Bolivians Rams...Dare I?

[Allivymar]

Ok, so I wandered into the icky [acronym:f594b644ed="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:f594b644ed] today and lo and behold, they have a tank full of lovely Bolivian Rams. I'm REALLY tempted, although I have no idea where I'd put them [acronym:f594b644ed="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:f594b644ed]. I've another week and a half before the new angel is out of QT, so no guarantee they'll be there. But, if they are, I want em. So heres my question:

How does one tell male from female? They have 2 smaller, brighter rams with really long fins tipped in red, and a bunch of larger duller colored rams (still pretty tho) with shorter fins. I assume the more colorful ones are males, and the duller the females, but I thought the males were same size or larger then the females? How else can I tell (if I get them, I'd like to breed em)?

[TankGirl]

I am definitely thinking you should go for it (as if I would say anything else ). I think you have pH of 7 out of the tap, right? I have always loved them but I have had poor results with my tap water. I have read that the males have slightly longer filaments on their fins, but they take a while to reach maturity so it might be hard to tell. I have also heard about conspecific aggression, but that may be just during spawning. If (I mean when) you get them be sure and get your trusty digicam out so we can see

[Madame_X]

Um, Alli? Yes, yes, yes!!

I can't say enough about how fun my Bolivian Rams are. They are so entertaining. I could watch them for hours...

If only they were easily sexed, I would buy two females (as I'm 99% certain that I have two males right now). Unfortunately, everything I have had suggests they are very difficult to sex until they're mature. I wouldn't worry too much about the male-to-male aggression, though. Although mine do struggle over territory, they don't bite each other. They literally "ram" into each other. They've never hurt one another, and its actually somewhat entertaining to watch.

What can I say? They're my favorite fish!

[Allivymar]

[acronym:1543954502="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:1543954502] ok...I been thinking about them ALL evening. Doing google searches on em didn't help

I need to do a major rethink about my tanks then. I've got 2 up n running:
The planted 10g, with 3 dwarf gouramis, neon/cards and otos. There will be 6 cherry shrimp and 2 bamboo shrimp moving in some time this week.

The 55g with the angels, loaches and the plec.

And I've one angel in my 8g hex QT tank thats only been there since Sat, and came from a tank with a fish with ich. Else I'd chance moving him in with the rest of the angels; hes a healthy pig otherwise.

I do have another 10g; I need to grab a new filter, heater etc, but I COULD set that up for the rams. Thing is, I have no place to QT em if I do that, and if I use it for QT, I've no place to put them after. I think the planted tank would actually be the best home for em, but that means finding a place for the 3 dwarf gouramis...I could put em in the currently unused 10g, but not till after the rams are out of QT, and I'd need to set the tank up for em with substrate, plants, lighting in that little period of time between moving the rams out and the gouramis in.

Aauugghh! [acronym:1543954502="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:1543954502] Any suggestions appreciated.

[BrianNY]

Sounds like you need another tank!!

[Allivymar]

[acronym:aae0f9bc70="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:aae0f9bc70] I HAVE another tank. Its being set up for [acronym:aae0f9bc70="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:aae0f9bc70].

My prob is I need ROOM for another tank [acronym:aae0f9bc70="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:aae0f9bc70]

[Sati]

More tanks, more tanks, more tanks! I bought another one this weekend, heh. I don't know much about rams but isn't the 10g too small for them?

[Allivymar]

Its pushing it, but because its well planted, and with the gouramis out theres a pretty low bioload, it should be ok. I did my research *grin* and it appears 10g is the absolute smallest recommended, and it must be well planted with hiding spaces/caves. Oooo! I have one of those *grin*

[Sati]

Well go for it then :] Those are gorgeous fish. And there is *always* room! :]

[ScottS]

Originally Posted by Allivymar

ok...I been thinking about them ALL evening. Doing google searches on em didn't help

I can sympathize with you. I've searched all over for info on these and curviceps and haven't found much, let alone a source for buying a pair. Good photos are hard to come by, especially for the curviceps.