blue rams

[jpchin]

German Blue Ram

just thought i would start a thread on german blue ram care. there seems to be a significant interest in them right now. here is a great article on the gbr and everything (well almost) that you need to know to have a good chance of successfully keeping them in your aquarium. i read this before i set up my aquarium with my gbr's. hope it helps anyone who is thinking of getting some rams. it helped me alot.

 

[George9]

Thanks for the great link! I learned alot.

 

[ashleynicole]

I too had poor outcomes with GBR's in the past. I may try keeping them again at some point so thanks for the info.

 

[HalfMoon B]

I've been keeping mine in a community tank at 82 degrees, it was well established before their addition, and with driftwood, my PH is around 6.4
They aren't hard necessarily, just require a little more upkeep, like discus

 

[ashleynicole]

I've been keeping mine in a community tank at 82 degrees, it was well established before their addition, and with driftwood, my PH is around 6.4
They aren't hard necessarily, just require a little more upkeep, like discus

my tapwater is just too hard and alkaline. Do you use RO water? When I used to keep angels I had to add driftwood and peat-moss to my filter to get it to acidify and that was the only way I was successful, I am guessing I would have to do something similar to keep GBR's.

 

[kdpuffer]

Alot of people add peat moss to thier filter for rams, my ph is 6.5-7 so I added a new piece of driftwood and hopefully that brings it down a bit. If not I'll be trying the peat moss myself.

 

[HalfMoon B]

I saw peat pellets thy look very handy. Put those in a net and throw it in the filter, and it should work wonders

 

[jpchin]

my tapwater is just too hard and alkaline. Do you use RO water? When I used to keep angels I had to add driftwood and peat-moss to my filter to get it to acidify and that was the only way I was successful, I am guessing I would have to do something similar to keep GBR's.

i do use ro water that i get from a machine at the grocery store. after a bit of experimenting i make a mix of about 2/3 ro water to 1/3 tap water. that gives me a ph of between 6-6.5. just remember to add a water conditioner to your tap water when you mix it. also check temperature to make sure it's close to the temp. in your tank. i do about a 15% water change every 3rd day. i have a 45gal tank. i got my rams about 10 months ago. they were about 1 1/2 inches when i got them they're about 3 1/4 inches long now. i have 2 males. here are their pics. love these guys!

 

[kdpuffer]

That male looks awesome I can't wait till mine mature and colour up fully.

 

[jpchin]

That male looks awesome I can't wait till mine mature and colour up fully.

when i got mine they weren't very colorful. as a matter of fact when the guy showed me the tank they were in i thought it was the wrong fish because i was looking for all the beautiful color they get when they mature. he assured me that they were rams and that the color would come out once they got settled into the tank and grew a bit. he said the color was faded because they were stressed from shipping and being in the store. he also advised me at the time of purchase to buy live BLACK worms and feed them a few times a week which i have been doing since i got them. i believe that has helped their color and their growth. all my fish love these worms. i feed them about every other day. good luck with your gbr's. they are great fish.

 

[mr.waffles1842]

just subscribing to the thread. where can i find some cheap ones? my LFS sells em for 14 a piece, and i wanted a pair

 

[jpchin]

just subscribing to the thread. where can i find some cheap ones? my LFS sells em for 14 a piece, and i wanted a pair

i don't remember what i paid for mine but i got them at "that fish place/that pet place" in lancaster, pa. i live about 40 minutes from the store so i bought them in person but they do have a great web site and they do ship so you might want to check them out. sorry i can't be of more help. maybe someone else can.

 

[kdpuffer]

I paid 15 for mine, just so happened he had two left and they were male and female. They appear to have paired too. I'll look into black worms.

 

[kdpuffer]

just subscribing to the thread. where can i find some cheap ones? my LFS sells em for 14 a piece, and i wanted a pair

Check on aquabid, they usually have them there.

 

[jetajockey]

Petsmart has them for 5.99.

 

[ashleynicole]

I saw peat pellets thy look very handy. Put those in a net and throw it in the filter, and it should work wonders

I have never seen peat pellets. I put my peat poss in panty hose back in the day....