Rams: Part 2

[Allivymar]

Ok. So I wandered into a lfs after we got back from vacation, and in their tanks they had 4 of the cutest little Bolivian Rams. Having no will power, I bought em (at $4.99 each!). They're juvies, and about half the size of the Rams I bought a while back of which none survived. I'm hoping, since these guys are younger they may have a better survival rate. So far so good; at least they all have survived the weekend! They're eating well, and are pretty active. I started them on Pepso food initially (medicated food which contains antiparasiticals as well as antibiotics) in hopes of upping their chances of surviving. If I'm real lucky, maybe I have a pair! We'll see; too young to even attempt sexing yet.

Grabbed some pics this afternoon - I am amazed at how bright their colors are!

 

[TankGirl]

Well I have been scared to ask you how the last batch of rams were doing - now I know. It is funny you mention them now because I was reminded of them yesterday when I saw some Bolivians in the LFS, and thought of you. I hardly ever see them, but these looked particularly robust. Since I am soon to get my shellies (and a batch of Endler's, too ) from Voodoo Chilli, I am going to try to resist.

It looks like my 3 kribs are all males (D'OH!) so I am back to my search for a female, or return them to the LFS and use that for the Endler's tank.

 

[Enki]

Rams are neat fish, good luck! Sad about the others

 

[Allivymar]

Yeah, they all keeled. Toughest one lasted about a month and a half, but even he gave up the ghost in the end. I figure whatever was going on wasn't just columnaris, and the meds I used to treat just weren't enough. I left the tank fallow for a while just in case, although the snails have been living happily in there *sigh* Hopefully this crew will be healthier; different lfs and obviously a diff batch,

That lfs I wandered into also had a few kribs! They were all obviously male tho, otherwise I might have come home with them too LOL

 

[mgkaelen]

are bolivian rams usually hard to take care of? or hard to keep alive? i bought some myself a few days ago(prett sure they're bolivian-- they were listed as BLUE rams, however they weren't blue in color and look closer to your fish than pictures of blue rams i can find-- but maybe they are blue-ha) ($5.99 each--- hadn't seen them in ANY lfs store yet so i didn't know if i was getting a good deal or not) but they seem like they're doing great! i feed them frozen bloodworms and they LOVE algae wafers--- mine are even smaller than yours though alli ! they are AWESOME fish though... i also have a M + F, but i don't expect them to mate (but wouldn't mind babies!)

 

[Bearfan]

They are very sensative to water conditions.

 

[Terry]

Hiya Alli
I always find i get the best results from bolivian rams, when they have loads of plants but also some top cover.
A week or so ago i moved 2 pairs of rams from my community tank to breed them and nothing happened. I moved them back to the community and within about 6 hours they had bred.
My breeding tank was quite sparse and they didn't like it, as soon as they went back into the main tank which is heavily planted they were at it. The only reason i moved them in the first place was to stop the other tank mates from eating there eggs.
The other advantage i have is that having my own store i took 16 home and let them choose there own partners.
Good luck with your new arrivals and i hope they settle down alright.

 

[grimlock3000]

My Blue Rams used to spend all of their time down in the plastic plants. Lately, they almost never go in the plants, they just swim around together in open water. I tried getting all new plants and everything in case it was a territory issue, and they still spend 90% of their time above the plant layer. I will post a pic later so I can get some reccomendations on what to change to get my fish to act more normal.

 

[Mr502go]

Nice Rams Alli!!!! Good luck with them, I have actually been considering a pair myself, but haven't been perusing the aq. sites as much recently, need to do some more research before takin the plunge.

 

[grimlock3000]

Here is one of my Rams:

I have had the fish for a couple months. They were vveerryy small when I first got them, I am glad they are making it OK. I am a bit worried about the black spot in its head though. I wasn't there, the fish got Ich, and when the Ich went away, the spot came along shortly after. The fish has had the spot for about a month now.

And the tank:

I just got the Coralife PC light on Xmas, I want to slowly convert the tank to planted. What can I do the make the tank more Ram friendly? They are my favorite fish.

 

[medge00]

I think I'm about to get a new ram too. I just got back from vacation (big tank: completely hair algae infested, no deaths. Little tank: no algae at all, but the heater died, so I think thats why a few died). Everything seems to be going well, so i'm going to get a new male blue ram. they're so addicting.

 

[Sati]

Alli, they're just adorable! Good luck with them :]

Since I am soon to get my shellies (and a batch of Endler's, too ) from Voodoo Chilli, I am going to try to resist.

Wow, TG, I had never seen these fish. They're lovely! Thank you for spiking my interest

 

[Madame_X]

Those are cute little guys, Alli! I was wondering how your last surviving Bolivian had done as well. Sorry he didn't make it, but that must have been a sick batch of fish.

My little guys have survived camallanus (yuck!) and whatever killed the pair of Gold Rams that I bought along with them (from the same tank). I've had them for about six months now and they're thriving. They're quite entertaining fish, I must say. My LFS has a whole tank of 'em right now too and I'm just staying away from there until they're gone. Don't have room for anymore fish at the moment!

 

[Allivymar]

Omg they are SO cute!! These guys are much smaller (and I assume much younger) then the sickly batch I got previously. The red trim on the fins is SO vivid; I'll have to get some more pics, but they are so active its tough LOL they are zippiest fish I think I ever had; they give the loaches a run for their money

The tank is 80F and pH is 7.0. Tonite is the last nite I'll be feeding them Pepso food (the antiparasitical/antibiotic food) and I'll try em on some yummies tomorrow; we'll see how they like frozen bloodworm *grin*

They went straight into the tank, as there are no other fish in there, and I've a new angelfish which will need to be QT before it goes into the main 55g with everyone else (thanx Bryan!!). Thing is, of course, I can't add anyone else to that tank for a couple of weeks as basically thats their QT, so it looks kinda empty. I'm debating moving some of the angels into the tank with them beginning of Feb, as the new one will be out of QT by then and that will leave me with 7 (!!) in my 55g - way too many. Thing is, do I move the breeding pair in there? Or maybe 2 others? What do you guys think? I don't want to freak the breeding pair out, but it will give them a more peaceful tank to breed in. Decisions decisions!

And you did an awesome job with the worms Madame_X! I'm glad to hear your crew is doing so well - gives me hope Btw, any of em look like breeders? *grin*

 

[Sati]

Tonite is the last nite I'll be feeding them Pepso food (the antiparasitical/antibiotic food) and I'll try em on some yummies tomorrow; we'll see how they like frozen bloodworm *grin*

Alli, I've never heard of this food. Do you feed that to all new fish you aquire?

 

[Allivymar]

Pepso is made by Jungle Labs. Its made to treat intestinal parasites, although I'll be damned if I can find something in the ingredients which is an antiparasitical LOL But I've been told it contains Piperazine, which is used to treat pinworms in kids, as well as worms in dogs; I guess its their secret ingredient It also contains 2 antibiotics (nitrofurazone and sodium sulfathiazole).

I started using it with new fish after the initial ram fiasco. I figure its a good idea to help prevent problems rather than deal after you know? The fish like it, and I like the idea of using medicated food rather then dumping meds in the tank; theres no issues with the nitrifying bacteria then. Its only used for 3 days, as opposed to treating for a week or so. I also tried it in my 10g planted, when I noticed one of my gouramis had a "pimple" that wouldn't go away. After 2 days of Pepso it was gone. In the future tho, I won't be using it in that tank; I found out Piperazine is deadly to inverts if they eat it and I've shrimp in there!

 

[Sati]

Thanks for the info. Interesting stuff. I'll have to look into it more. It sounds like something that would be handy to have around the house.

 

[myriam]

Alli, do you think that Pepso would be okay to use in lieu of having a QT tank (which I don't), when introducing a new fish to the tank?

 

[Allivymar]

Nope. There is nothing that substitutes for a QT tank. For example, Pepso doesn't do a thing for ich or velvet or any other external parasite. Is why, even tho these lil guys are in the tank they will call home, they are in there alone for the next 3 weeks or so. I don't want to take a chance on them passing something along to the others, something that Pepso doesn't treat. Even the angels I currently have and KNOW are healthy, will not enter that tank until Feb. Heh, so I have 4 wee lil fish in a big ol 25g tank for a while.

 

[Madame_X]

And you did an awesome job with the worms Madame_X! I'm glad to hear your crew is doing so well - gives me hope Btw, any of em look like breeders? *grin*

I've got my fingers crossed! Mine have developed so differently--one developed LONG lyres on his tail and dorsal fin, the other has neither. I got them both at the same time and they're about the same size so I think there is a good possibility I have a pair. The used to fight quite a lot, and now they hang out together somewhat and the territories aren't fiercely defended.

I've read that these fish mature fairly late (almost a year old) so I'm holding out hope! I also read somewhere that they prefer low light for breeding, and although my tank has over 2WPG for the plants, there is so much cover down low that is heavily shaded, I'm hopeful this will work for them.

Can't wait to see more pics of your little ones. I just LOVE Bolivian Rams!