Dark Knight Rams!!!

[kribensis12]

So..... I ordered a pair of Dark Knight Rams and they arrived today!

I am sooo excited! Each fish is about an inch long and within a few hours of introduction into the tank they are very actively swimming around and are hungry, greedy little guys!

I've attached a picture, but it's not the best quality --> female is on the right and male is hanging around the driftwood. They are exceedingly fast. Over the next few months they should begin to develop the pitch black, signature "Dark Knight" look!

Current tank parameters:
Size 15g tall
Temp: 84 F
Tankmates: 3 female guppies, 1 female molly
pH: 7.6, looking to gradually lower it to 7.
Decor: 4 caves, amazon sword, hornwort, driftwood
Chemical Additives: Blackwater Extract (tannic acid), Seachem Flourish

Hoping to breed these beauties - but they are pretty young still. It does look like the females ovipositor tube is descending but I'm not sure what that's about.

 

[Wills]

Look good I’ve seen pics when they are settled and look nice - always nervous with these tan strains as the natural fish is so delicate

 

[kribensis12]

Agreed @Wills --- I was very nervous and still am to an extent; but they have settled in quite nicely. They are voracious eaters, extremely active and are coloring up more.

The females belly is rounded as if she has eggs and her ovipositor tube is definitely descending. I had every intention of breeding them; but I'm perplexed as I didn't think them to be big/old enough. I suspect she won't actually lay and if she does, I'd be shocked if the male is fertile yet. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens!

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

lovely pair Kudos to you

 

[kribensis12]

lovely pair Kudos to you

Thank you! Seems ridiculous, but these little beauties were $40 a piece!

Can't wait for them to get their full adult coloration!

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

not to bad, keep us posted

 

[kribensis12]

Welp - I lost the female about a month ago. There is no indication what caused her death, but the male is growing and developing very well.

I placed a special order at Petco for Golden Ram Cichlids - hoping to pick up 2-3 young females. The hope is that this male will find himself a mate. The reason for them being Golden Rams is that if they breed the babies will be a 50/50 split (1/2 dark knight, the other half being regular goldens).

I almost ordered from my original supplied but to be honest - to get the Dark Knight coloring these fish are so inbred that I think some completely unrelated LFS stock would actually do that gene pool some good!

I should be able to pick them up next Monday.

 

[Avel1896]

Hey
Where are plants, roots and floating vegetation ?

 

[kribensis12]

Hey
Where are plants, roots and floating vegetation ?

I have a BUNCH of Hornwort along with a Amazon Sword.

 

[Avel1896]

Not visible on pic.

 

[kribensis12]

Not visible on pic.

Correct - there is only one picture of them. I'm hoping to get some pictures of the male and the females I plan on purchasing next week - then all you'll see is hornwort because it grows so aggressively.

 

[kribensis12]

I have an update:

So, my remaining black ram died 2 weeks ago. I believe it had an internal parasite -- for months it's been very shy but I thought being the lone ram and being that small were causing it's odd behavior. In it's last coupe of days it stopped eating and it's belly was sunken - despite my best efforts to treat (Metro), it passed quickly. In addition, the female gold rams that were ordered from the LFS were not very pretty and I would not want them in the lineage of my black rams.

I've set up a 20g with a pH of 7.2 and a TDS of 150 and placed an order for 12 juvenile black rams and it came with a free 6 golds (from black parents, so their fins are iridescent).

I'll be growing these guys out and as they pair off, selling them until I have 1-2 pairs for myself.

Once they arrive and are settled I will upload pictures!

 

[Avel1896]

Oh sad news that shows the high importance of quarantine.....

 

[kribensis12]

Oh sad news that shows the high importance of quarantine.....

It was quarantined.

It was always very shy, I suspect it carried the internal parasite from the breeder and it got worse without my noticing (it was always so shy, I did not suspect anything).

No fish in any of my tanks is currently suffering from parasites (that I know of) or match what happened with this little guy.

The new rams will all be in the same tank together (which is purely for pairing off, not a permanent location as it's too small for that many fish) they will quarantine together.

 

[Avel1896]

Or simply it died of stress. I know many laugh up their sleeves...
But I'm pretty sure that is the case here. Not enough plants, not enough hidingplaces...

Blackwater Extract (tannic acid), Seachem Flourish

Why extract while it is this simple to add natural leaves ?
How much flourish do you add ?