View Full Version : Gold ram question
I've come across some F0 gold rams and was wondering if there is any significant differences in care needs dealing with water quality than that of the blue or bolivian
Fom the web,
"Gold ram. Requires a pH of 6.8, & a hardness around 119ppm"
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/3515/DC3_1097.htm
And try this one,
http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/P-ramirezi.html
Tim Bo
06-01-2003, 11:42 AM
The golden Ram is know (atleast in my circles) as being proned to disease, especially internal bacterial infections and flukes.
Other than that the Golden Ram does not exist in the wild but is actutally a variation of the Blue Ram so water chem and general conditions are the same.
optix
06-01-2003, 11:57 AM
so there isn't a such thing as a gold ram?? so if this guy has them listed as wild caught should I not believe him about his blue's being wild caught either??
valerie
06-01-2003, 12:03 PM
Blues come from the wildbut golds are a tank bred color strain(atleast that what i have read). If you really want F0 rams and are unsure about this place then don't order from them. Also why would you want F0rams, I personally find the tank raised ones jsut as beautiful and they not as fragile as the wild caught.
optix
06-01-2003, 12:12 PM
I've never owned a wild speciman and im obsessed with doing so. I don't have the tank room or space availability to put up another tank to put in a wild tank buster. So I want to start with the small guy's. You are right I"ve been hearing alot of feedback about rams being fragile when wild caught as opposed to tank raised ones.
Tim Bo
06-01-2003, 2:32 PM
It is also my experience that the Wild caught Rams are often susceptible to getting 'sick' on you, but you can get lucký.
hmmm thanks Tim, I think im gonna lean towards tank raised, I don't feel like dealing with that hastle
It doesn't apply only to Rams.
I've had a bad experience with wild caught African Peacocks on three different occasions.
They were unwilling to eat, and they all died on me within three weeks.
So now it’s a big no no to any kind of wild caught fish for me.
Perhaps others will have more luck with them.
But thats not how people call me.
Jimmy
optix
06-01-2003, 11:27 PM
Originally posted by jimbo
It doesn't apply only to Rams.
I've had a bad experience with wild caught African Peacocks on three different occasions.
They were unwilling to eat, and they all died on me within three weeks.
So now it’s a big no no to any kind of wild caught fish for me.
Perhaps others will have more luck with them.
But thats not how people call me.
Jimmy
Man thats saddening because its really neat to think of having a fish that used to run around the wild lakes and rivers in south america, but then again you have to think of how cruel it is to take them out of their homes and holding them captive. I guess I should stop thinking about that before I quit the hobby lol, because even tank raised ones didn't get there from just popping up one day, they had ancestors that were once wild caught. Ahhh I think I too will stick to tank or pond raised. I'll try wild caught once with whatever species I decide on down the road and see how it turns out. Rams however I don't think will be the ones I try out.
Exactally, but how does my lfs(or any lfs fore that matter) keep them alive.
He doesn't seem to have any trouble with that.
(Guess we're not suppose to know about their death-rate)
Jimmy
Now you've got me wondering. I wonder if they catch these fish by themselves or hire someone else to do the catching, because if you notice F0's go for a pretty high price. Maybe because these guys are hiring people to do the catching for them and once they make it to the hatchery they lose a significant amount. Like say they have someone contracted to catch the fish and buy them for a fixed rate per size of fish. Say 3 5-10 inch midas's jags etc. And they pay whatever amount for the fish and they get 10 fish and only 3 survive. That death rate is made up for by pricing a wild midas at 70 bucks for a 6 inch fish. Whats the big deal of selling a fish that you catch from the wild when most people know that tank or local pond raised specimens are going to be less fragile and more willing to adapt to various conditions. Maybe because alot of people think that the wild thing (no pun intended)is better and doesn't I think anything about it. So the high price just looks reasonable because the average joe thinks its because its an "exotic" just because its wild. I will stick with tank and pond raised lol.
EDIT: actually I think im just tired and rambling because I still love the thought of a wild caught specimen no matter how fragile lol. Especially jag's and dovii's. I definatly want an F0 Dovii or jag or both some day.
jimbo
06-02-2003, 12:07 PM
I think you're right on the money with this.
But then again, my lfs (Verduijn cichlids) gets most of the Africans directly from Stuart Grant. (lots of peacocks are named after him) I don't know from who my lfs gets his s/c Americans from.
Here's a link, perhaps you can compare prices, which are in Euro's, same value as us $
http://www.verduijncichlids.com/pricelist/fish.htm
Jimmy