Does my bolivian ram look okay?

[RachelG]

My ram "Ram-bam" was sick for a long time with an unknown problem that made him not eat and lose weight, and four months ago I thought he wouldn't make it. He has since recovered and regained weight(though I think he is still a little bit skinny) and regained color. This photo did not show his color well: His red and yellow parts are brighter. He has been active and eating well in the past three months, and seems to have gotten over whatever problem it was that made him not eat. Perhaps it was internal parasites. I don't know what it was, but he is now an eager eater and always excited to see me come near.

I'm just unsure about the dark speckles along his top side by the dorsal fin and near his tail. They never look any darker than how they look in the photo, but also never any lighter. I was expecting the dark speckles to go away as he got healthier, but they haven't. Is this normal for a male ram, or is he still a little stressed?

His tank mates are harlequin rasboras and kuhli loaches, and he never seems bothered by any of them. Edit: AND one little sparkling gourami who I forgot about for a second, who doesn't bother him, either, from what I can tell. I used to have a few platies in this tank, but it became clear that the ram did not apreciate them swimming in the lower half of the tank so I re-homed them.

I am pretty sure he is a male, but let me know if he looks like he might be a female. Either way, its name is still Ram-bam.

 

[Laser]

The black speckles look like part of the normal bolivian ram coloration to me.

 

[Pandicorn]

He looks OK. Rams show stress bars when stressed, google it, it's SUPER noticeable

 

[RachelG]

Okay, thanks for the peace of mind.
I'm still amazed that this fish did not die back when he just a little skeleton with scales...He would not eat at all. Foods would just drift down past his face and he wouldn't even notice them. One day I scooped him up in a bucket and dropped in a few cichlid pellets and thawed bloodworms, and after about ten minutes he started picking at the food and ate a few. After that his appetite became a little better every day and he started eating normally after a few weeks. He even takes flake food at the surface now.

 

[Bbush]

My tank's 2 feet tall, & mine won't go near the surface. Yours looks fine to me. Mine look a bit thin I think. I feed mine medicated anti-protozoan flakes periodically.