drobbyb
Bowhead
Wow, those are fantastic! I can't wait for my tank to get done cycling now lol!
A Southerner's Bolivian Ram Journal
- Thread starter Gvilleguy
- Start date
After an as-of-yet-unexplained water quality problem with a 10 gallon tank that I was attempting to establish, I had to rehome a number of peppered cory and two fire dwarf gourami to the main Ram tank a couple days ago. Unfortunately, most of the corys, and one of the gourami, died as a result of their stay in the 10 gallon. But we do have +4 corys and +1 gourami added to the Ram community, and it has really livened up the tank. It is hilarious at feeding time to see the little peppered corys brazenly stealing food from under the Ram's noses, and they don't bother the corys at all. And the gourami swims in and out of the Rams like he belongs with them. I would recommend Rams for any community setting, as they are generally very gentle with all non-Ram species. Will try to get some pics at the next feeding time.
CrazyAirborne
Fish Herder
any updates!? did u get them to pair finally?!
Just yesterday I donated one male and one female to a fellow forum member - drobbyb. Now I hope the remaining pair of Rams will settle in my tank and be more comfortable. I will miss the two Rams I gave away, but feel better knowing they are going to an experienced fish keeper! Besides, hopefully between my tank and Robby's tank, one of us will get some baby Rams and keep the other person stocked up in the future as needed!
The pair of Rams in my tank kind of wandered around yesterday like "where did the other two go???". But almost immediately my male Ram moved into the big cave that the other male had dominated for months. I'll post updates if I see any pairing up behavior. In nine months in the tank I never did get one of the pairs to mate.
Oh, and I guess I should change my avatar now. The male in that picture is the one I gave to Robby!!
The pair of Rams in my tank kind of wandered around yesterday like "where did the other two go???". But almost immediately my male Ram moved into the big cave that the other male had dominated for months. I'll post updates if I see any pairing up behavior. In nine months in the tank I never did get one of the pairs to mate.
Oh, and I guess I should change my avatar now. The male in that picture is the one I gave to Robby!!
The Rams, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and settling okay with two fewer rivals around. They still have not mated, but their colors returned pretty well the past few days.
Gryffindor:
IMG_0423 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
And Gryffindor charging Ravenclaw to keep her away from food I had just dropped in the tank:
IMG_0434 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
Gryffindor:
IMG_0423 by Gvilleguy, on FlickrAnd Gryffindor charging Ravenclaw to keep her away from food I had just dropped in the tank:
IMG_0434 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
It has been a few months since I logged anything, so here goes. The past few months since reducing down to two Rams, I noticed that they were both more skittish about staying out in the open. So my summer project was to increase the number of dither fish hanging at the mid level of the tank, hoping to make the Rams more comfortable in general.
I first added a shoal of six Glowlight Tetras. My original shoal of six Neon Tetras was down to just two, but I decided to try a different color variation and went with the Glowlights. Several weeks later I added five Rasboras. This "dither plan" worked like a charm. Both Rams stayed out in the open much more, and even swam at mid level at times...something I had never seen them do except the odd feeding time!
Another big change was today - after a big tank cleaning I rearranged the contents of the tank slightly - removed some "not looking good" live plants and replaced with big leafy silks. I also rotated the orange pot to face it away from the big cave entrance and into the front corner, surrounded it with the big plants, and put a large piece of slate stone in front of it on the gravel. I then gave them a big dinner of blood worms. This arrangement immediately got the male Gryffindor's attention. He busily started cleaning the slate stone and kept trying to get the female Ravenclaw's attention. But she has not taken the bait yet. These two fish still have not mated, but I hope that by rearranging and feeding them blood worms for several days I can get something to happen.
Here are some pictures taken tonight:
Entire tank shot (Raven lower left, Gryffin lower right):
Closeup of dither helpers:
IMG_1351 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
Gryffindor:
IMG_1372 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
Ravenclaw:
IMG_1361 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
I first added a shoal of six Glowlight Tetras. My original shoal of six Neon Tetras was down to just two, but I decided to try a different color variation and went with the Glowlights. Several weeks later I added five Rasboras. This "dither plan" worked like a charm. Both Rams stayed out in the open much more, and even swam at mid level at times...something I had never seen them do except the odd feeding time!
Another big change was today - after a big tank cleaning I rearranged the contents of the tank slightly - removed some "not looking good" live plants and replaced with big leafy silks. I also rotated the orange pot to face it away from the big cave entrance and into the front corner, surrounded it with the big plants, and put a large piece of slate stone in front of it on the gravel. I then gave them a big dinner of blood worms. This arrangement immediately got the male Gryffindor's attention. He busily started cleaning the slate stone and kept trying to get the female Ravenclaw's attention. But she has not taken the bait yet. These two fish still have not mated, but I hope that by rearranging and feeding them blood worms for several days I can get something to happen.
Here are some pictures taken tonight:
Entire tank shot (Raven lower left, Gryffin lower right):
Closeup of dither helpers:
IMG_1351 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
Gryffindor:
IMG_1372 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
Ravenclaw:
IMG_1361 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
minnnt
Fish Expert
The Glowlights are awesome!! Very nice indeed. 
The bolivians are nice too, but would look soooo much better on a black sand substrate.
Once you have fed them up with blood worms etc for a few days, hammer them with a cold water change and see if it triggers the spawning process.
The bolivians are nice too, but would look soooo much better on a black sand substrate.
Once you have fed them up with blood worms etc for a few days, hammer them with a cold water change and see if it triggers the spawning process.
Yes, I allowed the kids to decorate the tank - it was a summer fun project from 2010. I would not have picked the "ice cream headache" substrate. 
I will try the bloodworm / cold water trick and see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestion.
And I love the Glowlights - plan to add 1 more Rasbora and 2-3 Glowlights soon. We call them Halloween fish because of their orange/black/white coloring. They have really great colors in them.
I will try the bloodworm / cold water trick and see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestion.
And I love the Glowlights - plan to add 1 more Rasbora and 2-3 Glowlights soon. We call them Halloween fish because of their orange/black/white coloring. They have really great colors in them.
minnnt
Fish Expert
Yes they're stunning, i love them. Would love a nice big shoal of them in a planted tank.
Like the ice cream headache
Like the ice cream headache
Decided to get a current video of the tank tonight. Good showing of the Rams with the other fish here. Video taken from the side angle of the bow front, so it looks a little odd on the left with the curvature...
If you want to see full 720p, click on the video title to open it in a new window and pick the full resolution there.
If you want to see full 720p, click on the video title to open it in a new window and pick the full resolution there.
Five months since my last update on this tank. I will post a picture or two soon. The tank highlights since last update:
1. The two Rams are still okay, but have never successfully mated. They are still my favorite members of the tank and add a lot of beauty and activity.
2. Gryffin has thrived and grown large in this tank; Raven has not grown much at all since Sept 2011
3. A month ago I spotted a Glowlight Tetra growing white bacteria on its head, mouth, and gills. After a bit of research I decided it was a Cottonmouth infection = holy crap! I immediately got my 5 gallon hospital tank out of mothballs and put mature media in its filter. After careful observation it appeared that ONLY my Glowlight Tetras were getting the disease. The Neon Tetras, Glofish, Rams, and Rasboras showed not signs of white infection. So I transferred all nine Glowlights into the hospital tank. During the next two weeks I lost three of them, in spite of two rounds of antibiotic meds (powder). (and I also treated the main tank with the same meds)
The six remaining fish still show internal splotches of white, which I am attempting to treat with antibiotic food this week. The external trouble spots seem to be going away, although some of them have lost part of their gills. They seem energetic and eating well.
In the main tank the only other problem I noticed is that my Rams lost their awesome long trailing fin strings. But Gryffin's are starting to grow back now. I hope they will continue to recover their fins.
I'm going to leave the Glowlights in the hospital tank until I see no signs of infection.
This was my first major disease outbreak ever, and was really surprising.
4. The tank appearance has changed - I now have a Lego Atlantis motif, with dark blue gravel and a black background. The Rams adopted a similar darker coloring that I prefer to the lighter shade they sported with that old neon bright gravel.
1. The two Rams are still okay, but have never successfully mated. They are still my favorite members of the tank and add a lot of beauty and activity.
2. Gryffin has thrived and grown large in this tank; Raven has not grown much at all since Sept 2011
3. A month ago I spotted a Glowlight Tetra growing white bacteria on its head, mouth, and gills. After a bit of research I decided it was a Cottonmouth infection = holy crap! I immediately got my 5 gallon hospital tank out of mothballs and put mature media in its filter. After careful observation it appeared that ONLY my Glowlight Tetras were getting the disease. The Neon Tetras, Glofish, Rams, and Rasboras showed not signs of white infection. So I transferred all nine Glowlights into the hospital tank. During the next two weeks I lost three of them, in spite of two rounds of antibiotic meds (powder). (and I also treated the main tank with the same meds)
The six remaining fish still show internal splotches of white, which I am attempting to treat with antibiotic food this week. The external trouble spots seem to be going away, although some of them have lost part of their gills. They seem energetic and eating well.
In the main tank the only other problem I noticed is that my Rams lost their awesome long trailing fin strings. But Gryffin's are starting to grow back now. I hope they will continue to recover their fins.
I'm going to leave the Glowlights in the hospital tank until I see no signs of infection.
This was my first major disease outbreak ever, and was really surprising.
4. The tank appearance has changed - I now have a Lego Atlantis motif, with dark blue gravel and a black background. The Rams adopted a similar darker coloring that I prefer to the lighter shade they sported with that old neon bright gravel.
Verminator89
Jack Dempsey Enthusiast
Nice to see an update from you, don't see you around here much anymore glad the rams are doing well still and i look forward to seeing updated images.
James
glad the rams are doing well still and i look forward to seeing updated images. James
hi, yesterday i bought two rams thinking one was male and one was female, when i put them in the tank neither had any colour and wouldn't leave the other. now they are sitting at opposite ends of the tank and are very colourful, have i got both males and should i take one back and get another. in the tank i also have 4 cardinal tetras, 7 male guppys, 5 serpae tetras, 1 otocinclus (or however you spell it), 2 loachs either polkadot, angelica or pakistani and my 2 rams. what should i do?
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