RAMS

[cobaltblue]

I know some of you have Rams as well as discus. Im looking at adding some rams to my 125g tank when it is all set up and was wondering a few things. Does it matter if i put the rams in first or the discus in first for territorial reasons?? Also, which rams stay the smallest? My lfs has bolivians which are about 2.5 in long, german rams which are only about an inch long with really nice colour ( i like these ones best) and balloon rams, which look pregnant...dont really like these ones. I really wanted blue rams, but they cant seem to ever get any up here. In a 125g tank wiht 10-12 discus, how many rams should i put in? What types of decor do rams like? Will they breed in a community tank with discus in it? My lfs sells rams for 6-7$ each, is that a decent price?

[April]

duncan has blue rams now. on the island.northwestcoastdiscus . i was told rams have a very short lifespan..and by the time the lfs get them..their breeding days are over or numbered. 18 months is their lifespan!!
cary used to have them breeding in ashtrays in his discus tanks. babies everywhere..rumor has it..if cary bled..he;d bleed fry. he can make anything breed .

[Condor]

Hey Chris,

Sounds like a good price. Aprils right though, lfs tend to have fish that dont live as long. I think that this may be due in part to hormones, but thats my opinion. I personally would put two or three pairs of (blue)rams in there, but that's just me. You could get away with more but it depends where you want the focus to be. Blue rams get to be about two inches. They will spawn in a community setting if you have a mated pair, but it is next to impossible to raise the fry that way. Best bet is a spawning tank. Check this out:

http://www.simplycichlids.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50

There is also alot of good info in the simplycichlids archive.
hth
Adrian

[sidra]

I have a pair of German Blue Rams in my discus tank. They were about $6 from the lfs. They are well-colored and spawned about every 10 days for several months but don't spawn any more (at least not that I've seen). I've had them a year.

They are colorful and fun fish to keep and are no problem in my discus tank.

[JMArtist]

Rams are indeed a nice fish...it is true how ever that they have short life spans as compared to Discus or Angelfish.
2 or 3 years tops.
They also have a short window of breeding time so to speak.

[Tyler]

whatever you do make sure you quarantine them first. lfs and discus don't tend to mesh well... and it's not worth harming the discus over some new fish.
I actually had two blue rams for a while myself... awesome little fish. tons of character. based off what i saw a healthy pair would make a good addition to a discus show tank.

[cobaltblue]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Maybe i will be able to find a breeder on simply that has rams to ship?

[RyanH]

Hey Chris,

I just bought some really nice German Blue Rams from Terry Wu.

discus_galore@yahoo.com

hth:)
-Ryan

[crash]

Hi,
Rams do breed in community.
Mine did few months ago. With 6discus around them. They used to guard the eggs fiercly. Even if the biggest discus came close the male fanning the eggs would peck it away. Didnt seem to hurt the discus though. Eggs didnt survive as I didnt pay much attention to water conditions that might have been suitable for them to hatch. I didnt have a spare tank.

I love the bolivians as they are like energy packed. Get 4+ so you can see them be territorial among themselves. Its fun to watch the acrobatic swimming they do. They like NINJAs

[traco]

Chris, did you find anyone who breeds rams over there? Or shipping? I'd like some also and wondered about shipping costs, etc.... No pet stores there carry any? Over here they are double the price than the mainland.:(