Male Or Female Rams

[RobGoldsmith]

Guys

Dare I start with "the woman in the shop said" but anyway, she said she had given us a male and a female ram cichlid.

I think they are both male but would like to know what you think!
They are both pale right now as very new but neither of them have any black marks on their front fins.

Here is a poor photo, can anyone tell? They are both yellow not pink, one of them has a large dark mark the other doesnt:

 

[ian]

i'd go with male and female. Male at the front and female at the back.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Thanks mate
The "Male" hides a lot, the female is out a lot. Early days though. Will maybe wait to see the colours and then look again

Rob

 

[RustedKnight]

Id say the same as above, at a guess. 1 male 1 female.

Mine had to go back to the store today after buying them yesterday. They were lovely until feeding time, when they instantly turned on the corydora's

So, here's hoping your guys are less nasty haha, they certainly look nice.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

ive also since heard there are german, bolivian and even more types, can you tell me what i have?
Thanks
Rob

 

[elisew]

ive also since heard there are german, bolivian and even more types, can you tell me what i have?
Thanks
Rob

You have Bolivian Rams, they`re probably the hardiest, most peaceful and placid of the Rams. I would say nicest but I`m biased and prefer the German Blue Rams myself

 

[RustedKnight]

ive also since heard there are german, bolivian and even more types, can you tell me what i have?
Thanks
Rob

You have Bolivian Rams, they`re probably the hardiest, most peaceful and placid of the Rams. I would say nicest but I`m biased and prefer the German Blue Rams myself

peaceful? Mine bloody weren't

I think it's just personality though, I think i probably chose a bad egg, got the tank bully.

 

[elisew]

ive also since heard there are german, bolivian and even more types, can you tell me what i have?
Thanks
Rob

You have Bolivian Rams, they`re probably the hardiest, most peaceful and placid of the Rams. I would say nicest but I`m biased and prefer the German Blue Rams myself

peaceful? Mine bloody weren't

I think it's just personality though, I think i probably chose a bad egg, got the tank bully.

Well I guess it`s like everything, you always get one bad apple somewhere along the line.....looks like that`s what you got

I actually traded my Bolivians in because they were sold to me by one lfs as a pir but were in fact 2 males, needless to say one harassed and bullied the other so another lfs (Maidenhead Aquatics) took them and rehomed them with someone who is much more experienced with them. I then started keeping GBR`s and love them!!

 

[RustedKnight]

Well I guess it`s like everything, you always get one bad apple somewhere along the line.....looks like that`s what you got

I actually traded my Bolivians in because they were sold to me by one lfs as a pir but were in fact 2 males, needless to say one harassed and bullied the other so another lfs (Maidenhead Aquatics) took them and rehomed them with someone who is much more experienced with them. I then started keeping GBR`s and love them!!

Yeah I took mine back and ordered a breeding pair of cockatoo cichlids <3 .. They better be good at £14 each xD (thats £28 with fish and postage to be fair)

Rams are adorable they really are, I just wasn't prepared to let mine bully my corydora's. But as Guns N' Roses once sang. "Why let one bad apple spoil the whole dam bunch". There's countless numbers of lovely rams out there.

 

[eel]

I've had 2 Bolivian Rams now for a couple of years now and haven't had any trouble with mine they are lovely fish but I haven't a clue if they are male or female

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Really appreciate the answers! Thanks

 

[fishnovice]

Really appreciate the answers! Thanks

My Bolivian ram is in with loads of assorted corries and never bothers any of them -even shares his/her coconut shell with corries sometimes

 

[meguro]

Thanks mate
The "Male" hides a lot, the female is out a lot. Early days though. Will maybe wait to see the colours and then look again

Rob

the one on the left is definitely a male. the one on the right would be slightly more questionable but im fairly certain its female

ive also since heard there are german, bolivian and even more types, can you tell me what i have?
Thanks
Rob

bolivian rams are mikrogeophagus altispinosus which are what you have. the other types uve heard of are blue rams (mikrogeophagus ramirezi), there are 3 colour morphs (standard blue, gold and electric blue) and a balloon form (abomination)

Id say the same as above, at a guess. 1 male 1 female.

Mine had to go back to the store today after buying them yesterday. They were lovely until feeding time, when they instantly turned on the corydora's

So, here's hoping your guys are less nasty haha, they certainly look nice.

all cichlids can be a little pushy towards corydoras and other bottom feeders in the presence of food. in my experience they quickly settle down after a couple weeks and no longer nip or push the other fish about (outside of breeding)

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Ive noticed that the one on the left tends to want to bite the smaller rounder one when they are too close. Hope they are friends!

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Here is another pic

So far:
The one on the left (again) had a lot more blue dots on fins, fins look bigger, much more yellow body, bit aggressive.
One on the right, small, more black dots, less colour, fins down more

The left one is beautiful but it does bite the right one sometimes!