Why Are Rams So Hard To Look After?!

[Man of fish]

[ why I corrected myself below. Accidentally hit reply not edit I also said I wasn't sure in my first post

All of those rams are basically German Blue Rams. Your pH is fine, they actually prefer pH below 7, not what man of fish suggested.

Being german blue rams (the gold and electric blue are just color variants) they are very very fragile to water conditions. You need to not only look at pH, but also your ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and water hardness. Even the slightest amount of ammonia or nitrite in the tank can cause big issues. How long has the tank been running for? How large is it?

I'd also look to make sure that none of the other rams are picking on the one that is struggling.

I may not be helping but a quick google search (or others) can confirm this but I think rams need a higher/lower ph than that. I read on google gbr s like the ph around 5-6 and couldn't really find info on the others.

Oops I hit reply instead of edit ....

 

[parker313]

I tried keeping rams before but they were SO sensitive to water quality, and just very fragile fish in general. I won't buy them anymore. I know there are hardy rams out there but I couldn't get any. I love rams and am going with Bolivians for my current tank.

 

[Jay-93]

It's a shame they're so sensitive. The Bolivians I've seen in shops are nowhere near to the rainbow coloured fish I've seen on the Internet.

 

[Tizer]

Fish in the shops are rarely the colours that they will be once settled into a nice tank. My Bolivians looked a little washed out in the shop tanks, after a few days of being in mine they colour up very nicely.

 

[Jay-93]

Are you able to post pictures of yours? The ones at my LFS were just grey. Will they definitely show more coloration if I put them in my tank?

 

[Tizer]

My latest Bolivian. Sorry, a little blurred. Hes pretty chunky and hes now the dominant male after a few scraps with the other male.

Feed any fish the right diet and it will colour up nicely. Assuming its environment is suitable.

 

[Fintastic!]

What's the best ratio to keep them? 1 male and 2 females or a pair or what? I'm interested in these.

By the way, he's a beauty Tizer!

 

[onidrase]

What's the best ratio to keep them? 1 male and 2 females or a pair or what? I'm interested in these.

By the way, he's a beauty Tizer!

Keep Them in pairs. I had a hard time finding them around here, so I just grabbed the last two they had. They were both female, though, but they still got along nicely.

 

[Tizer]

In all honestly, i dont think it really matters all that much, Bolivian Rams, male or female, spend most of their lives hating eachother.

Its always nice if they pair up, they do behave a little more friendly, but the ones that are not part of the pair may get picked on (by that i mean chased way, but no nipping/agression)

I would put 4 in a Rio 180 and see how you get on. They dont pester any other fish, they just ignore everything else around them appart from their own species. That can change if they lay eggs though. Not as rough as Kribensis, but will defend their territory.

 

[Jay-93]

Thanks Tizer, lovely fish! Might reconsider next time I go through to the shop, see if they have any left.

 

[Fintastic!]

Ok Tizer, I'll have a nosey in the lfs this weekend and see what they have. It's a toss-up between the bolivian rams or some apistos.

 

[Fintastic!]

Are rams a type of apistos? Only learning....