snakeskinner
02-08-2004, 9:31 PM
Well, my single Gold Ram died yesterday and I have no idea why. I had purchased him about 10 days ago from an LFS here in Oklahoma City. He was about 1" long and had been in the store display tank at least a week along with several others and they looked great. I had added him to my 36 gallon but the gold gourami ended up being way too aggressive for him so he got moved to my 55 gallon community tank. The first day, everyone else was horrified of him but he wanted to be buddies with one of the mollies. After a little over a day, he'd become pals with the mollies and after a couple days, actually came topwater for food and was eating well, no signs of stressing or disease (I bought a quarantine tank the day after purchasing him so I know I'm taking risks there). Friday evening I noticed he was nowhere to be seen when feeding. I found him hiding below a clump of hornwort and never came out for feeding. Saturday morning I looked for him and found him behind a rock at the back of the tank. I added a little more food with some sinking pellets to try and coax him out but he didn't budge. Saturday afternoon I couldn't find him and started tearing apart the tank. Finally I found him in the middle of a clump of breeding grass and netted him before the other fish found him. I had never asked this LFS but it turned out they had a 24hr guarantee. Saturday evening we did our weekly water tests and I had 7.6 PH, 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 20 nitrate. My water is a little on the hard side so I wonder if that was the problem. If I do get anymore rams, it will probably be bolivians in a dedicated tank for themselves. I'm leaning more towards a hardier species like Kribs, convicts or something else that I can put in a smaller tank and let them breed. I looked at another cichlid the other day but I can't remember the name. They look very similar to a ram when they are smaller but they are very pale. The lady told me they are her favorite cichlid to breed and that the pair will breed, then the babies will breed, then the other babies will breed and they all take care of eachother. She called them the best parents of all cichlids, even better than convicts. Anyone know what I'm talking about? the parents had yellow or blue hues to their fins with a pale white body. I need to go back and see again. I think a 20 or 30 gallon tank with a pair of these allowed to multiply would be cool. thanks for all the ram help eventhough it didn't last too long. KYle