New German Blue Rams (pics+vids)

[meegosh]

Hey everyone,

I've been thinking long and hard about what fish to get for my tank and I've finally decided. I picked up a pair of GBRs at my LFS. They are already coloring up nicely. The pictures aren't that great because they are still a little nervous in their new setup.

Pictures:

Hiding in the back of the tank.

Out and about with my neons.


Videos:

YouTube - More of my New GBRs

YouTube - German Blue Rams

Also, I picked up an upside down catfish (I had one years ago and I loved it) and 3 more diamond tetras to make 5 total. What do you guys think?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Nice fish!

I really like the GBR's, I'm just a little leary of adding them to my tank. I think I may go a different route, mainly b/c I have hard water and I read that they may be sensative.

I wish you the best with them as I think they are great looking fish

 

[harmy4993]

gbr's are my favorite looking fw fish. when i get my bigger tank i want to get a couple

 

[meegosh]

Thanks for the kind words, I really like them also! They are sensitive from what I've read but I've been monitoring my params for the past month and everything is consistent. The LFS that sells them (Elmers for you Pittsburgh guys) have tons of tanks all setup on one system for filtering, heating etc, but these guys had their own cannister filter and heater to get the temp up to around 80. Over the past few weeks I've raised my temp from 76 to 80 in preparation for these guys.

I drip acclimated them and they seem to be doing great, they even ate some freezedried bloodworms this morning.

 

[Tifta]

GBR are freakin awesome looking. I was kind of worried about adding one to my fish tank with neons, but you think they would be alright?

 

[meegosh]

They really seem to ignore all the other fish in the tank. As you can see in the picture, the neons were all around him and the GBRs or the neons didn't seem to mind. They also ignore my guppies, even the male with his long colorful tail. Now I'm sure if I threw them into my guppy grow out tank they would make quick work of the fry but that's understandable.

I'm really quite impressed with how peaceful they are and how beautiful they look, even with stock lighting. To summarize, I wouldn't worry aobut tankmates as much as the water conditions.

 

[Tifta]

my lfs has a few for 7.99 so i might go pick one up. I've been wanting to get one for the longest time, just wasn't sure how it would do with the guppies and neons. What does that water have to be to keep them?

 

[meegosh]

In general they like acidic pH, soft water, and a slightly higher water temp ~80. If you are interested in breeding you will need some large, flat stones, like the red slate shown in the pic with the neons for the female to lay her eggs on. They also like dense groups of plants and plenty of free space for them to swim.

Basically no fluctuations in ph, hardness, ammonia, nitrite and they will be fine. Some people with hard water will run peat in their filters to make the water softer.

 

[Tifta]

I am not really interested in breeding. Thanks for that info, I got semi soft water so that is good. I might buy one or two soon, they are really cool looking, and congrats to yours!

 

[meegosh]

Thanks! Don't get discouraged if your LFS's are not nicely colored, once they get fed better they will color up nicely. Honestly, a hour after I put them in the tank their nice blue colors started showing more and more.

That's not a bad price for them either, $7.99. I got mine for $8.99ea - 3% discount. I had a gift certificate that was burning a whole in my pocket since May so I had to use it

 

[Tifta]

I've noticed that when I have gotten home with new fish, they seem to get more colorful after awhile. Do you know how big the GBR get?

 

[meegosh]

The maximum size is about 3" typically around 2-2.5". I was told mine are about 3-4 months old and they are already 1.5". Its been known that they will reach their full adult size in 4-6 months, some take longer though.

 

[meegosh]

Just thought I'd post an update on my new gbrs.. they are both now accepting flake foods and freeze dried bloodworms. I've heard that it may take 48hrs or more to get them to eat in their new setup but both have started in less than 24hrs. Their blue colors are really starting to show more and more every day.

I'm going on vacation next week and I already have a feeding schedule written up for my friend who is the foster parent of my syno eupterus.

 

[bs6749]

The maximum size is about 3" typically around 2-2.5". I was told mine are about 3-4 months old and they are already 1.5". Its been known that they will reach their full adult size in 4-6 months, some take longer though.

The max size is most likely 3" for GBR's. It's not true that they stop growing at 4-6 months. They may start to breed then but they will continue to grow. Here's some pics of the ones I had:

MUCH more colorful and healthier than what's available in the LFS that's for sure.

 

[meegosh]

I was told they CAN reach their adult size in just 4-6 months, some taking longer. Just to clear that up.

Those are very pretty fish!!! I agree, store bought ones are no where near as colorful or as healthy as locally bred ones but that is all that is available in my area. Like I said, they are getting darker colors and are accepting a wider variety of foods so I'm hoping with time they will look like yours

 

[rich311k]

Very pretty fish!

 

[JohnPaul]

Nice fish! I'm getting ready for a major move in less than a week, but once I am moved and settled in, if the local water is on the soft/acidic side I am definitely considering getting a pair of these.

 

[wims590]

great fish!!! i have my rams in with guppy and guppy fry and everything ignores each other...the fry just stays in the plants and sneak out at feeding time lol. wonderful fish!

 

[bs6749]

I was told they CAN reach their adult size in just 4-6 months, some taking longer. Just to clear that up.

Those are very pretty fish!!! I agree, store bought ones are no where near as colorful or as healthy as locally bred ones but that is all that is available in my area. Like I said, they are getting darker colors and are accepting a wider variety of foods so I'm hoping with time they will look like yours

Even if they are fed very heavily and water changes are done daily, GBR's won't reach their adult length until probably about 10-12 months. LFS GBR's are almost always subjected to growth hormones and hormones to enhance their color early on for quick sale. The problem with this is that they get elongated bodies and they die quickly. Few people can keep those fish alive for a year and that has given them a bad name when in fact they are a relatively hardy fish.

I got mine from a private breeder in Florida and had him ship them to me in Michigan. The stuff in the LFS didn't impress me and I only buy quality fish even if I have to pay a little more. After figuring in the shipping they were only $6 each. Not too bad considering that I just saw some in the LFS yesterday for $13. They were from a very good line that was just a couple of generations from wild blood. The breeder selectively bred them to get the deep gold/oragnge/yellow coloration. In all honesty I haven't seen any that are better than the ones I had that were from a different strain. Some out of the same line were better but none from different lines : )

 

[meegosh]

Well some bad news, I came back from vacation (was gone for a week) only to find both my GBRs missing. I checked everywhere, filter, caves, moss, etc... no luck. I asked my fish sitter about mid week how they were and she sent me a picture and they looked fine. I'm not sure what happened, all the params were ok when I got back. I did a 30% water change on Sunday and I am going to do another 30% today when I get off work.

I think they were, like others said, inferior quality and were not healthy from the start. I will steer clear of those for now until I find a repuatable breeder. I guess its all hit or miss in the fish world.

On a more positive note, I found another guppy fry hiding in my java moss. Only found one so far, one of the females gravid spot is still very dark, the other is much lighter than when I left.