Got Rams...woo hoo!!

[swinters66]

Only took me about a month!! No one in my area seems to have them...or they get sold out before I can get to the lfs or the shipment arrives with dead fish. I didnt know they are hard to ship. But...I went this morning and picked up 2. They are long finned rams...beautiful fish. I am so happy!!

I do need to know...will they eat the food I put in for the discus? All the other fish in the tank eat what I put in there....will these guys also?

Once they are settled and everything is ok with them in the discus tank Ill take some pics....I love them!

[cobaltblue]

Congrats on the rams. Mine eat anything i put in there, bloodworms, shrimp, flake and colorbits....

[Timbo]

Once they are settled and everything is ok with them in the discus tank Ill take some pics.... we'll look forward to seeing the pics of them in the discus tank....in about 6 weeks. (dont forget your quarentee period)

[swinters66]

Ok Ive been doing some internet reading on these guys....my discus tank temp stays around 86.8 to 87. 2 different sites said rams like about 82. Is the discus tank going to be too warm for these guys? I dont' want to lower the temp and affect the discus but I also dont want to harm the rams either with too warm water. So, whats an overall temp that all these fish can be happy and healthy in?

And PH? Ive read it HAS TO BE at like 6 to 6.5. Well my ph is not that low, and I doubt it ever will be.

[Timbo]

Ive read it HAS TO BE at like 6 to 6.5.

i hope you didnt read that on Simply cause its not true. discus can be happy in ph 8


for temp, 84F is a happy medium, they'll all do well

[swinters66]

No that wasnt read on Simply...my PH is 7.8 and the discus are just peachy. It's the rams...that's what I had read...that they need to be at 6 to 6.5.

[lhforbes12]

I agree with Tim. Actually I have 6 rams in my 125 discus tank and its at 83F, everyone is happy. The female rams (4 of them) each spawn about every 10 days. If you want to make the rams really happy you should let the temp drop a couple of degrees at night.
Do your Rams look like this?

[lhforbes12]

I went to Bill Egan's today and got 6 of these

[marilyn1998]

Larry those look just like my Bolivian Red Rams!!!! Gorgeous!

[Dillan]

I heard Rams and Cardinals were both fish that handle high temps well and that's why lots of Discus keepers have them.

My Bolivians did well with Discus in warm water -- until they matured and when on a rampage! I don't keep them with Discus anymore after the little buggers killed my favourite Blue Diamond!

Nice to see pics of BOLIVIAN Rams in this thread -- most people focus on German Rams I guess cuz they have more blue in them. I personally love all the beautiful colours on a horny male Bolivian Ram!

[lhforbes12]

Actually those are Blue Rams, with very long fins. They had only been in that tank about an hour when the photo was taken. Rams should be kept 3 females to every male (they are harem brooders) provide lots of territorial markers and places for the rams to feel secure and you will have no problems with them and other fish. There are currently 6 Blue Rams in our 125, and will soon be 6 more when these new ones are out of QT. High pH is not conducive to Rams spawing but, just like discus, keeping domestic rams in higher pH water is perfectly acceptable to them. They are even more in need of excellent water conditions than discus, so keeping high water quality is very important; no NH3/NH4, NO2, low NO3, and as close to zero DOC as possible. They do fine at discus temperatures, but do prefer cooler temps during the night time. In nature they frequent very small ponds that cool off during the night. Breeding them is easy, finding good parents is not. They have laid eggs on flat surfaces (flat rocks, driftwood), plant leaves, and have built nests in the substrate for me. They are pretty short lived with 2 years being average, three years old is an ancient Ram. The fry are fairly large for so small a fish and will eat bbs almost as soon as they are free swimming. So, pristine water, LOTS of territorial markers, hiding places, and 3 females to 1 male will give you healthy, happy, non=aggresive Rams.

[swinters66]

Well so far, they are hiding. They like to hide in the cheesy plants I got in there. One keeps poking his head out, watching me, then swims back to his hiding spot. The other one is a good hider, Ill tell you what...he's hard to locate! They mostly stay on the bottom of the tank...is that what Rams do? I was told not to feed them yesterday so I will try and feed them a tiny bit tonight, see if they'll take some bloodworms.

I like the pics....mine look like that, although not as colorful at the moment. Still a little stressed I suppose.

[Ed13]

Well, you could not have gotten better info than what Larry wrote, even if the pics he posted are not Long fin rams. I've gotten good results with only 2 females per male ( and yes had male that had fry with two females at the same time) but 3 females per male is better:D .

The ones I kept had to put up with temps in the 90's (summer) in a heavily planted 29g, that had a large amount of light being shine! During this time as soon as a water change was performed they spawned:D

[lhforbes12]

Well, you could not have gotten better info than what Larry wrote, even if the pics he posted are not Long fin rams. I've gotten good results with only 2 females per male ( and yes had male that had fry with two females at the same time) but 3 females per male is better:D .

The ones I kept had to put up with temps in the 90's (summer) in a heavily planted 29g, that had a large amount of light being shine! During this time as soon as a water change was performed they spawned:D

Ed,
LoL I can see why you thought that from my photos, here's one that shows the fins a bit better

[lhforbes12]

Swinters,
Yep, they generally stay close to the bottom. btw mine were eating like pigs an hour after they were in the tank. If you want to see them, provide them with lots of cover so they feel secure. Mine are out all the time, even the ones I got yesterday, but they have lots of plants and lots of hidey holes to go to so they feel very secure.

[swinters66]

Well I got 2 bad ones. They didnt make it. A) all they did was hide and B) they were breathing heavily. Gasping a LOT. One died, then 2 days later the other one died also. So...I dont know if I am getting more. I read they were delicate. But I can't afford to toss another $25 down the toilet on these fish. Guess Ill wait awhile and try again.

We got an mbu puffer instead.

[greyhoundfan]

:( :( bummers. sorry to hear that.