Blue Rams

[Goldenmelondiscus]

How hard are they to take care of? I have read that they are difficult to keep longer than seven months due to over breading.

[smsimcik]

They aren't particularly hard to keep. Basically, you keep them like discus. Lots of clean, warm water(82-85F), good filtration and live plants to hide in. I keep mine in bare bottom tanks with potted plants. I feed them the same things I feed my discus. And I do regular water changes 2-3 times/wk.
As far as being inbred, most of the imported ones are inbred, hormone treated and weak. There are some breeders in the US who have non-inbred healthy rams. www.germanbluerams.com is a good source. I think the number one reason most people have problems with blue rams is not just because they're inbred, but because they are in water that's not warm enough and they're not getting enough water changes. That kills them faster than anything.

[DJW]

I agree, get them from a good source like Yunite (same as mentioned above), not the hormone imported ones. John at Freshwater Tropicals, who is a SD sponsor, has wild rams.