German Blue Ram Discussion

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***Disclaimer Announcement***

The pic I utilized is not a pic of my Rams spawining. I used a pic from my research pages for Severum's benefit. If it were mine, I would have been shouting from the rooftops! Sorry for the implication.
 
Jchillin said:
***Disclaimer Announcement***

The pic I utilized is not a pic of my Rams spawining. I used a pic from my research pages for Severum's benefit. If it were mine, I would have been shouting from the rooftops! Sorry for the implication.
Click to expand...

Thats ok.. I missed that..
 
Maybe she's sick then. :( She isn't nearly as colorful as the breeding females you all posted, which I kinda worried about when I got her, but the two I got seemed to be a pair so I didn't want to split them up. They do hang out together all the time though, so I guess it's possible. Her belly is pretty big, but she doesn't have the breeding colors I expected. Maybe she just needs to settle in? :? Thanks for the pics BTW.
 
I just introduced 2 smaller females to my males today. They've been poking each other all afternoon. Very fun to watch.

What sort of aggressive behavior should i watch out for? Will the males start fighting each other now that there are females present? Or will they happily pair off and keep to themselves?
 
I came into work this morning and found that my little female had died. :( The male seems ok though. I guess I'll wait a week or so and get him another female or 2.
 
Never mind, the male died too. :( I found him a few minutes ago. This has not been a good week for me in terms of aquaria. :roll:
 
Sorry to hear about this Severum. :D But, this is precisely the reason I started this thread. There has to be some relation and/or common denominator regarding Rams and why they mysteriously and prematurely die.

I have a theory of sorts. From what I've researched, Rams bred in Asia have been noted to be especially weak. This is due in part to the constant shipping, breeders using weak strains and meds being added to stock tanks during this period.

So, a couple of questions come to mind:

1. What are the sources of the German Rams that we are getting from LFS?
2. Is it possible that the species has been "breeded" out so much that only very weak strains are left?
3. Is there something else out there that has been overlooked?

I've have seen documents dating back to 1999 regarding the same problem. Obviously, there is a common thread linking all of this together.

An update on mine: It is now week 5 (as of today). All 4 are still active and swimming (at least up to mid-level). One of them actually stared at me for awhile last night (they usually don't do this). No signs of any problems as yet. They do "steal" food intended for Cliff and the julii's, but no signs of aggression on any level.
 
My two males are roughly 4 months old. Very healthy, nice colors. These were my first rams (first cichlids in fact).

How much smaller are females usually? The two i just added are about 40% smaller than my males. Are they just young?
 
yes. i get my rams from a certain lfs that always has healthy fish. The owner is very knowledgable as well. In fact, when i ordered these females, she called me as soon as they arrived and didnt even take them out of their shipping bags - which i thought was a nice gesture.

But i think my males have grown just a touch since i got them back in Feb. I can look at some old pictures to see for sure
 
i had purchased 4 rams from the lfs 2 weeks ago ... they were all doing fine .... then one died 2 days ago, and another one today ..... they were doing all fine, eating and swimming all around .... then ... dead ..... :?: :!: :cry:
 
africamonk... this wouldnt be your new tank would it? Was it done cycling? I dont think the rams are hardy enough to use as cycling fish..JMO though..
 
yes, they were breathing really fast before they died ...... all other fish are still fine and none of them seem to be breathing fast .... and yes, this is the new tank i got more than a month ago ......
 
jumping on the train a bit late (been gone for a while... school and stuff...) but here are my observations with my rams:

1. Bought my first male in hopes of finding a female last October (my dates may be a little off)... fish store never got a female worth buying. This male died only after I left my tank in the care of a good/trusted friend of mine. I don't blame him.
2. Finally found a pair that looked great. They ignored eachother for nearly two months and I figured I just had two great fish who weren't in love. Well, I rescued a female betta from a friend and she got ick about 4 days later. I treat my tank only by raising the heat to approx 89 degrees. I left it like that for a month and over that month my rams spawned twice!!! The second time I had a cloud of free swimming fry, but then the male started eating them and while the female tried to protect the batch other fish in the tank ate the babies. The female then became sick about a week later and died *sigh*
3. So I was searching for a female around the size of my male, thought I found one but it ended up being a very feminine male. The two fought for 3 days, I separated them and my origional male was OBSESSED with trying to get the new guy through the tank divider. He wouldn't eat, barely rested, and constantly went against the divider trying to get the new male. Well, I was intending to take the new guy back once he had time to rest and recover from the fighting, but then my origional male died (I guess from stress!).
This brings me up to date with the new guy. He is acting nervous and constantly swimming up and down the glass. I am worried that he will work himself up too much and stress himself into sickness. I've been pestering the only LFS up here to find me a female or two for the poor guy. I just hope he'll be okay *sigh* These are my favorite of the cichlids and after getting fry to the free swimming stage I am excited to keep trying.
 
Nice to have you back Rubysoho! Hope school is doing well.

Glad you found the thread. You've contributed some useful information regarding your abservations and the activities of your Rams.

If you don't mind, could you add what you feed and if they came from a bare or planted tank at your LFS?

Thanks. :D
 
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