The barbs are not so much the issue its the rams - for example if you had quite neutral water ph 7 medium softness the barbs and a cichlid like a Laetacara would work as they can live in a broad range of waters and their temperature range is cooler than the Rams.
Blue Rams (which is what the electric blues are a line bred variant of) are very difficult to keep. They need very clean water (low to zero nitrates), soft water and a low ph of something like 6.5 or even a bit lower and generally high temperatures. Without this they often fade away and fail to live upto their potential life span of over 5 years. The temperature is particularly important as fish adapted to warmer water resipre in a different way to cooler water fish like the barbs.
When selecting tank mates for fish like Rams that have pretty specific needs its best to bear this in mind and stock around them rather than a more flexible selection you might have with other fish. In terms of other sites that list them as compatible tank mates, the advice we give as a forum for Rams is generally based on seeing a lot of people over the years try and keep them and these parameters are the ones that people have the most success from. But they are a fragile fish and sometimes just die for no obvious reason.
Cherry barbs are a hardy fish so you may have success with them if you keep the requirements of the Rams but they would not be my first choice. I say they are hardy as they are one of the first fish in the hobby so have been bred in all kinds of conditions for the last 50 or so years but equally a few decades will not replace thousands of years of evolution. I would choose fish that do well in soft water and high temperatures like Rummy Nose Tetras, Cardianals and Sterbai Cories.
Wills
