German Blue Ram Discussion

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well, now i'm encountering more problems. my other male ram (not the injured one) is acting extremely lethargic, it's lost a lot of color and is sitting on the bottom. this sucks! i literally have no idea what's wrong with him

hope he's ok
 
That's exactly how my guy was acting before he died last night. As a matter of fact, that is how all of the rams I've had die have acted.
 
I bought a pair of GBR's this morning and have them in a small quarantine tank at the moment. This is my first attempt at keeping rams, bit worried about premature demise, but seems to be going ok.

I acclimatised for over an hour, then tipped the bag up, they both swam out and went down to the bottom. They are both still very colourful, but are not really doing much exploring. They're both a few inches from the bottom, swimming about a bit.

One thing i want to ask, in this small tank (below 5gal!) i have a filter from a 20gal tank (on low), i can see that its intake is affecting the rams a bit, a very slight current. Is this a problem? They should be ok with that? They're just gently fluttering their fins to counter its gentle pull.

I will try a small amount of food later tonight, see if they take it. Cant wait to get 'em into the 30gal, i think they'll love all the plants!
 
well good luck, elliot. my ram that i was just talking about died, i made a post about it on the unhealthy fish forums. this sucks man, i'm considering breeding them now however, so that way i won't have to keep restocking them. they are just so cool, and i just figure if i have any that die for no reason, then i would love to just breed them. i'm just hoping one fish death doesn't lead to more, like in maxwell's case :(
 
Im sorry to hear about that seymour, i think it must be pretty hit and miss, mine seem to be doing very well. I have no previous experience. I would try again! They are cool fish!

I kind of wish i hadn't decided to QT my pair of rams now, they have perked up a lot, much more active, and even come to the edge of the tank when i go near!! I cant believe it. It would have been better if i had added them straight into the 30gal so i dont have to move them and possibly stress them again.

Should i stick out the 2 week QT period, or could i move them in sooner? Im just being impatient, but is it completely necessary to QT when they seem to be healthy?

Thanks for your help.
 
I'd stick out the quarentine time. Especially if you have other rams in the tank. Aside from being touchy to begin with, a lot of people have mentioned rams lasting for a couple weeks, then just keeling over within a day or two.

Still working on getting my first batch of fry myself. The rams seem rather determined to keep trying though so I figure they'll get it right eventually. I have a pair with an extra female swimming around bugging them. My job is trying to get the new male healthy and stable enough to live in the main tank. Had him in there for 2 days, but after finding him hiding up in the corner of the tank refusing to eat, he's down to the 10 gallon until he grows a pair. I haven't decided if I should move the extra female down there with him or not.
 
i would definetely stick it out more. i have a male and a female in QT that we were going to add, they were fine for like a week and then just today we discovered the female had ich.

the female i imagine is getting stressed because the male keeps following her everywhere without giving her a break...not sure what i should do...hmm....
 
Man, it stinks to read the difficulties people have. But I believe that is the goal of this thread: to debunk the "mystery" of why rams die so seemingly randomly and without cause!

I personally suspect my three are less than healthy, they seem really jittery and dart around really fast when I get near. Not as much color either.

No changes that I can tell have occurred in the tank to cause this!

For those with ram health problems now: any suspicions as to cause of death? lack of water changes? recent filter cleaning (reduced bacteria)? lack of diet/variation?
 
What I have gathered so far:

~Premature demise occurs most often within days or less than three weeks
~Survival odds are greater if purchased in large numbers (3+)
~They all exhibit the same or similar symptoms prior to demise (lethargy, no eating)

The question is, were all of these incidents with imported German Blues. I would think so at this point.

Does anyone have a wild caught (F0 or F1) out there?
 
I figured out what happened with my tank. PH had been 6.4-6.6 until I did some rescaping. I added drfitwood and it caused a big PH drop...down to 6.0 or less (using the AP kit). The other fish were fine (platies, neons) but the Rams didn't take it very well. I was almost about to give it up until I figured out what happened. I've buffered the PH up to 7.0 with baking soda and will keep it there.

My girlfriend ordered me to get more Rams since she knows I like them so much, so I will take another shot at it this weekend. Since I've gotten mine from PETCO, I'm pretty sure they are farm raised. They all been very colorful too, which leads me to believe that they may have been hormone induced.
 
What I have gathered so far:

~Premature demise occurs most often within days or less than three weeks
~Survival odds are greater if purchased in large numbers (3+)
~They all exhibit the same or similar symptoms prior to demise (lethargy, no eating)
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree, I don't think it's a water chemistry issue, at least not the majority of the time. Of the four I originally purchased, 1 died about 3 weeks in. The other 3 are strong and thriving, even the 1 I seperated to another tank. Two are in my main tank currently tending to thier 3rd batch of eggs.

On the other hand, in an attempt to get a second pair I picked up a new male to go with the singled out female. He acclimated ok, but after 2 days in the main tank wasn't eating and would only hide in the corner. So I figured there were just too many other fish stressing him and moved him to the 10 gallon, he moved around a bit better at first but never started eating, and went to the swirly resting place just a few hours ago.

I think it was a case of the other rams all being older and larger, or just not part of his group. So maybe there is some kind of school issue going on where they need others of the same school to feel safe. I'm debating on testing the theory, but I'll have to buy 3 more rams at least to do it. I want a male to pair up with the female I have and will most likely need at least another pair to give that schooling feel.

Problem being how many fish I already have. Probably time to take more swordtails to the fish store.
 
well, the fish i just had die i had for over 2 months, and it just died for no reason. but on the other hand, JChillin did say in MOST cases it's usually within the first 3 weeks

i have decided i'm going to attempt to breed rams in my 10 gallon now, however...i love these fish so much, i'd rather keep a never ending supply than to keep buying them (when they're more than likely injected with hormones)
 
Hey guys, last Thursday my LFS finally got some of the coveted German Blue Rams that I've been waiting for. They also said they are "small".

What is anyone's opinion as to the "rule of thumb" for how long you should wait after a store receives fish, especially a fragile one like this, before you buy? If they have ich or anything, I'd like it be the store's problem, obviously.

I want to wait as long as I have to, but I've been waiting for them to come in for a long time and I don't want them to get sold out.

Also, not sure if it matters, but I'm going out of town on Friday afternoon until Sunday night. I could have someone come feed them if necessary and I figured a couple days without light might help them adjust to the new tank. Again, I don't want to miss out and wait till next week to act if I don't have to.
 
What is anyone's opinion as to the "rule of thumb" for how long you should wait after a store receives fish, especially a fragile one like this, before you buy? If they have ich or anything, I'd like it be the store's problem, obviously.

I want to wait as long as I have to, but I've been waiting for them to come in for a long time and I don't want them to get sold out.
Click to expand...

2-3 days is fine. Things to look for: Look for the strongest swimmers, pick out the specific fish you want and make sure you get the exact ones. Ask questions about the source (local breeder/hatchery or imported). Ask for their stock tank ph. If possible, find out when feeding time is and be there to observe.

*As something to think about: When LFS are netting fish, would it not be easier for them to snatch up the slowest fish? This is especially true if they are netting from a fairly decent stocked tank. Now, think about the ones that were not netted and consider this process occurring frequently for several days until they are all sold. I have a suspicion at this point that this is a contributing factor as well.

What say you all?
 
Are you saying that the ones that had not been netted over those few days are more stressed and more likely to die? Or that those are the ones that are strongest and most likely to survive?
 
*As something to think about: When LFS are netting fish, would it not be easier for them to snatch up the slowest fish? This is especially true if they are netting from a fairly decent stocked tank. Now, think about the ones that were not netted and consider this process occurring frequently for several days until they are all sold. I have a suspicion at this point that this is a contributing factor as well.
Click to expand...

It's a bit different with rams though, at least the last few times I've seen them netted. When you drop a net into most tanks, the fish know what's up and hide/run head for the hills. When they put the net into the ram tank, the rams either ignore the net completely or like the last time, actualy ran towards the net. When I commented on it to the guy at Big Al's he agreed it was wierd, but mentioned the rams did it every time. Even my rams here at home pretty much ignore the net. I can grab them any time I want, and they never run away. I've only had to net one of them, so usualy it's just that they are getting in the way when I'm doing something else and they don't feel like moving.

My debate right now is if I want to try and raise the eggs myself. My pair just failed on their 3rd attempt after 2 days of tending the eggs. I'm wondering if I should take away the eggs next time, or let them keep trying. Wich of course leads me to wondering if I should put them in another tank alone until the next spawn, or try to move the eggs out.
 
pwrflpills said:
Are you saying that the ones that had not been netted over those few days are more stressed and more likely to die? Or that those are the ones that are strongest and most likely to survive?
Click to expand...

It's a theory: The big picture is that possibly, the constant intrussion into the tank, coupled with a fish that is already highly sensitive and possibly already weakened will result in a lot of them succumbing prematurely.

The strongest ones seem to be able to survive, which would explain or at least delve into a rationale to explain this condition.
 
I was actually considering removing the next batch of eggs from my GBRs after failing to raise 4 batches of eggs. Unfortunatly they died before I could try thast method, hope you find success.
 
Prettyfishies, no problem with any except the gourami's. Those I simply don't know about. I've heard rumor of the rams being a bit mean to the Cory's when they're laying eggs, but even with Cory's trying to invade the nest of my rams, the most they've done is pick at them with no real damage. The cory's are usually smart enough to back off, same goes for the pleco.

Now to figure out how to slurp up gbr eggs. I'm thinking airline siphon from the main tank straight down to a breeder box in the 10 gallon. I don't use it much because usually I have danio fry that are small enough to fit through the grating on it. Ram eggs look a lot bigger. I'll probably do a big water change from the main tank to the 10 gallon first so that the water is as identical as possible to.
 
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