What type of Ram

[George37]

I recently purchased a pair of what looks like a German Ram, except it has a short dime size body the male has long flowing dorsal finnage going into the tail which also is a lyretail. The female has shorter finnage.
I was told by the LFS they were Angel Rams. They are shown with a Bolivian Ram.

 

[Lisachromis]

Umm, they look like balloon rams (unless the pic makes them look shorter than they are). They are a stunted form of Mikrogeophagus ramirezi.

 

[aquaticclarity]

They look like “balloon ramsâ€Â. It’s an Asian farm strain of ram that has several fused or at least tightly spaced vertebras that give the fish a very compact build. The rest of the animal, internal organs, muscle, scales, etc. all true to fit on the shorted skeleton and end up making a very round fish. The fins may or may not be long…it depends on the genetic make-up of the fish. All any of the names amount to are descriptions of the characteristics a fish has and are solely used for marketing proposes.

Jeff

 

[George37]

Thanks for the reply Lisa & Jeff..
I googled the name balloon Rams and looked at several photo's and they are identical. Their sure cute little fish. Also the female now has a rosy belly, I'm hopeing.

George

 

[Cathy G]

aquaticclarity, I always understood that their swim bladders were messed with, hence the balloon shape. (Like the balloon mollies...)
Cathy

 

[aquaticclarity]

Cathy G,

I don't remember where I read or whom I talked to about the spinal issue. I looked through the threads on this site and found one where Ted and Mike refer to the swim bladder issue.

http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=3987&highlight=balloon

I don't disagree with this idea. In fact I would say the miss formed or improperly functioning swim bladder id due to the skeletal deformities. I just wish I could remember whom I talked to or find thread dealing with the issue.

I won’t deny the fact that I could be completely wrong. I’ve never taken the time it dissect a balloon ram and find out. I guess I found a new project!

Jeff

 

[Cathy G]

If you end up tracking this down, please let me know. I've kinda gotten a little ticked at folks who support this kind of genetic distortion by purchasing the fish. (Those who purchase them after knowing how they were 'made'.)

I've seen some of these fish bobbing around the tanks like corks. Others have seen them getting nipped at by tank mates and being unable to get away - they couldn't swim fast enough. I have an ethical problem with breeding which leads to a species' genetic degradation...

Cathy

 

[apisto-nut]

I second that.
breeding for color is one thing but when it comes to injecting color or deformaties it is a no no in my books.

 

[George37]

These Ram's appear to have a normal skelton like any other fish, nor do they

bob around like CORKS

, in fact they stay near the bottom of the tank and are just as fast as a Bolivian Ram. Also slightly more territorial than bolivians and more aggressive.
Looking forward to obtain another 2 pair..:biggrin:

Take a look at this site....
http://www.geocities.com/yutaka_loo/index.html

George

 

[Lisachromis]

The balloon rams appear to have quite a bit of curvature to their spine compared to regular rams. To those of us who are used to the normal ones, they appear stunted and mis-shapen. I know some people really like them. I'm not one of those people. If you like them, then that's ok for you. I would just think that by changing the body structure the way it is, that the fish would actually not do as well as it's regular counterpart. As is mentioned on the other thread, many balloon rams have problems with their swim bladder as a result of the mutated shape of the body. That's where the bobbing around like corks comes from. Obviously the ones you purchased do not have this problem. It would be interesting to find out if they live as long as regular rams do.