German Blue Ram Surviving the first couple weeks

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mr.waffles1842

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
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Location
Massachusetts
I really want to learn to keep these guys alive the first couple of days. i had one, jessica, die on me yesterday, and another one die today. please help!
 
What size tank? What are its tank mates? What are your water parameters, including PH? How often do you change water? How do you acclimate them to the tank? Where are you buying the fish (online, breeder, lfs)?

Some info from:Aquarium Fish: German Blue Ram

"Rams, like discus fish, require very pristine, soft water. I saw that you noted a nitrate reading of 35 ppm. While this would be acceptable for many freshwater species I think German blue rams may not tolerate that nitrate level. The best way to lower nitrate levels in the freshwater aquarium is through frequent partial water changes. When keeping tropical fish like rams and discus fish I often recommend bi-daily 25 percent water changes to keep nutrients in check. This may seem like a hefty load but a good water change schedule is an overall aquarium problem preventative. Rams are shy tropical fish that often struggle to eat in crowded community settings. Also, a pH rating of 7.2 is a little steep for the South American rams. I would strive for a pH level of 6.8 and see if your success rate increases."

Good luck. :)
 
tank size 20 high. tank mates bloodfin tetras, julii corys, amano shrimp, platys. params= 7 ph, 10 nitrates, 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia, i change the water 35% weekly, i acclimate regular fish, such as platys, bloodfins etc the bag in float method. for others i use drip acclimation. i buy them from a LFS. i thought they were pretty healthy, and they were there for 2 months, so i bought some. they died next day.
 
tank size 20 high. tank mates bloodfin tetras, julii corys, amano shrimp, platys. params= 7 ph, 10 nitrates, 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia, i change the water 35% weekly, i acclimate regular fish, such as platys, bloodfins etc the bag in float method. for others i use drip acclimation. i buy them from a LFS. i thought they were pretty healthy, and they were there for 2 months, so i bought some. they died next day.

It might not be anything you're doing wrong, I've heard they can be very hard to keep for some reason. Maybe ask the LFS owner what he does to care for them, if he seems to have success with them?
 
How many of each fish may I ask? If you've got those fish to full shoal levels (6 fish per shoal) you're well stocked, bordering overstocked. The fish you may have gotten may have just been weak fish too...
 
Ask ur LFS in what ph they keep them at, before I got my cockatoo's I researched them online said they needed a ph of 6 to 6.5. My LFS said that's usually
 
For wild fish and told me where he got them they are bred and kept in a ph of 7.4 my ph is about 7 and they thrive. My advise get some info on how they are kept and where they come from.
 
Hmm, not sure why everyones die on them, I've been keeping mine for over a year now, and currently they're living in alkaline 7.6-8.0 pH without any problems. They've survived mini-cycles, tank die-offs and fungal breakouts. Maybe I'm just lucky with them.
 
i am the proud owner of 2 male german blue rams that i've had for about 10 months now. i can tell you that i think i keep them in the enviornment that they thrive in. they have grown from about 1 1/2 inches at purchase to over three inches now. their color is absolutely beautiful. my schedule is a 15% water change every 3rd day. i use a mixture of ro and treated tap water to get the ph between 6-6.4. i add seachem freshtrace that replaces the trace elements that are removed from the ro water. my tank is also well planted which helps to keep the water "fresh" i really think the most important thing is doing frequent water changes and keeping the ph in the low range along with soft water. i also feed live black worms every other day which all the fish enjoy. i am attaching a pic of the "babies"

 
yeah that's cool. i keep all male fish in my 45 community set-up just because i don't want the aggression but also i don't want to raise fish or try to find homes for them. post some pictures if you can when you get your rams. just to warn you they won't be very colorful when you first get them. i thought i had the wrong breed of fish. they were so plain looking but as they grow the color gets beautiful. good luck. :)
 
The only 100% way I've been able to sex them is by the black spot on their side, if it has blue flecks in it then it is female, if not then its male.

i agree with jetajockey and even then it's sometimes hard to tell.:) the store i go to usually has the males and females in separate tanks. but a few get in the wrong one. which happened with my sailfin mollys. that's the only female i have but since they're in fw (not brackish) they can't reproduce.
 
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