First Rams

[trochilids]

I've been putting off buying rams for several weeks, but I finally bit the bullet and bought a couple for my wife's office tank yesterday. It's a 40 gallon bowfront with community fish in there (2 swords, 13 neons, 4 cories, 3 otos, a few ghost shrimp, planted with live plants and two large pieces of driftwood. The plants are looking good and everything's been nice and stable for several weeks, so figured it was time to introduce the rams.

Our local fish store had a good selection of balloon and long-finned blue rams, but those don't appeal to me at this point. Just wanted the basic blue ram, so I did my best to pick out a possible pair and brought them home.

One problem! Today the small one that I thought was a female is very brightly colored and rather bossy. The larger, colorful one that I thought was a male and who was the boss of the tank in the fish store initially was dancing all around the smaller one last night in the new tank, really showing off. But by this morning it has turned really subtle colored and seems to be lower on the pecking order to the smaller one. Funny stuff! Both appear healthy and are taking food, but it's interesting to see the roles these two play. Now I'm not entirely sure I have a pair at all. Maybe two males for all I know now. We'll see what happens when they mature (knock on wood) and will proceed from there!

Cheers,

 

[happygirl65]

How exciting! I have seen many fish lose color and change pecking order when moved. Some fare better in the acclimation to a new environment. I am sure you will enjoy them. Hopefully they don't fight too much. I love watching their little dances though.

 

[trochilids]

How exciting! I have seen many fish lose color and change pecking order when moved. Some fare better in the acclimation to a new environment. I am sure you will enjoy them. Hopefully they don't fight too much. I love watching their little dances though.

My two are still friends, at least. They hang out together with just minor scuffles today. Colors haven't improved much on the larger one, and they didn't "dance" as much today as they did when I first put them in yesterday. But who knows what goes on when the lights go out and we all go home...!

 

[severum mama]

Don't worry too much as long as they appear healthy. They should color back up as they settle down and get used to your tank. Congrats on the new acquisitions.

 

[thatmagicguy]

Just so you know, the female will develop a rather rosy colored stomach area and the male will not. The female will have a more stocky appearance and her belly profile will become more convex as she eats more and becomes acclimated to the tank. The male will have no red on his belly(in most instances), and his belly profile will be more straight, even slightly concave in a healthy sort of way. Sometimes, if the rams are not too far removed from wild stock the males have enlarged dorsal rays towards the front and the females, generally speaking, lack these. Just make sure the tank water parameters stay good, rams available in stores often are over run with parasites and will sometimes fall ill for no apparent reason. Of course there is always a reason but you as the aquarist can give them their best chance by providing a superior home. BTW, your tank sounds fabulous by the description you gave. I bet a school of 6-8,,or even 10 rummynose tetras would look great in there. Bill

 

[trochilids]

BTW, your tank sounds fabulous by the description you gave. I bet a school of 6-8,,or even 10 rummynose tetras would look great in there. Bill

Rummy's 'eh? Hmmmm... I'll certainly keep that one in mind.

Thanks for the thoughts on the rams. A while back I found some definite full-color females exhibiting all the features you described at another fish store in a neighboring town. But the choices weren't that clear-cut this time around. We'll see, though. They're beautiful fish, regardless of what sex the turn out to be. As long as they stay healthy...

Cheers,

 

[severum mama]

Agreed. As long as you got healthy rams they will be beautiful and interesting. Keep an eye on them- if you have difficulties, bloodworms should entice them to eat heartily.

 

[trochilids]

The rams are settling right in now and appear to be doing fine. Their appetite is certainly not a problem. Both even come to the top for food during feeding time.

Regarding Rummies... I'm reading elsewhere that they like fairly acidic, soft water. Our local tap water (and that of our LFS -- I asked) runs on the hard, basic side (pH around 8). I've got two large chunks of driftwood in the tank, and live plants, but it doesn't appear to have brought the pH down, and I'm not going to mess with anything else to do so. I know that a lot of fish will adapt to a huge variety of water conditions if the water is clean and the conditions are stable. That's the premise I've gone on with my current tank inhabitants. I just recognize they may not breed outside their preferred range... But does anyone have direct experience with Rummy-nosed Tetras with hard, alkaline water?

Thanks!

--Stacy

 

[happygirl65]

Even discus can acclimate to a pH of 8 (gasp) I have done it and they thrived.

The important thing is stability of that level. You are better off not messing with your pH unless you do want them to breed.
I would say if your LFS has the same pH then the rummies are already acclimated and you would have no trouble with them at all.