Type of ram?

[Wright995]

Hi

recently added a "ram" to my tank, literally sold only as ram, now it was in a tank with electric blue rams, but the bolivian rams seem to look different, can anyone help me with the type?

thankyou

 

[Essjay]

It's a ram, one of the colours of Mikrogeophagus ramirezi. It has red in the eye ring, while Bolivian rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) don't.

Going by the photo it is a ram of the gold variety.

 

[Wright995]

It's a ram, one of the colours of Mikrogeophagus ramirezi. It has red in the eye ring, while Bolivian rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) don't.

Going by the photo it is a ram of the gold variety.

thankyou for your reply, do you think its still young and hence not much colour or do you thick it probably will remain like this?

 

[Essjay]

There are several reasons it could be pale.

It could be young and still has to mature
It could be this individual is a naturally pale colour
It could be stressed - if it is new, it needs to settle in; if it has incompatible tank mates it will be stressed; if the water is too hard or too cool it will be stressed.

Rams need soft acidic water and a temperature higher than most fish like at 26 to 30 deg C. Do you know the hardness of your water?
What other fish are in the tank?

 

[Wright995]

There are several reasons it could be pale.

It could be young and still has to mature
It could be this individual is a naturally pale colour
It could be stressed - if it is new, it needs to settle in; if it has incompatible tank mates it will be stressed; if the water is too hard or too cool it will be stressed.

Rams need soft acidic water and a temperature higher than most fish like at 26 to 30 deg C. Do you know the hardness of your water?
What other fish are in the tank?

well it has only been in for 2 days, temperature is 27 deg, i do not know the hardness off the top of my head, the only other fish in the tank are harlequin rasbora. which have been in for about a month. the ph is between 6.4-6.8

 

[Wright995]

well it has only been in for 2 days, temperature is 27 deg, i do not know the hardness off the top of my head, the only other fish in the tank are harlequin rasbora. which have been in for about a month. the ph is between 6.4-6.8

just tested and the hardness is GH approx 2 and kh 3d

 

[Essjay]

Harlequins won't stress a ram, though they do need water a bit cooler than rams. The hardness and pH are perfect for rams.

If you've only had the ram for 2 days, it will still be settling in. Give it a few weeks.


Just to warn you - gold rams are very difficult to tell the gender unless they are actually breeding. Females don't show the pink bellies of standard coloured rams.