# My New German Blue Rams!



## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

Got some Rams yesterday at my LFS. ^__________^ I've been waiting for these for a long time. I'm excited to finally have them, but I have two questions.

I've read that rams are often very sickly unless ordered directly from a breeder, so I was wondering if I should give them a run of antiparasitics right off the bat. If so, what kind? One of them has slight frays in one of his fins, so I am wondering if I should treat them just to be safe.

Secondly, they're very shy  They hide almost all the time, and they didn't even come up for breakfast this morning. Is this a normal behaviour? Will they become more comfortable with me over time or are they just extremely timid fish?

Thanks!! ^_^


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

They need lots of hiding places, but in time they will get used to you feeding them. They are prone to diseases, but once acclimated and get to eating they are very nice fish. To me their biggest problem is that their life span under even good conditions is short compared to other fish. Do not put them in with fin nippers or any aggressive fish.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Congrats on your new fish! Can we see pics?

They'll adjust eventually, just give them time and understand that they can be timid.

-Dave


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## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

Okay. They emerged a bit more this morning.  One of them ate, at least! 

Im still wondering about the treatments though. Should I give them a.. say.. 3-5 day run on Tetracycline and an antiparasitic, or will this do more harm than good at such an early stage? I've read that it takes about 2 weeks for any diseases to become apparent, but it's been my experience that by the time I notice a sickness, it's almost too late.


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## overboard (Mar 11, 2008)

I have found that it is really important to have the right dither fish. By themselves my balloon rams freaked out, with gold tetras they weren't any better, but with two half-grown mollies they are almost bold. You need a non-aggressive happy kind of fish that isn't scared of anything. Female livebearers work great.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

inareverie85 said:


> Okay. They emerged a bit more this morning.  One of them ate, at least!
> 
> Im still wondering about the treatments though. Should I give them a.. say.. 3-5 day run on Tetracycline and an antiparasitic, or will this do more harm than good at such an early stage?


IMO, I wouldn't treat them unless they showed signs of disease. The meds may do more harm than good if they are 'border-line' by stressing them further. Give them a few more days to adjust and, in the meantime, be looking for any signs/symptoms.

-Dave


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## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

I have these two rams in a 29g with 5 Threadfin Rainbows and 6 Harlequin Rasboras. The threadfins are happy, but a bit skiddish. The Rasboras, however, are my most active and playful fish. The rams seem to get along fine with these two kinds. One of my Ottos did freak out yesterday though and tried to suck on one of the Rams. ~_~ He quickly gave up, but it made me worry for the Ram.


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## wrkucera (Jan 6, 2008)

Apparently I wasn't really aware of the lifespan of Rams when I kept them last year. Mine never got past 2 inches in length when I must have misread the max size of 3". I went through at least 12 of them over the past year both the Blue and Gold variety(my avatar). Over all, when I bought one group, they would last no more than 4-5 months and would wither away. Literally their stomach area would shrink even though the rest of the fish's body would appear in decent condition. I would see them eat but their bellies would be nothing. I gave up on them because they seemed a bit more tempermental and fussy to keep.Probably something I did, however I do find the Blue Rams an absolutely beautiful colored fish. Now that I have much more info on this species than I had prior, I feel it was somehow related to how I kept them in the 55 gallon. It was a community setup. Perhaps a species only would have suited them better. Oh well.


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## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

I want to keep these happy for their maximum lifespan if I can. Apparently they're VERY fussy about water quality, so I'll be doing bi-weekly water changes rather than once weekly to increase the water quality. I'm also going to be adding a UV sterilizer and closely monitoring pH. Hopefully these things will create the best possible environment for them to thrive in. If I could raise some Ram babies, I'd be overjoyed!

Often, the asian imported Rams are pumped up on steroids and have very VERY high chances of dying within a few months. This might be what happened to you, if you got your Rams all from the same store. I am hoping this isn't the case with mine, but if these don't make it, I will most certainly order my replacements elsewhere.


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## cpark188 (Jul 25, 2008)

I ever try keeping this sort of Ram(gold) and they are shy and timid type, always go into hiding. Hard to feed them and only can survived not more than 5 months in my tank. Not my luck in keeping it. Hope you can succeed in keeping them.#-o


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

wrkucera said:


> Apparently I wasn't really aware of the lifespan of Rams when I kept them last year. Mine never got past 2 inches in length when I must have misread the max size of 3". I went through at least 12 of them over the past year both the Blue and Gold variety(my avatar). Over all, when I bought one group, they would last no more than 4-5 months and would wither away. Literally their stomach area would shrink even though the rest of the fish's body would appear in decent condition. I would see them eat but their bellies would be nothing. I gave up on them because they seemed a bit more tempermental and fussy to keep.Probably something I did, however I do find the Blue Rams an absolutely beautiful colored fish. Now that I have much more info on this species than I had prior, I feel it was somehow related to how I kept them in the 55 gallon. It was a community setup. Perhaps a species only would have suited them better. Oh well.


Bellies shrinking sounds like internal parasites.

It can be difficult finding good stock, that haven't been hormone-injected. I managed to get 6 healthy ones a few months ago from my LFS and they have been spawning every few weeks in my tank. (They even spawned the first week I had them in my QT tank. I had to break QT and put them all into my 90gal early to diffuse the aggression that broke out with 6 rams and one pair breeding in a 29gal- not enought space!  )

I've heard very good things about the Ram stock from www.oddballfish.com

IME they do best in warmer temps (78-80F), clean water, lots of plants, some flat surfaces to lay eggs on (rocks, driftwood, or mine love my big 'kleiner bar' sword), and fed a nice variety of foods to include frozen foods and live if you can get them. Mysis and bloodworms are a favorite. Don't neglect veggies though.


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## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

One out of the two rams I bought had a pin-sized hole in his head that I noticed after I had taken him home. He is the dominant fish in the tank, and eats way more than my other Ram, though he doesn't normally seem to mind its company. In other words, he is acting healthy. If this is indeed hole-in-the-head, is there a way to treat it without stressing them out with medication? I plan on doing 20% WCs twice weekly. Should I do more than that?

Also, I notice the Rams tend to spit out half of the flakes they gobble up. While they do appear to be getting some nutrition, flakes aren't cutting it. What brands/types of food are best for an everyday Ram diet? I have shrimp and bloodworms to give them twice a week or so, but what about something more balanced, like flakes or pebbles?


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## Tsi_User (Jul 26, 2008)

Alot of the health problems you might encounter with Blue Rams depends on their quality when you buy them. Here's my experience

I bought a pair of German rams 2 months ago, one was 3/4in and the other 1in. My LFS told me although they readily accept fish flake food, I should add more variety to their diet (as with any fish_ and it will bring out their colors more, so twice a week I feed their tank with Mysis shrimp. It's a heavily planted tank which gets daily fert. dosing and 30% weekly water changes and they are doing great.


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## Cohazard (Nov 30, 2007)

Congrats on the new rams! They are awesome fish once establsihed. 

The sparring here and there is fun to watch.


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