German Blue Rams

[hydrosparky]

I finally got some rams, and I found out that both of my rams were female! I'll be going back to my lfs to get a male ram. Anyways, the rams are fine, though they are being bullied by my flame tetras! Actually all of my tank fish are being bullied by those flames! Will the rams later gain dominance over these tetras? And my rams seem to like going up and down against the tank glass. Is this normal behavior for rams? I'll post pics after I get a male ram this week.

 

[Mike Wise]

I wouldn't worry about your Flame/Von Rio Tetras unless they are actually biting parts out of your Rams. How many tetras are in the tank? This is a species that should be kept in a school of 6 or more. Otherwise they tend to behave odd for the species. I also see no reason to exchange a female for a male unless you plan to breed them. If so, then you most likely won't be successful with tetras in the tank.

 

[hydrosparky]

I could only get 5 because that was all that the lfs had at that time. Should I get some more? I also have 5 black phantoms (same situation as with flames). The phantoms just show off their finnage to each other. The flames are the only ones showing aggression.

 

[Mike Wise]

Could you describe exactly how the Flame/Von Rio Tetras are being aggressive to the Rams? Physical attacks are unusual, but not unheard of. I once knew someone with an 84 gallon, 5-foot long, small species community tank in which a single Silver-tip Tetra drove every other fish out of half of the tank.

 

[hydrosparky]

The flames flare up their fins and ram towards the rams (sorry for my choice of words there:redface. Sometimes the rams hold their ground and the flames back off, but sometimes the rams swim away. It looks like the tetras have staked out territories. If I put a male ram in there, will this hierarchy change?

 

[Mike Wise]

If no damage, then no harm. Don't worry. A male Ram probably won't change the tetras' behavior. Breeding apisto females are a different story. I once had flames in a tank with a pair of A. cacatuoides. Once the female apisto spawned, the Flames would not stay away from the cave. This initiated typical apisto response - several Flames were killed.

 

[hydrosparky]

Actually, I don't know if my rams are female so I'll post up a pic after my camera starts up.

 

[hydrosparky]

One of my female rams (I think it is a female) is displaying a really dark head and her belly is plump. Her belly shows a nice purple-red color. My other female ram (same thing applies here) does not show a dark head, but her belly is a bit less plumper than the first and displays the same colors as the first ram (except for the dark head). Does this mean that the rams are ready to breed? If I put in 2 males, which will be around Friday, what could happen?

 

[Mike Wise]

Not enough information: tank size, location (height above floor, quiet or active location), water values, temperature, decor, etc. Just realize that Rams tend to be poor parents in captivity. Most people, hobbyists and professionals, tend to take and artificially hatch the eggs.

 

[hydrosparky]

Not enough information: tank size, location (height above floor, quiet or active location), water values, temperature, decor, etc. Just realize that Rams tend to be poor parents in captivity. Most people, hobbyists and professionals, tend to take and artificially hatch the eggs.

I have a 29 gal tank in a very quiet location, around 2 feet off the floor. The pH is around 7 (though the rams were raised and bred in a pH of around 8), around 82 degrees (lived and was bred in 78 degree water), several plants, Indian Almond Leaves scattered around along with river rocks, and black Eco-Complete gravel. I don't have the hardness and the alkalinity values, but I put in Indian Almond Leaves and peat moss to both acidify and condition the rams (along with the other fish).

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, you can try it out. Two pair (or a pair & 2 other Rams) should be able to live in a tank this size that is properly decorated. Like I said before, Rams are really poor parents, so don't expect a lot of success unless you are willing to artificially hatch the eggs.

 

[hydrosparky]

Do males have dark heads? My rams nudge each other and follow one another. Is this pre-spawning behavior?

 

[Mike Wise]

Domestic strains are quite variable and dark heads are not a sexual characteristic. If they are typical Blue Rams, then they show a large black blotch on the flanks. Typically males will show a more narrow blotch with a few blue scales around the outer margin. Females typically have a more oval blotch that has blue scale inside the blotch, not just on the margins. I can't say if they are showing any pre-spawning behavior by their actions. Young Rams in the wild tend to form schools of same-size fish. They eventually form pairs and leave the school and find a territory of their own in which to breed.

 

[hydrosparky]

It looks like I have two females. They have pinkish bellies with defined blue spangles on their black spot. One female is really plump but looks a lot like a beautiful male. Oh well, two male rams going in the tank soon!

 

[ApistoYo]

I got 6 German Rams in a bundle and lucky me, they paired out really easily. I keep 1 pair in my community tank and have 2 other pairs in a separate breeding tank with like 6 neon tetras. It's planted with a large piece of driftwood in the center to break line of sight. The pairs have chosen their sides and all of them (including the community tank pair) have been practice spawning. They have all gone though 2 spawns now with the pairs in the breeding tank actually getting to free swimming fry. I haven't really done anything special except weekly 30% water changes (biweekly when eggs are up). I have soft 7.0ph tap water (tank usually runs about 6.6-6.8 without intervention except for the driftwood and some peat in my filter) and temp 80 degrees, 82-84 when I see eggs. The pairs have been very responsive to these very basic treatments. I tried pulling half of the fry into a seperate in-tank breeding container but was unsuccessful. The most successful fry made it out about 5 days but I think got eaten in the dark one night. This time the only change is going to be to add a night light! Good luck, I love my GBR's the most! They seem like really good parents to me, just figuring it all out like the rest of us! Since I'm not really planning to sell/profit from them I think I will just let them keep the fry this time and let nature take it's course.