german blue rams as hard to care for as people say?

[allaboutfish]

i'd really like a german blue ram, but my ph is like 7.6 or up (havent checked in a while) i was wondering if they could do good and also my temp will be 78 ill keep on top of nitrates ad keep them at about 5 (wont be a problem with plants), but i dont wana get it if it's gonna die. also how hard is it for a lfs to special order the longfin variety? thanks alot everybody

 

[TML182]

Ive found that my German blue ram is quite hardy actually. I was like you though and thought that they were gonna be impossible to keep with my ph only being slightly lower then yours. Both my lfs and one of my close friends both sayed they had a hard time keeping them but I've been lucky and my guys been going strong for a couple months now. He even survived a nitrate spike I had early on (almost 40pmm) and showed no ill effects.

I've heard that it's quite hard to find a lfs that can order the longed fun variety however, you could always look and see though if there are any breeders in your area.

 

[TML182]

*finned variety

 

[siva]

I think it just depends on the stock you end up with. If it's a well established and properly maintained aquarium and you get good stock, I don't think it's hard. I purchased one from a local lfs and it died after 6 days. It was from my mom and pop store too, who's stock never dies on me. When I purchased it they said it had been in the tank a while, that they hadn't added more in there for a while so I thought this was a good sign that he was stable. He seemed fine those 6 days I had him, just shy. Then just dead one morning. I talked to severum mama on here about it and she said this is common with lfs stock and if you can get one from a breeder you have better chances. Maybe you can find a local aquarium club and locate a breeder.

I don't know about the pH. While I do think consistency is most important when it comes to pH, I'm always hesitant to add fish that technically require a pH lower than mine.

 

[amesdrew]

pH just has to be stable, but they are truly odd fish. They just die sometimes. I had my favorite female ram for 5 months and one day it just went dark and died a few days later. No idea why, everything was fine. Just gone.

 

[allaboutfish]

i think ill try the german blue ram and if it dies ill go with a bolivian but i thik i can keep it alive hopefully especially with advice from the great people at AA!

 

[Rosenweiss]

Just remember to acclimate him to your pH. If you don't have a system for drip acclimation (like I don't), then you can do this:

First, float the bag for 10-15 minutes. Then every 5-10 minutes add a few cups of the tank water into the bag and do that at least a few times before you net and release him to make sure that he's getting acclimated to your pH.

 

[allaboutfish]

i usually do that for about an hour give or take haha

 

[Rosenweiss]

Oh, okay, cool. =] I just learned about it so I started doing it with my fish.

 

[allaboutfish]

haha