my new rams - another update

[shayfish]

I got 2 new gold rams the other day (the last 2 in the store wooo!). They are beautiful and seem to have adjusted to their new surroundings quite well. I think I have a pair, but I honestly don't know. I shot 50 pics at feeding time tonight, and only managed to get this one clear one of them together. I know its not great, but any experts out there have a guess at sexing these beauts?

Here's a couple of solo shots:

And instead of having a new show off thread, I figured I would throw in these too...
The Pleco out of hiding (very rare):

And a moment of sharing... kind of reminds me of the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp lol!

 

[Gillie]

They both look to be female to me. Female Rams have pink bellies.

 

[theotheragentm]

Great pics. Gorgeous fish. I have some similar ones of a Cory and snail sharing food in my photo showcase here. Although my snail isn't as large or my Cory isn't as small. I can't tell which one it is...

 

[Michael]

Beautiful Rams. The second pic is a female for sure. I do think both are females but I'm not sure.

 

[bs6749]

They both look like females to me. The one in the second picture is definitely a female as the ovipositor is clearly visible. She looks like she is getting ready to lay eggs soon. I would introduce a couple of male golds or GBR's and see what happens.

 

[shayfish]

Okay, I am thinking they are both females then. Their bellies look quite similar. I would love to get 2 males in there to see what happens. The guy at the lfs said these were a really good batch of rams and that many people who took home pairs came back within a week saying they were laying eggs. (taken with a grain of salt mind you, since he was also quite sure they were a pair...)

They would potentially breed with blue rams? That would be so cool!!! I feel like I am pushing my stocking limit right now so I will have to think about it.

 

[bs6749]

Gold Rams and Blue Rams are the same species, just a different color morph. My rams are an "F5 of a wild yellow and a GBR" according to the breeder. They have lots of color to them. Your rams look really nice BTW.

 

[Zagz]

Very pretty fish. I also think you have a pair of females. But congrats, they are well worth it IMO.

 

[shayfish]

I just wanted to update this to tell you guys how much I am enjoying these fish. I was expecting them to be a lot more shy than they are. They actually seem quite curious and today I added a male GBR just to see if anything might happen...

He seems a little shocked still though. I am hoping he settles in as nicely as these girls.

 

[bs6749]

My females seem to be more curious than the males as well. They come up to the front of the tank and try to look at me so I hide until their eyes are behind a plant leaf of something so they can't see my eyes. They then relocate so that they can see my eyes LOL.

You should get another male because if a pair does form they may harass the other female to the point of her death. Just wanted to warn you about that.

 

[Jchillin]

Very nice looking Rams you got there Shayfish! bs6749 is correct about the pairing situation but you have a good while before it becomes an issue. It's usually hit or miss with the whole experience of getting a pair. I have four GBR's that turned out to be all boys.

 

[shayfish]

I have observed some pinkey looking spots on the belly of one of the females and I have noticed that they both have been chasing the male.

Is this spawning behaviour? Is there anything I can do to... encourage them? Or is this a sign that I should get another male? TIA.

Btw... here's my boy:

I wish I could get this pic bigger so the colours would show up better. He's beee-u-teyful.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Good luck with the rams. I tried a pair once in a 20g tank. I wound up with a pair of males who constantly fought until one eventually died. The other lived solo because he would constantly fight with any fish I put in there. Finally he became a member of my 55g community (what a hodge podge that was at the time) and seemed to get along fine until he died. I think he lived less than a year after I got him. Not sure if it was something I screwed up (I was new at fishkeeping then) or just a natural lifespan for them.

 

[Gillie]

If your rams pair off your other female could possibly be in danger. I lost four females before I found out more often than not Rams are monogamys

 

[maxwell1295]

I bought 4 Gold Rams a while back (maybe 2-3 months ago) and only have one left...but he's a looker!

Because they don't seem to last very long, no matter how good the water conditions are, I vowed to never buy store bought rams again. That was until I saw these guys. My wife made me do it.....not that it took much to convince me. They really are among the most beautiful fish in the FW hobby. I just wish there was a way to keep them alive longer.

BTW, are you sure they last fish you added is a male?

 

[bs6749]

Shayfish - could you please try to post some more shots of the new fish? I would like to see, if possible to get, a closer up profile on both sides and a close up of the mouth/eye area. I would also like to see a profile shot of the tail fairly close up and a shot of the dorsal fin (front area mainly but whole thing would be great). Thanks in advance if you can get them.

 

[shayfish]

Okay, i will take a big bunch of pics today. I have noticed that photobucket is automatically resizing my pics to be really small lately though (like the one of the GBR)...

If I find out my he is a she, I'm gonna cry...

 

[bs6749]

I just think that it looks very unusual for a GBR as pictured above. Maybe it is just the pic but here is what I noticed:

Not black front spikes on the dorsal fin, no clearly black spots, oddly shaped "jaw" area, tail looks odd too but may just be the pic again.

 

[Vmax911]

The red on the fins of your male makes me think he is a bolivian ram. I should say a very nice looking bolivian ram.

 

[bs6749]

The red on the fins of your male makes me think he is a bolivian ram. I should say a very nice looking bolivian ram.

There were several things that were causing me to think along the same lines. The fish seems to have an abnormally large tail and exhibits the red/pink on the top and bottom as is the case with Bolivians. The jaw area also looks large and appears more like a Bolivian. The red eyes tell me it is a Gold ram/ German Blue ram. Lack of black spots is hinting that it is a Gold ram. Lack of black spikes on the front dorsal fin is hinting at either a Gold ram or a Bolivian.

Bottom line... I was wondering if it were possible that this fish were a cross between a Bolivian and a GBR/Gold ram. I think the picture is deceiving me though.