?? That correct??

Any ideas??

 

[Deano]

Can anyone help??

 

[Auratus]

Get a pic!!! That's the best way to help people I.D. your fish's sex. The fins should grow back pretty fast. Feed a cichlid food that says helps heal wounds and ripped fins. That way they grow back faster.

Females still have long dorcal spikes but they are usually grey or a smoky color and not jet black like in males.

 

[Waterloo Kid]

The females can also have lond spines but only the females have the pink patch.
The fins will grow back on their own. Feed a good quality varied diet to speed up the healing process. Don't forget vegetable matter. In my experience the rams love frozen peas (thawed) and other greens.
On another matter, you do realise that you are going to need a much bigger tank for your plec. don't you?

WK

 

[Deano]

Thanks for the help it must be a female Ram then.

As for the plec, a neighbour of mine has an 80G tank so when the plec grows bigger (hes only about 3inch now) i will be donating him to his tank