Cracking the code of the German Blue Ram

[JMort]

Well, just lost the last GBR out of this group. Bolivians doing great.
Does anyone know if purchasing older mature GBRs would have a higher success rate than the 3 month old juvies everyone appears to be selling?

 

[kribensis12]

Oh bummer! Rams are sometimes considered to be harder to keep than Discus ( though personally I think this is a stretch).

In my experience and after a lot of research for rams to be kept successfully, the following need to be true:.

1. Temp should be 82 or higher. They proper temperature aids in digestion which without, may slowly kill the fish.
2. Frequent, large water changes. They are extremely sensitive to nitrates (and obviously ammonia, nitrites --> though with a pH below 7.0 the ammonia wouldn't be a concern anyway). I typically do a 40% waterchange/gravel vacuum every single week. They come from a pristine environment and due to the sheer amount of inbreeding, this is more of a requirement than ever before.
3. A pH of 7.0 or below (it is true that they may be successfully kept at a higher pH, but they are so sensitive that I would not recommend that)
4. Some sort of roughage in their diet. I feed very high protein pellets to grow out my rams and I encountered an issue with digestive obstructions on a couple rams - once a week I feed them a Sera Spirulina Tablet (which they LOVE).
5. Good genetics. As alluded to before, this fish was introduced into the hobby as a sensitive fish and the amount of inbreeding has only made things worse. Having a reputable breeding who is selling lines of fish that extend no further than F3 before adding new genetics is paramount.


If all of the above are true and you are still experiencing deaths, I am not sure what further advice to give except:

In your OG post you mentioned Kribs. As my username alludes, I have a good amount of experience with them. They are more aggressive than Germans and I would except that there is some bullying happening. I would personally never recommend housing them together.

 

[Byron]

I agree with everything in @kribensis12 post.

Temperature is crucial for Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, it must be in the 82-86F/28-30C range (many other "tropicals" will not manage with this). Nitrates are critical, 20 ppm is high. This cichlid must have almost pristine water conditions.

Wild caught fish are healthier, and more colourful. Most fish available in stores will be commercially bred, and these are not as strong. This actually applies to just about any species of soft water fish we keep in aquaria, but certainly it is heightened with this species. A post on Project Priaba was recently made here, and this issue was mentioned in those videos--wild caught fish are better in all aspects. It is not always easy to track down wild fish, but it is well worth it.

 

[JMort]

Update… Although the original rams were gone by March, I am happy to say that the next few purchases are still going strong and actually for the first time in my GBR hobby, I have a true mated pair. They est the eggs every time but they are alive. I switched media as well as a more rapid 3 week rotation which includes the following on the 2 HOB’s:
Clearmax, Kobalt Fresh and Kobalt Nitrate. Mix in Purigen bags as well. one of the three are rotated out on a weekly schedule so no media remains longer than 3 weeks. The 2 canister filters are permanent media which are rinsed in tank water every four months. Two of the GBRs actually came from PetSmart. Once they cleared quarantine, they continued to thrive in my main tank. The Kobalt seems to have softened my water just a tad but at this point I was looking for anything associated with my recently modest success with this fish.
I enjoy everything from trimming plants, changing water three times per week to watching my little friends after dinner. Hope this success continues.
would love to hear if anyone else found a solution to their GBR problems.

 

[GaryE]

Sources. I have bred a lot of difficult rainforest Cichlids, but GBRs? I can tell similar stories to you.

Then I got wild caught rams, and while I didn't breed them, they lived a full lifespan, twice. They were dynamic little troublemakers with an alert, aggressive way of handling themselves.

I know new aquarists who breed GBRs very easily. But a striking feature of a lot of domestic, linebred rams seems to be thin flanks and a languid, slow way of moving around compared to the vitality of the hard to get wild fish. When I've visited people who breed lots of linebred rams I have noticed that same energy and shape in the fish - no flat flanks there. If I were to try to breed the fish, I would look for a hobby breeder and not buy online from someone simply trans-shipping them. It isn't a fish I would ever buy blind, or look for a cheap price on.