1 Golden ram = lonely?

[bman]

A week ago I purchased two golden rams for my tank. They both seemed to be doing well, until I could not find one last night. Today when I was doing my weekly pwc, I found him dead stuck to the filer intake. So now, I only have one remaining ram left which seems to be doing fine. Should I try getting another so there are two, or will the ram be OK by itself? It's not really by itself as there are more misfits in the tank. My mickey mouse platy has decided that he will keep the ram comfortable in the mean time.

What about adding a GBR instead of another golden?

Also, the rams seem pretty skittish to movement in front of the tank. Whenever I come up to the tank, the rams would always tear off and hide. Is this a common trait for them, or will they just tank a while to warm up to me. Also, when feeding, the rams would never go the surface to eat, they would just catch the fall out. Is this normal?

 

[Jchillin]

Sorry to hear about your fish, it is a shame to find them like you did.

Yes, your remaining Ram is going to be lonely and it's a good idea to get him some friends as soon as possible. Gold Rams and GBR's are the same fish, just a different common name, so you are fine there.

Skittish and feeding from the mid to bottom level is very normal in the beginning. At some point in time, they will feel comfy with you being there. As far as going to the top for feeding, some Rams may never venture to the top. Whether that is due to shyness or laziness is the question. Of my 4, all over a year old, only two have ever ventured to the top. The others are content to wait for food to drop.

HTH.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My GBR's were never skiddish, but then again, I have several of them. I think the more you have, the more comfortable they will feel. Also, lots of live plants will also help, especially anacharis. Mine seem to like the anacharis more than any of the other plants in my tank.

 

[bman]

I have a well planted tank so I think that will continue to make it more comfortable for them.

The only problem I have with the ram waiting until the food drops from the surface, is my danios are pigs and snatch up the majority of the food before it falls. I have been overfeeding to try give some a chance to drop but don't want to add too much food continually becuse I just recently started getting my snail population under control.

One more question: My remaining ram's Dorsal fin (long fin on top) does not stay open all of the time, just the back half. Is this normal? It looks wierd.

thanks for the advice so far.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, it is normal. Mine aren't always fully extended. It's interesting that yours isn't coming to the surface for food. Mine all do, and they are pigs, lol. Could try a turkey baster and spot feed to see if he'll get some while distracting the danios with food on the surface.

 

[hsherman1986]

or try bloodworms. Mine didn't come to the surface for flake food, but they came up for bloodworms. Now they come up for everything.

 

[fishfairy]

As far as not coming up to the service for food, my Bolivians don't either. I noticed that they loved to grab the algae wafers I dropped in for the pleco so now I feed variety wafers so that they can get protein too.

 

[JRagg]

Just curious, but does anyone feed sinking pellets to their rams?

I used to feed them to my clown loaches and other fish that wouldn't come to the top. My new apisto's seem to like them, though the "small" ones are still a bit too big for the pair I currently have.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Mine like the NLS Cichlid Formula. It's the tiny pellets.