Blue Rams

[wagz]

Hi,

My LFS just got a shipment of gorgeous mature Blue Rams yesterday and I am very tempted to get one or two. Question:

75g, 11 neons, 6 lf zebra danio's, 5 blue eye forktails, 6 celebes rainbows, 1 lf bs albino pleco juvie. plenty of plants and wood.

I would like two blue rams. Will two males just harass each other to death. Would a male/female be better. Not interested in frye, I hear they spawn often,would the other fish just eat them. Will one male be lonely without another.

Also, my tank is only about 1.5 months cycled and I've just added the rainbows. Chemistry is Ok, with a slight ammonia concentration that I adjust with water change and chemicals. Is it too soon for rams?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Rivercats]

If your having an ammonia spike I'd wait to add any more fish. Rams do best in matured tanks, not new ones like yours. But you do have room. As for pleco's two males can harass each other but with a tank your size it "might" work. But really one BN Pleco is enough. I only keep one in my 220g.

 

[wagz]

blue rams

Hello and thanks for reply,

As to the question posted, I was asking about the rams I'm thinking of getting not the pleco. I was wondering if two males would work better than a male/female pair. I've heard males are aggressive towards each other, but also heard the males sometimes bully the female relentlessly sometimes, esp. if not mating time. So I will wait until tank is more mature, its just that the shipment is fantastic and they won't last long. I mean these fish are like show quality, take a picture and put in the encyclopedia quality. So two males or male/female blue rams?

 

[creic38]

Definitely wait until your parameters are stable. GBR's are hardier than you think. Just depends on where the stock comes from. I wouldn't do 2 males as they are territorial. The male/female combo is no guarantee either, unless they were paired up first. I think they like to chose their mate. I have a single male in my community, and he is great. He actually schools with my black skirts!

 

[Samzter]

Wait until your parameters are stable. A male / female would be better. They may not Pair up because they like to pick their partner. Luckily mine did pair but just look out for no squabbles. They may lay eggs every month if they pair. They will guard them but in the first few spawns they are still learning how to become parents. As for breeding here's a article: BREEDING GERMAN BLUE RAMS

German blue rams are suprisingly easy once you have an established pair. GBR grow to about six to seven centimetres. They like to eat bloodworms and flakes, river shrimp and lots more! The cons of these stunning looking fish is that they need pristine water quality. They're colouring is unique with their shimmering blue scales. They can breed as early on as four months but usually from six months +.
SEXING:
The female fish is smaller than the male and have more of a pink underbelly in her ventral region. If you look at the anterior region of the dorsal fin, you can see that her fin rays are less developed. It is also common for females to have a plumper body shape and more rounded edging of the tailfin. The back of the dorsal and anal fins have a more pointy edge in the male ram, and the tail fin is also more sharply edged. The male ram can be recognized on his V-shaped tail fin and the elongated second ray that is present in the dorsal fin.
BREEDING
When its time for breeding, the red patch on the belly of the female will grow bigger and become much brighter than normally. A flat stone will be cleaned or a pit will be dug out by either of the pair. The couple will also start nudging each other and/or twirling, and the male fish can dart away at a high pace or slide against the body of the female fish
During spawning, the female will place small adhesive eggs on the flat stones or in the small pits. The eggs are 0.9-1.5 mm in length (0.035-0.059 inches). A typical batch will consist of 150-300 eggs, but some batches contain no more than 20 eggs while others contain over 500 eggs.

Both the male and the female fish should be allowed to stay with the offspring because this species practise biparental brood care and the parents work together to care for the eggs and guard the territory. A parent will fan fresh water over the eggs to prevent attacks from fungi and bacteria. The parents will also eat unfertile eggs to prevent them from turning into breeding grounds for pathogens.

The eggs will normally hatch within 40 hours if the water is kept in the upper part of the recommended temperature range. It will then take roughly 5 days before the offspring becomes free swimming. The free swimming fry will be kept in a dense school and be cared for by the parents. They will be escorted by their mother or father during foraging.

Don’t lose heart if the first few spawnings are unsuccessful. A lot of things can go wrong and it is common for German blue rams to spawn a few times before they get everything right. They might for instance eat a few batches before they become good parents. Once they have started breeding, you can however expect a new batch once a month or so. Young pairs are known to fight quite a lot and the aquarium must contain plenty of hiding spots to avoid stress and injury.

If your couple continues to eat their offspring even after several spawnings it can be a sight of distress in the aquarium. Try to figure out what stresses your fish and do your best to make the aquarium more relaxing for them.