# Sexing German Blue Rams



## guppy (Mar 7, 2004)

I have a German Blue Ram not really sure what sex it is. 
What are some ways to tell male from female? 
Ill get a picture soon... thx for any suggestions

-gUpPy-


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I am trying to find out the same thing! I will let you know if I come up with something definite.


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

*In high quality blue rams*, the second ray of the dorsal fin is elongated in the male. Females usually don't have this longer ray.

Females also tend to have rose-pink bellies.

The block spot on the side of a male blue ram will simply be black. On females, the black spot will have bright blue speckles.

IMO, females also tend to be considerably smaller than the males.

Congratulations on buying such a beautiful fish. They are one of my favorites. I have five (3 males, 2 females) in my 55 gallon. I'll try to take pictures of them during spring break --they are a sight to behold.

Carlos


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## JLudwig (Feb 16, 2004)

The female is the one that lays the eggs.... seriously, Carlos is correct for some rams, but this trait can sometimes be reversed in imported stock as the level of selective breeding in these beautiful fish has taken its toll. 

According the archives on the krib, the species should not be considered sexually dimorphic... thats not to say you can't find a trait in your strain thats consistently male or female, but this will vary from breeder to breeder. Despite being labeled German Blue these fish are almsot always from SE Asia (price of a german dwarf cichlid ~ $30-35US a piece to give an idea if it actually came from Germany).

Great fish though! ... remember, these guys need higher temps and soft water to make it more than a year. IME, they really really like to eat a lot, 2x or even 3x daily feedings are best. If you are set on breeding, its best to purchase your stock from a local breeder thru a service like aquabid, its the only way to be sure you actually have a mated pair...

Jeff


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

I agree with Jeff. I once had store bought rams, and they were impossible to sex. They were also prone to many diseases and died at an early age.

The five I have now are from two different local breeders. They are among the most beautiful fish I've ever had.

Carlos


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I got my two from the LFS. They always take the best looking pairs and keep them for their planted tanks, which I think kinda sux. The pair I have will hopefully color up more when they get a bit older. I have no idea if I have a male/female or male/male pair.


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## guppy (Mar 7, 2004)

Thanks yea, I ordered a pair from the lfs and their coming in tomorrow hopefully  
or im getting two German blue rams since i told the guy no asian rams...
but how much are german rams usually?
Cause the one i have the store manager gave it to me for $3 bucks  since i go there a lot...
mine sorta looks like the first picture you put up
and i also noticed it has pink in the belly region female ?


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I really have no idea. I didnt notice the pink. I will look again tomorrow. I was hoping someone might be able to tell.

Thanks


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## guppy (Mar 7, 2004)

woo hoo i got a male german blue ram today yay!
it was the only one eating in the tank and looked the best so yea... $10 not that bad =/ i might get another one a few days down the road... ill get a picture of him for sure though...


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Well one of my rams is not doing very well. I came home today to find it sitting on the bottom and kinda greyish in color. I isolated it in a basket and did a water change. Its not eating...dont know what the problem could be as everything else is doing fine. I hope he (she?) makes it. :-(


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## guppy (Mar 7, 2004)

Damn... the ram i just got just died... sigh... looked like it died of stress redness around the gills... was eating and stuff oh well hopefully i can get a refund at the store... :? hope yours is doing alright


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

One of mine died also last week :-( I am going to wait untill I can go to San Antonio to get another one. Hopefully next weekend.


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## Cheyd (Mar 17, 2004)

I've successfully bred German blues twice now... Well, I say successfully... They're poor parents. First batch they forgot about the eggs after a day and they got eaten. The second batch made it to a dozen or so fry and then got eaten.

In quality rams, the male's 2nd spine of the Dorsal fin will be elongated dramatically. Females can have a slightly longer 2nd spine, but it's by far and large more pronounced in the male. When the females become gravid, the bellies will take on a beautiful purple color.

Despite popular believe, the fish is not from Brazil or the Amazon... It's native to Venezuela and if I recall correctly (been several years), small grassland ponds. High temps, neutral to slightly acid pH.

And like others, one of my absolute favorite fish... Guaranteed resident in my 115G soon as it's ready. (Assuming I can find decent ones) Hopefully, I'll also get to set up my 30G at my office, and if so, it'll likely become home to 2 pairs of rams for breeding purposes.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

At my LFS they have a pair of very nice rams that arent for sale. They both look exactly the same, even the dorsal spines. The only difference is the female has a pink belly. The problem I am having is that for every method to sex them, there is an exception. Im not sure there really is a way to be sure unless the female has a pink belly :-(


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## guppy (Mar 7, 2004)

haha or you could always go buy 4-5 of them and let them pair up your chances are pretty good if you do it that way... but it takes a lot of time and money to do that... :? i think im going to do that... sigh oh well ill finally get a pair soon hopefully


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Good luck guppy!


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## United21Soccer (Mar 15, 2004)

$10 a piece seems a little high to me!! At my LFS, they sell them for $6 a piece. Too bad they didn't last long...because they were all gone when i went to get some  I might try to get some next week.


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## RamALamADingDong (Nov 27, 2007)

I've recently added a few new different rams to my aquarium... I started out with simply a pair of German Blues' And in the past 2 days I've picked up a pair of bolivians' and two more female blues'.

The german's I've bought (all from the same place) Ran me about 15 a piece and are some of the most AMAZING colors I've ever seen. 

So my silly and most obvious question would be:

When they've bred and I remove the fry to my other breeding tank, would it be best to take it's parents' with me? Or at least the one that appears to be caring for them? 

In the past I've only bred jewel cichlids and I never moved their parents with them and they matured just beautifully... So I'm hoping to keep up a good streak with these lovely new little rams of mine. 

I will honestly say they're are the best fish and they've just got so much personality. And such amazing color... I just can't get over it. (It's amazing what good food can do! *New Life*)

Anyways, thanks in advance for the help.


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

With Blues it's probably best to separate the parents from the fry asap or else the parents or another fish will eat them. Put them in their own tank and feed BBS.


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## eco-mod (Oct 19, 2007)

The best and most consistant way to sex rams, german or bolivian, is to examine their sex organ on their underside, which is easily visible. This method becomes more easily determined in mature fish, just as with other methods. The male's organ is slimmer, and faces at a sharper angle towards the rear, while the female's tends to be thicker, and points almost straight down in most cases. Once you figure it out examining a few fish, it becomes alot easier than most believe as it isn't a very well known method. From my experiences with keeping and breeding rams, the dorsal fin method is more consistant in Bolivian rams rather than German rams as they have a consistant body and fin shape between the sexes. Color differences the other hand is more prominant in Germans than Bolivians. All in all, both sexes can exibit the coloration and fin characteristics of the other sex. So again, in my experience, the examination of the sex organ is far more accurate and consistant than the other methods. If you still have trouble sexing your fish, post up a good shot of the fish from the side and I'll do my best to help!


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## Dr.Ponce (Nov 28, 2007)

I guess i should be thankful, over here they are sold for about US$2.25-3.00. and $4.50 for albinos... 

To tell males from females i look for this:
1. Extended first rays of males dorsal fin 
2. Vibrant colors on males (darker black bands, brighter pearlescent spots)
3. Female's pink belly
4. Males are more slender, females are bulkier (and sometimes bigger)

PD. I will definetly try the method on the post above, seems like it should be more reliable....


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## pnigmenos (Dec 22, 2005)

I was in the same situation with you .I set up one of my aquariums just to make them breed.I thought that I had 2 males and one female.But when I start taking the ph down then suddenly the supposing to be female turned out to be male, which makes me think that they will show their full colors only in the optimum ph that is between 6.6-6.2. Anyway even there I find it hard to see the difference.We can always hope. Under I sent u the differences of the male and female blue rams as given in a site specialised in fish.I also have to add that there may be a case that u have a male and female and still they want mate , cause they wont form a couple.


''The male's front dorsal fin rays are much longer than the female's, forming the telltale "spike." The dorsal fin of the male also tends to have a pointed shape near the caudal fin, where the female's is more rounded. Females are smaller and have a reddish tinge on their pelvic regions, especially when getting ready to spawn. Also, the black spot on the side of the female blue ram may have irridescent blue spangles throughout, and the male's tends to be solid black.''


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