A Southerner's Bolivian Ram Journal

[Gvilleguy]

Interesting developments today:

1. First water change and cleaning since getting the Rams. After a 25% water change and good vacuuming of the tank (and cleaning decorations, etc.), the Rams got very active. They roamed the tank as a squad, and sometimes nipped at each other. It is the most activity they have shown since putting them in the tank.

2. I then wandered over to the tank a few hours later, and all four Rams were swimming in the front, and they did not dart away as I walked up. Wanting them to associate me with food, I quickly popped up the lid and gave them a little shower of mini pellets, which they ate enthusiastically. That is the first time I've been able to verify that all of them got food. With them hiding in the back during most feedings, I'm not able to tell how much food they get, since the Neons and Danios are absolute pigs and race around the bottom finding all of the pellets.

So perhaps we're starting to turn the corner on the Rams being comfortable.

 

[Gvilleguy]

FOOD FIGHT!!! Perhaps someone could help me verify the sex of my juvenile Rams in the following video. All four Rams were hovering peacefully in front of the cave together after lunch time today. So, like yesterday, I decided to feed them while they were not hiding. Just a minute or two after they had all eaten some food, one of the Rams became very aggressive and proceeded to chase the other Rams out of the area, I guess to stake his claim. It did this for about 30 minutes.

The aggressor lip locked with the same Ram twice (I was lucky enough to get it all on video), but it only nipped and chased the other two Rams. So my theory is that the lip locking Rams are male, and the other two are female. But that's just a guess on my part. Your thoughts?

 

[Katch]

They're colouring up lovely!

I really like the natural strain of these Rams. Mine are a gold hybrid, which I bought because they were really inquisitive happy looking fish - they are stunning but I think I prefer the natural strain.

Mine spawned within 10 days of being in the tank. As have 3 or 4 other members rams in the last week or so; so fingers crossed.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Yes - I did not realize how gold the front half of the fish could get. I really like how they look. I have not seen much interaction among my Rams except for daily nipping and lip locking at feeding time. Although one time yesterday I did see a male Ram give one of the females an odd flick with its tail.

My kids, currently heavily into Harry Potter, have named the Rams Griffindor (boy), Hufflepuff (girl), Ravenclaw (girl), and Slytherin (boy). We are able to distinguish them now based on some fin imperfections.

I created a separate thread with some closeup flash pictures of each fish, and rather than repost those here, I will simply put the link:

Help Sexing Rams

 

[Gvilleguy]

Two weeks in and the Rams seem to be settled okay. Very friendly and curious toward us. Last night I saw the first signs of mating behavior, although I don't really see them pairing off yet. After their feeding, the larger male rubbed its body on some flat stones, seeming to stare back toward the females like "are you watching me??". Then it approached one and flared its fins at her. Not much response from the other Rams, though.

Overall they still seem to hang as a group, so I do not think territories have yet been established.

 

[Gvilleguy]

About 3 weeks into Ram ownership. These fish LOVE to beg for food when anyone approaches the tank. Oddly enough, the four fish still hang together peacefully, for the most part. The only nippiness seems to come at feeding time. No evidence of any pairing yet, in spite of being 90% certain of having two males and two females.

Here is a late evening shot of two of them, after the main tank light was off and the blue LEDs were on:

The flash of red above the left Ram, and the yellow on the right side, are Glofish behind the cave.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Managed two halfway decent group shots today. It took 31 shots to get just a few where all four were in focus. I prefer non-flash photos to preserve the natural colors.

I like the Zebra blurring by in this shot:

 

[elisew]

Everything seems to be going great and I'm really chuffed for you. The colouring of the rams is lovely and the tank looks lovely too

 

[Gvilleguy]

Thanks, Elise!

 

[SBL]

I now love Bolivians. I got 4 the other day and they are always there, waiting for me. They aren't even scared of me. They are always with eachother and they all have breeding tubes dropped

 

[Gvilleguy]

SBL - did you get Rams that are already grown? I think mine were over 6 months old when I got them. I'll be curious to see if mine ever develop pairing or not.

 

[SBL]

They look to be almost a year, not big as an adult would be, or not as colorful. They are aready pairing, so they must be close. I've had my HRPs when they were 8 months and they paired right off. Sure, I'm talking about a whole different origin, family, and size of cichlid, but Its good comparision.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Six weeks of Ram ownership today. All of them seem to be healthy and happy. I continue to periodically tweak tank settings to try and make them a good home. I'm currently waiting for a Fluval spray bar kit to arrive in the mail to replace the outflow nozzle on my 205 filter. Right now there is a big circular current in the tank which the fish have to fight, and I hope the spray bar kit will diffuse that current and make it a little more calm for them.

The Rams still treat each other like siblings rather than mated pairs or rivals. No signs of breeding for us yet!

 

[KittyKat]

Time for another photo, I think

 

[RustedKnight]

Sounds like it's going well

And I agree, moar photo's!!