My Rams. Are they Blue, Gold or ??

[HiFi]

They are in a 75 with a few livebearers and tetras.
When I got them about a week ago they were slightly more colorful at the store. I have 3, and think they might be females.
I can't get a pic of the one that might be male. He sometimes has a bigger Black dorsal spike, and few blue specs in the black spot.
Are they Gold Rams that havent colored up yet? Not much blue on any them at all. And they are kinda striped, not like any GBR's I have seen pics of.

 

[Jchillin]

Yes, you have German Blue rams. The problem is the history of the naming of this fish. Over the years, M. Ramirezi has been known scientifically as Apistogramma ramirezi and Papilochromis ramirezi. That led to a number of common names such as Ballon ram, Golden ram, Blue Ram, etc. When a color variation was found back then, folks stuck a name on it basically to describe the color. It didn't get any better when these fish became popular and were being bred for the hobby in Germany and Singapore.

There is some debate still as to whether Mikrogeophagus ramirezi will last as it's final conclusive name, but that is for another discussion.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

They are German Blue Rams. Just like Jchillin explained, they are all the same fish. Some are just more one color than the other. Can't really tell if they are male or female though. Females are less common in the lfs, so my guess, if they don't have a bright pink belly, then it will be near impossible to tell, as a few females don't have the very bright pink on them. So until the mature a little more, and begin coloring up, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Toirtis]

That led to a number of common names such as Ballon ram,

Actually, 'balloon rams' are a tankbred mutant that actually has a balloon-like body...

Golden ram,

Golden rams, are, however a pretty distinct colour-type...possibly leucistic.

When a color variation was found back then, folks stuck a name on it basically to describe the color.

Heh...find a fish this isn't true of, even today. LOL