The Confusing Topic Of Sexing Blue Rams...

[Gilli]

Well you can forget all the stuff people write about sexing blue rams! The fact that females and males are different sizes, males have longer head spikes, differently shaped tails, females have more rounded dorsal fins, males have longer spikes on thier front fins, that they are different sizes, that females always have black stripes on their front fins males dont, that females have bright pink bellies males dont, that females have speckles in the black spot males dont - and so on and so forth.....

I have a pair of german blue rams which ive had for 5 months which from all the info I deduced were without doubt BOTH female, they are both identical in every way and believe me ive spent hours pouring over the internet for info and hours studying them! Despite getting eggs I was told that 2 females can act as a pair. They have just laid their 6th batch of eggs since ive had them (all previous lots have been eaten) and have actually laid them where I can clearly see them - and I have eyes in the eggs!! Dont know if these will gradually disappear but at least I know I have male and female now and that they are both fertile!

The eggs did not turn a golden brown or a mustard colour but stayed beige - also useless info! So all you german blue owners out there dont dispair - you may still have a pair!!!

 

[SJ2K]

Ive always found the 'blue spot on black spot' theory to be untrue, pink belly and fry is my only relyable sign

 

[Gilli]

Ive always found the 'blue spot on black spot' theory to be untrue, pink belly and fry is my only relyable sign

Both my rams have bright pink bellies!!

 

[Colin_T]

that's pretty impressive that the male has pink as well. The males don't normally get the pink belly. However, the pink on him is a bit further forward on his body and the pink on her is more around the belly region. His first 3 dorsal fin rays are also longer than the females.
It's good the eggs have survived this far. Hopefully in a few days you will have some fry. Have you got any brineshrimp eggs hatching?

 

[Gilli]

Actualy its not a good a photo of both of them - when they both extend their head spikes they are the same length.

Eggs are still all there so far so good although im not holding my breath as they have all been gradually eaten before. This time she has chosen to lay them on a vertical wall - so much for flat stones huh?

I will have to try and get some micro worms somewhere. I do have moss balls in the tank which apparently contain infusoria. I have also started to grow some infusoria in a jar although I dont know how sucessful it will be.

 

[Colin_T]

I would just get some brineshrimp eggs and hatch them for the fry. Microworms will work too. Infusoria takes about a month to get the culture going.
Quite often it takes a new pr of cichlids several attempts to successfully hatch and rear up their young. They need to learn not to eat the eggs or young when they start wriggling about. Once they accept the young then they become very good parents.

 

[Gilli]

Ive bought some brineshrimp eggs on ebay but know nothing about them. How long do you have to feed the fry these for before they can take normal flake food? Also if they are in salt water is it ok to squirt them into the tank?

 

[Colin_T]

To hatch out brineshrimp eggs you add about 1/4 level teaspoon of the eggs to 1 litre of seawater, (you can use any sort of salt to make up the saltwater). Have an airstone bubbling away in the container and after 24-48hours, depending on temperature, the eggs hatch. You will need a hydrometer (salt measuring device) to make up the salt water. You can get these from ebay or any petshop. A plastic chamber hydrometer is fine for the job.
The nauplii (baby shrimp) are orange and will gather near a light. To harvest the nauplii you remove the airstone and put a light near one side of the hatching container. After a couple of minutes you syphon them out with a plastic syringe or some airline.
You should start a new batch of eggs every day or two.
The fry should be fed on brineshrimp nauplii for the first month at least. Then other foods can be offered and once the fry are eating a variety of foods you can stop feeding the nauplii.

 

[Gilli]

Thank you very much for your help Colin.