dirtydogg said:
Are bolivian rams and golden rams the same thing? There are some "golden rams" at my lfs and they are such a bright yellow, with no other colors on them I've been wondering about them.
Golden Ram and Blue Ram (Microgeophagus Ramirezi) are the same species; it's only a color variation. Bolivian Ram (Microgeophagus Altispinosa) are different species. Bolivian Ram are supposedly hardier, and tad aggressive. But since I've never kept Bolivian Rams, I can't confirm.
As others have said, 20g is the bare minimum to keep a pair of Rams. The reason for this is that they are fairly sensitive to poor water conditions. Contrary to the common belief, the Rams do NOT need soft/acidic water. I've raised juvenile Rams in hard/alkaline Arizona tap water just fine. But they do NEED clean water. They also NEED plants, rocks, or something they can hide in. They also seem to like high temperature (above 74 degrees).
Rams are bottom feeders. I've only had one that was brave enough to grab food from the surface. This means, if you keep Corys (or other bottom feeders), you need to make sure that enough food gets to both Corys and the Rams. Also, don't keep smart, greedy fish like Bettas with the Rams. Otherwise, your Rams and Corys won't get to eat much, while the betta may die from overeating.
The only thing I don't like about the Rams are their relatively short life span. They don't live more than 2-3 years; about the same as Bettas.
EDIT:
They are some what territorial. Try not to keep 2 males in a small tank. That also means no RTBS or similarly aggressive territorial tank mates.
i have one ram that i started with when i go tmy 29G if i loose him id be pretty upset
