Ughhhhhhhh ph!!!!!!!

[bs6749]

We've had wigglers from all the pairs we've bought over the past few months from Petco and our LFS. Sadly none of them survive. Another LFS that we go to has some beautiful ones that are about full grown with all their colors. Hm, they didn't look elongated either. Maybe that's been part of the problem, the ones we've been getting are small, about an inch. Maybe we should look at the older ones.

They are probably getting them from farms here in the U.S. then, most likely from Florida. The elongations are only seen when growth hormones are used. Smaller fish doesn't mean that they aren't as healthy, most likely just that they are younger. Rams can breed as early as 3.5 months, with 5 months being a much more common starting age. If the wigglers don't sruvive then I'd point the finger at water quality. It is imperative that water be changed every day or preferentially 2-3+ times per day with ram fry. They are very sensitive to poor water quality.

I'd stay away from the larger rams if you are trying to breed them as they won't have many breeding cycles left in them.