Why can't I have rams???

[abe]

I got myself a little blue ram awhile ago & fell in love w/ the little girl right away. All was fine for about a week, then she quit eating, lost her color, & died. Then about a month ago, I bought my spiffy new 40 gallon

All was going well, so I decided to buy a pair of rams. The one seemed more shy than the other, & hid in the corner most of the time. Well, today I came home to find her dead I didn't see her eat while I had her (about 3 days) & she barely had any color when I found her. No signs of illness that I can see, & no one in the tank bothered her. The other one seems to be doing fine, I hope so anyway.

So any ideas? Amonia is 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20 ppm, ph is 6.6 or 6.8 i think, & the temp is around 78. I let the bags float a good hour or so & slowly added my water to it, but I think the pet shop's water was pretty similar to mine (from what they said). I hope they don't make me buy some ph altering chemical to get a new fish...

Another ?, are there any other cichlids that are community safe? Just curious

Thanks!

 

[Raechal]

I've heard that rams are very fragile fish and could die for no apparent reason at times. Keyhole cichlids are peaceful and I think they might do good in a community tank.

Sorry to hear about your loss, I also lost a ram a few weeks ago due to an unknown nitrite spike.

 

[DannyBoy17]

Rams are expensive! Sorry about the loss guys

Ive actually never heard about the fragileness of Rams, can anyone back up this theory.

As for pH buffers, NEVER use them unless completely necessary. One thing even experienced fish keepers avoud is playing around the thier pH. Just leave it be.

You could go with Keyholes (although I think they like to school and are kinda hard to find) or Angelfish.

DB

 

[Ben]

Rams are very sensistive fish and will die if their water conditions are not met properly.

HTH
DD

 

[abe]

humph, i guess I'll try & get a replacement & see how that goes. The other one is swimming around, happy as can be.

I don't want to use a ph chemical, but they require you to bring in a water sample to see if anything is wrong w/ it. Another store in my area told me to buy some, because my ph was low. Well see how that goes...

Dannyboy> How much are rams in your area? At this particular store they were $5 each, or $10 each for the "tank raised" variety. Can I keep keyholes w/ rams? I had an angel once, but he could be agressive at times. But then again he was living in a 10 gallon because I didn't know any better at the time. Ive been seeing these cute tiny ones lately, it's tempting...

Thanks for the help

 

[steelhealr]

Hi Abe....I have two german rams now for several months and they are doing well. They can be sensitive to pH and reportedly to elevated nitrates as well. It's possible that your rams were stressed or newly delivered at your lfs. Did you ask them if they were new? Generally, they do well in slightly acidic water...I wonder if 6.6 was too low since your other parameters seemed OK? Can you find out the pH at the lfs. In my area, german rams can run $15-$25.00 each.

I disagree slightly with the 'don't mess with your pH' thing. In general, that is true. However, in my area, my water has a pH of 7.2, but has a very low kH, 2 or less. I found my tank pH sliding into the mid 6 range, ie, had little buffering capacity. Thanks to some posts here, I began to add a little bicarbonate to my tank during water changes and this has brought up my kH and my pH is stable at 6.9-7.0 and does not fall. My rams are totally fine. I hope this helps. They ARE beautiful fish and one of my favorites in my tank. SH

 

[sylvia]

Some people do say german blues are quite fragile and they do often require a low pH to breed in (6.6 should be ideal...) but I have kept them in my water with a pH of 8 (very stable though) and they have bred and everything without problems. I also think you should never mess with your pH unless you have problems with it fluctuating. Even then, I preffer natural methods to the unstable products you find at your LFS. If you want to replace the ram but don't want to worry as much about it being fragile etc, maybe you should go for bolivian rams instead. They are considerably hardier and I preffer their character as well. There are many other dwarf cichlids that are community safe and keyholes are wonderful fish if you have considered them at all.

 

[canarsie11]

15 to 25. Wow

Most expensive I ever saw was 8.99

 

[northpaul]

i hear the bolivian ram is a bit more hardi

 

[steelhealr]

Depending on the lfs, rams can be expensive here 'on the island'. SH

 

[Seb R]

Oh my Pair of rams were £4!!! so about $2 (?)

Mine are the nicest, but I've seen alot of bad ones. Heard that stress is usually a big cause, I make sure that I have no fish with them bigger than the female

 

[newbie_alicia]

Mine were ten dollars each and they were about one inch

 

[mematrix77]

Hi abe rams do prefer soft water GH about 25pph I have also heard on many forums that they are sensitive I have not experinced this my water is 8.5PH ,225ppm KH, 25ppm GH, 0-0.5 ppm Nitrite, 0-40 ppm Nitrate and yes you can have High PH and still have soft water I didn't believe it either but it's true well my rams have spawned 4 times ate 2 and I am currently raising the last 2 12 from 1 about 30-40+ from the other any way this article might help you http/www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/b...ambreeding.html Sincerely Curtis

 

[littlefishie]

Dannyboy> How much are rams in your area?

I go to the same LFS as Dan, so maybe I can help.

They're $14.99 each for German Blue's, and $11.99 each for Bolivians. But if you're lucky and friends with the employees, they'll cut you a deal. I traded in 6 harlequin rasboras and got a pair of rams for the trade in, with $10 on top of that. Not too bad.

 

[plecoguy]

wow....they arent expensive for me, i work at a private fish place and we sell them for 6-8 dollars...but i know the breeder..so i can get them free!