German blue rams tips?

[Jhoussock]

I just picked up two pairs of rams for my planted discus tank currently has corys and rummys as well. What awesome fish! Very similar attitude to my discus, so interactive! Haven't felt this way about a fish since I got into discus. Anyway they seem to have similar needs to discus as far as water goes but anyone have any good pointers for raising them? Any special needs? Currently feeding them hans beefheart mix and the frozen hikari discus "worms" and blood worms mix. This is what I feed my discus. Is this good? If any one has any good tips pointers or even facts about these fish ide love to here them. Outside of the hole sudden death in the breed of course😳

[Larry Bugg]

Discus and GBR....my two favorite fish. Treat them like your discus and they will love you. My best pointer with GBR, other than that, is be sure of the source. There are a lot of GBR out there that are weak and it doesn't matter what you do.

[Poppa Ryno]

Exactly as Larry said... Treat em like discus & your good to go.

[Jhoussock]

What a stand off Larry!!! That is hilarious! Our tanks are very similar, minus the wilds and sub in stentker turqs. What are the little tuffs of grass called? Do they stay that big? Looking for a small grass for my foreground. Also my source research didn't come back to great couldn't find much that were in stock. Bought off eBay from a guy with great feedback. In the event they don't make it I would be willing to be more patient for good fish now that I love them, any tips on a good source?

[DatDiscusDude]

Is it true that the life expectancy of rams is just short? Often by the time hobbyist get them if not from a breeder or good source they are already older. Hence why they seem to never live long ?

[Jhoussock]

From what I have heard 6 months is when they reach good color and life expectancy is 1 1/2 to 2. If they are younger say 3 months and they have great color it's a bad thing as they are probably injected with hormones which sets them up for a very short life.

[Larry Bugg]

Yup, life span is about 2 years. I think they die off due to injection of hormones or bad genetics. I'm very GBR experienced and find that if I buy lfs rams I have a difficult time keeping them alive. Buying from a hobbyist breeder is the best way to get them. My favorite source is not currently selling online. Joe Gargas on aquabid has good rams. The rams I currently have came from him.

[Davidzil]

Larry is on the money, I have been keeping a variety of rams and apistos for years, source is key.
If you see small GBRs with lots of color stay away.
You can also look at Bluegrass Aquatics.

[ColdPeg]

Even with proper care their life spans are short, I would agree 2 maybe 3 years on average . They are capable of spawning at three months as I've witnessed it in my grow out tanks. They are also susceptible to bacterial infections and this often shortens their lives further.

[Poppa Ryno]

CoralBandit on aquabid.com & praquatics.com is absolutely one of the best breeders out there. Hes got quality GBR that look even better than joe gargas or yunites.

[smsimcik]

CoralBandit on aquabid.com & praquatics.com is absolutely one of the best breeders out there. Hes got quality GBR that look even better than joe gargas or yunites.

I can second that. I got blue rams from Tom, aka coralbandit, and they are the best you can buy in the U.S.

[Poppa Ryno]

He got his stock from me. But i stopped breeding them for a while to breed discus. What can i say, these swimming frisbees got me hooked. But Tom is amazing with them.

[tonytheboss1]

Never had a lot of success long term w/ GBR's but they were beautiful & fun to watch while they lasted. "T"