YAY! or: RAMS!

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purplestarfish

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 19, 2003
Messages
156
Location
Laurel, MD
Well, it's FINALLY done. At last! I sold the fish I didn't want and got store credit at House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie; great store. I wanted to get a few more-rare fish that I haven't seen elsewhere, but I had my heart set on Rams. I was in the last aisle that had fish, halfway through with it, feeling rather dejected and deciding that I'd get Kribs if they didn't have Rams. Then I turned around -- and there they were!! 8O I gasped so loud I thought I'd get a heart attack or something, but of course I didn't. So I walked away the super-proud and super-happy owner of a male and female pair (not mated or anything). It's the first time I'd ever seen Rams in "person," as they aren't carried in places like Petsmart or Today's Pet or Petco (but Petco stinks so that's no surprise). I also placed my order for plant supplies and a better filter on Monday so that should be coming within a week or so. And when that comes, I'll be well on my way to a permanent tank (ie, fish and plants that I like that I won't sell - I bought this tank from some bloke who was moving so I "inherited" all his fish, which weren't my "type"). Can't wait!!! (My poor family, I'm sure they're getting weary of my endless fish discussions and ideas. :roll: oh well, what's to be done but to let them suffer; I wouldn't give my fish up for anything! :wink: )
In any case, if anyone lives near Glen Burnie, I stronly recommend House of Tropicals - (410) 761 1113 - wonderful selection including marine fish (like Mandarins, tangs, dogface puffers, etc) and freshwater stingrays and freshwater moray eels and arowanas and an enormous cichlid selection--to mention a portion of what they stock. They also have reptiles and birds and some small mammals, but it's pretty clear that they're pretty much focused on fish.
Anyway, enough blather, I just had to share my excitement with anyone who'd "listen"!! :D [/i]
 
That's awesome, congrats! I looked for rams for a couple months before I gave up. I found one...he was dead on the bottom of the tank :cry: . Good luck with them...hopefully you'll be a grandparent :wink: ! Glen Burnie's about an hour away for me...maybe it's time for a road trip! Maybe you should check out my favorite fish store...Rick's Fish and Pets, on the golden mile in Frederick...it's about an hour away from Laural.
 
Speaking of Rams

I can't help but be interested in the Ram discussion. I've been looking for German Rams for a while now. I happened to get some by chance today from my lfs. I had some earlier, but I lost 3 out of the 4. In talking with the guys at the store, they tell me that they're hard to come by and don't travel well. So losing them isn't that great of a surprise. I also picked up to Bolivian Rams. So I am Ram-happy at the moment. I hope they all make it.
 
I'm jealous! I wanted Rams for my new 30 gallon, but nobody in town carries them. :(

I've heard they just don't do well in our water. It would require a lot of work to keep the water conditions right for them here.

So no Rams for me... :cry:
 
I think my water is naturally acidic as my pH is around 6-6.5 and I did nothing to get it there (I don't have bogwood in my tank or anything). This is ideal, as, rather incidentally, most of the fish I'd like to get are from the Amazon and prefer soft water conditions. I'd like to get Penguin fish, neon tetras, and cory cats, which I know are from South America. I don't know about otos but I'll be getting them to keep my algae in check. Eventually, when the water's super-stable, I may give a shot at getting discuses . . . they're gorgeous but super-sensitive so I'd have to wait months before obtaining them, were I to get them. (Of course, as the phrase goes, good things come to those who wait!) I'm rather ashamed to admit it, but I even dreamed about discus last night - beautiful 8-9" long ones. :oops: Shows I care, I suppose, but it's a tad bit strange at the same time! :wink: I'm also researching black ghost knife fish, as they're elegant and mysterious. (I wouldn't want my neon tetras to be mysteriously and elegantly disappearing, though!)

But back to the Rams. They're looking fine, nice bold colors, sort of ignore each other but often stay near each other so it's fine. They didn't eat yesterday but they're probably still readjusting so I'm not worried. Good luck Ram hunting for those of you who can't find them - yet! If not, I recommend ordering a Drs Foster Smith catalog, as they sell them for about ten dollars each in there. They probably have them on their website, which is, I believe, drsfostersmith.com, but I can't be certain.

As for Shawmutt, I will visit Rick's as soon as possible! I never miss the opportunity to peruse a fish store. And House of Tropicals is well worth the drive just to see the array of fish. Even my mother had a good time, and that's saying a lot! Yesterday I caught her looking at my "new fish" while I was off doing something else. She, and none of my family members, are designated Fish Freaks like me, so I was very happy to see her searching for them. :fadein:
 
Good deal with the rams! I didn't realize they were so hard to obtain in some areas.

The secret to keeping rams (okay-- so it isn't going to be a secret anymore :wink: ) is a STABLE pH level and maintaining excellent water quality. Your water sounds perfect for rams, as they come from acidic water conditions in nature-- but I've kept and bred rams in water with a 7.6 reading. Stores lose so many newly shipped rams because the fluctuation between the fish farm's pH and their own is too stressful for them. They CAN thrive in a wide variety of water parameters. The key is to slowly acclimate them to the new water conditions.

The second part is maintaining high water quality. This is simple. Frequent water changes are the way to go. Rams will not tolerate ammonia or nitrites-- but another problem that often goes overlooked is nitrates. Dissolved organics will accumulate in a tank- and too much can cause stress for rams. I always did twice weekly water changes in the 20-25% area on my ram tanks and was rewarded with beautiful colors and lots of eggs.

Good luck!
 
Well, that's encouraging to hear that you've successfully kept them in PH as high as 7.6. Mine is about 8.0 but its very stable. Perhaps once my planted tank is established, the CO2 injection will drop the PH to a more acceptable level. I'll have to see--I just don't want to mess around with chemicals to alter my PH in order to keep Rams. I know I would eventually screw something up and the poor fish would suffer.

I knew that Drs. Foster & Smith (www.liveaquaria.com is their livestock site) was an option, but when the LFS told me he hasn't been successful keeping them in our water, I was reluctant to pursue it any further. He is VERY successful at keeping discus in our water (he is the only one in town who carries them all the time) so I figure he knows what he's doing.

Good luck with your Rams... I may settle for Kribensis for now! :)
 
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