bigbadboss101 Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I am looking to stock a few rams but am doing some homework before doing so. They will be in a planted tank with a few balloon mollies and a few rasboras. I know there are many kinds of dwarf cichilds and at the store I saw some German Gold, German Blue, and Red Ram (Bolivia?). I read somewhere that the Bolivia are more hardy than the GBR. Is it the same for the GGR? Would I be able to say put a pair of each in my 46g? Or would it be better to go with 1 male and 2-3 female of one kind of Ram? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Golds and Blues are the same species, and tend to do better in established systems. Actual water parameters (pH, hardness, etc) aren't as critical as keeping what you have stable - that's why most people recommend just using dechlorinated tap water w/o adjustments for all fish. Pretty much everything will adapt, and only require their ideal parameters when you want to breed them... even then, there aren't a whole lot of fish that can't get the job done in our tap water. Red rams are Bolivian rams, and do tend to be a bit more hardy. But, it's harder to tell the genders apart, IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 (edited) Rams will be just fine in Calgary tap I worried about the same before I picked some up.Problem is finding quality stock they are a short lived species to begin with try to get quality stock from local members or trusted source.I see your in Calgary and Fairdeal has some wild caught might be your best bet. Enjoy they are a great little fish lots of personality some aggression they are chiclids but nothing more than some minor chasing all will be fine in a planted tank with hiding spots. Edited April 6, 2015 by flyfisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uwish Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 been keeping Bolivian Rams for years, no issues... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadboss101 Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Cross posted.. I picked up 4 Rams from Harold the other day. As they are young it wasn't possible to confirm the gender. We picked out two large and two small ones assume the smaller ones are female. They seem to quite enjoy the 46G at home. It's nicely planted, with drift woods, lava rock. I have two albino corys, one little pleco, and 5 balloon mollies. These rams are pretty colorful and wandering around the tanks. One of the big ones would chase the other big guy and also one of the little ones. The other big one would look at one of the smaller ones. Perhaps a match?? So may be we have one dominate male, a possible pair, and another female. We shall see. They like the spirulina filled brine shrimps this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadboss101 Posted May 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 I got 4 Bolivian Rams in one tank and 4 Blue/gold ram in another. The gold and blue rams seem to be ok with the water change, as well as the plecos, cories, and betta in there. In the other tank after water change the balloon mollys act as if nothing happened. The two albino Cories would sometimes lay upside down, and the 4 rams look dead. The last few times after a while they will be rejuvenated a bit later on. I use the python and do about 25% change, and add prime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 Never had troubles with Bolivian rams in treated tap water, thriving and breeding. Blue rams may need lower pH and hardness for fertilizing eggs, but that's up for debate. Rams need stable water parameters. Zero ammonia, zero nitrite and low nitrates. Anything else will kill them. Other than that, keep them warm and they should do well. How long has your tank been running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redplants Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 Been keeping Bolivian Rams for years and find them to be very hardy and healthy. Currently have 6 wild caught adults and they are thriving. I do a daily small water change with no added conditioner which they handle with no problems. German Blue rams, a domestic species, now come from mainly Asian breeders and I steer a wide course from them. Wild caught Rams are another matter entirely, coming from a huge range of bogs and streams in mainly Columbia, Venezuala and Brazil. Out of some streams they are completely colourless and others highly coloured. Those out of bogs are often highly coloured, with every site offering a completely differently coloured fish. When breeding I have had some raise a good brood in Calgary tapwater, others required significant softening of the water for success to be achieved. Wild caught Gold Rams out of Columbia, while extremely beautiful , have proven impossible for even experts to keep alive either in aquaria or fish farms. The Gold Ram found in the hobby is simply a developed colour morph of the Blue Ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted May 4, 2015 Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Been keeping Bolivian Rams for years and find them to be very hardy and healthy. Currently have 6 wild caught adults and they are thriving. I do a daily small water change with no added conditioner which they handle with no problems. German Blue rams, a domestic species, now come from mainly Asian breeders and I steer a wide course from them. Wild caught Rams are another matter entirely, coming from a huge range of bogs and streams in mainly Columbia, Venezuala and Brazil. Out of some streams they are completely colourless and others highly coloured. Those out of bogs are often highly coloured, with every site offering a completely differently coloured fish. When breeding I have had some raise a good brood in Calgary tapwater, others required significant softening of the water for success to be achieved. Wild caught Gold Rams out of Columbia, while extremely beautiful , have proven impossible for even experts to keep alive either in aquaria or fish farms. The Gold Ram found in the hobby is simply a developed colour morph of the Blue Ram South American exporters will often label W/C mikrogeophagus ramirezi as german blue rams. Edited May 4, 2015 by JORG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redplants Posted May 4, 2015 Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 Yes, I have seen that too. They are certainly not doing themselves a favour by doing so. If the Rams are listed as w/c by a reputable store I dismiss that label and would purchase them anyway. Recently I took a chance and picked up a couple of German Blue Rams which looked very good but the store staff on duty could not confirm the source. In fairly short order they developed several bad issues which proved that they were inbred and of no use for breeding. So if purchasing German Blue Rams, make certain that they come from a good source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redcherrybarb Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 (edited) Never had troubles with Bolivian rams in treated tap water, thriving and breeding. Blue rams may need lower pH and hardness for fertilizing eggs, but that's up for debate. Rams need stable water parameters. Zero ammonia, zero nitrite and low nitrates. Anything else will kill them. Other than that, keep them warm and they should do well. How long has your tank been running? I would love to get some Rams from you if you sell your fry. I would really like to get my hands on a mated pair. I have a 36 gallon heavily planted that's established. Right now I have a pair of GBR (I got a pair from Aquarium Illusions in Edmonton) 10 very neons and 5 corys, which all have been thriving. But I do really like Bolivians and would love to get a pair. Edited June 28, 2015 by redcherrybarb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadboss101 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2015 Haven't been around here much. My blue and golden ram seem to be less shy than the Bolivian. They are in separate tanks. Also the Bolivian Rams will look stunned after the water change for a while. The German ones seem to be more tolerable, which is opposite of what I have read. I have had them since April. I didn't lose 3 of the 4 German rams. In that tank I also lost a couple of bettas. In the other tank I see 3 of the 4 Rams. I havent seen or found the 4th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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