There are breeders you could get them from. I think there are a few people here that breed them. I usually just get some from the lfs myself.
Yes.. life span is 1-3 yrs.
Rams are pretty sensitive little fishies. They like soft water and lower pH and you'd probably get better breeding with these parameters but like any fish, they can adapt to live in a different pH and if the water is too hard, eggs probably wont hatch, but there are things you can do about this too.
Amber