"Community" cichlids?

[smallfry53]

Original Poster. Or, original post. In this case, I meant the original poster (you).

Ok thanks. I have seen people write that before and I understood what it meant by the context I just couldn't figure out what it stood for.

 

[smallfry53]

Juvenile rams will readily pair if you have a male and female present, but often if a male and female pair has formed and for instance the male dies, the female might not take another mate. I had this exact situation happen to me and I got her a new male from the LFS. Either she decided she wasn't into younger men or she just decided that she liked girls, but she wanted nothing to do with him and she would constantly chase him away even when he was passing by. I've also had pairs swap partners before. Not sure what is in my water.......

lol that's funny. I think I'm going to try and just get a single ram though. I don't really want baby rams, cause I don't know what I would do with them and being a newbie wouldn't know how to take care of them. I'm guessing I'd probably need another tank that I don't have. (or have the money for at the moment)

I'd be worried I'd end up with two males or two females also.

 

[bs6749]

The fry wouldn't make it in a community tank anyway and tank bred rams aren't known for their parenting skills.

 

[smallfry53]

So bs6749, it seems like you really think having a pair would be better huh? What is the difference between having a single ram and having a pair?

 

[smallfry53]

I just want to thank everybody that commented. You guys are very helpful. You can read about this stuff all day long (like I do) but there's nothing like talking to people that have real life experience with this stuff.

 

[bs6749]

So bs6749, it seems like you really think having a pair would be better huh? What is the difference between having a single ram and having a pair?

I do think it would be better to have a sexed pair of rams. With a solo ram you will still get to see the nice coloration on the fish but with a sexed pair you will most likely see some behavior that you wouldn't otherwise get to see. Males and females interact with one another and this behavior is interesting (at least for me) to watch. You will see them spawn and the male will be guarding the eggs for the vast majority of the time with the female on perimiter duty and she will occasionally come over to the male, nudge him or "mouth" him on the side and he knows that he can go get something to eat or leave whlie the female watches the eggs, but he is always back in a short while. The reason I keep fish is to observe behaviors in addition to beautiful colors and you get all of that with a PAIR of rams.

A solo ram would be okay, but a pair WILL work in my experience and you'd get much more out of keeping a pair than you would a solo ram. Just my two cents.

 

[smallfry53]

I like the idea of a sexed pair, but it just worries me that they might be aggressive toward other fish while spawning.

 

[bs6749]

They aren't aggressive even when spawning. Most ANY fish will defend it's spawn site, and this is what they do. They won't continue to go after other fish as long as the fish are out of their spawning site and about 5" surrounding it in a sphere. I've seen my rams scare off a 3.5" BN pleco that got about an inch from the eggs but they stopped harassing him as soon as he was no longer an immediate threat.

 

[kdpuffer]

I would also recommend a pair cause the behavior and interaction is very interesting to watch. There are lots of varieties of rams available but my favourite are the German blue and electric blue. I actually just lost my pair of rams and replaced them with 4 electric blues and 2 German blue. Hoping to get pairs and downsize as they pair off. When I got my fish I found out my German blue rams are wild caught so they should spawn with greater success and be a little hardier.

 

[bs6749]

No "German blue rams" are wild caught. German blue rams were developed from wild caught blue rams that Mr. Manuel Ramirez (for which the fish are named) exported to a breeder in Germany. Only blue rams and yellow rams occur in the wild.

 

[smallfry53]

Ok thanks for the advice guys. Maybe I will go ahead and try to find a pair then. Do you have any special advice on caring for them other then the regular old stuff I can google and find out? I have read that it is very important to do weekly if not bi-weekly pwcs.

 

[kdpuffer]

Yes typo on my part, German blues are not wild caught, but they are the same fish.

 

[bs6749]

25% PWC 2-3 times per week is what I do for them.

 

[thegundog]

Smallfry - I would definetly consider KRIBS.....

Pretty fish, hardy, usually easy to find, not real expensve and they are cool.

That's my .02!

Good Luck, Be Patient and Haver Fun!