German Blue Ram Help

[brunettebaby4571]

Hi so I am about to get a pair of German Blue Rams and was interested to find out a little bit more about them. The pair is a female and male (the male is long finned) and I was wondering are they really hard to care for? I have found mixed results about this. I read that the long finned male will be especially fragile. Is this true? Whats the best advice you can offer about them? Also what other fish can they live with and what size tank do you recommend for the two of them? The current owner also said that they have laid eggs several times but they always got eaten. But if they do lay eggs I will make another thread for that Ok I think that is all. Just some advice on their overall care would be great! Thank you!

 

[squirrilah fish]

They are very sensitive, especially to nitrites. It is extremely important to maintain perfect stable water quality, skipping water changes can kill them usually when you finally do the water change.
They often get constipated, or bloated, make sure you feed them a high quality diet. I also recommended fasting them once a week.

As far as tank mates go, I have mine housed with tetras, danios, and celebese rainbow fish, as well as a rainbow shark, and gouramis.
This isn't the most orthodox group, but it works. You just don't want to add anything too aggressive because Rams are very easily stressed to death.


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[fishenthusiast]

I've found that it is important where you buy the fish from, and choose carefully when purchasing one. I find that they do better in planted aquariums, but that's just been my results.


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[squirrilah fish]

I've found that it is important where you buy the fish from, and choose carefully when purchasing one. I find that they do better in planted aquariums, but that's just been my results.


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Yes this is true. A strain from a reputable breeder will survive much longer and be healthier than most big box store fish. Be very very picky on the specimen you pick up.


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[Iamtechno13]

It is very important as to where you get Ram's from. The German Blue Ram is so washed out from what it used to be from all the weird breeding and fish farm breeding that finding good stock can be tough. They are really not that difficult to care for as long as the water remains stable. There are so many myths out there about these fish it's crazy. The only issue I've had with any of my Ram's was that one got bloated once but other than that, they're great fish. Ram's do seem to do better in planted tanks and they will feel more comfortable if they're not the only occupants in the tank. As for the male and being more fragile, I'm assuming he is more of a Long Fin variety and his fins might be a little more susceptible to damage. As long as the fish have good genetics and stable water you should be just fine. These fish are hardier than people think. I'm convinced at this point that a lot of people have bad luck with these fish as they get GBR either pumped full of steroids or with bad genetics leading to a short life or other problems and then people just think GBR's are bad fish. I myself have gotten a couple crappy ones and I could tell the difference between them and the good ones I had. It just sucks that so many GBR out there have this problem nowadays. There are great breeders such as Yunite that are trying to keep the good GBR's out and about.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Thank you guys for all of the advice. I have a 40 gallon community planted tank and a 55 gallon soon to be empty tank. Would they work in the community tank? I also do not know where the fish came from originally but I am getting them from someone who is changing their tanks around and changing their stock. They also have some Discus but I can't afford all that right now haha but one day.... What do you guys feed yours? I like Omega One fish foods but will get whatever is best. Last question - Tank size...What size do you recommend? Thank you guys again!

 

[Iamtechno13]

Should be fine in a community tank but really depends on what other kinds of fish are in there as to whether they would get bullied or do the bullying. Omega One is a great food, definitely one of the better ones out there. I feed my GBR mostly live/frozen foods at this point and then a combination of Cobalt and Omega One flakes and pellets from time to time. You could keep pair in a 10 but a larger tank is always better.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Well I have two goldies in my 55 that are just kind of hanging out til I have the heart to rehome them so they might just go in there after and then I have an excuse to redo the tank!! Haha But thank you guys for all the advice! I have been wanting to get some for a while now but we have a terrible selection of fish in my area and my local petshop just shut down so its a chance to add something a little more "rare" to my tanks without having to ship. Thank you guys again you have been a great help! If/when I get them I will definitely have more questions (and pictures) I'm sure!