Blue or Bolivian Rams....? Tell me about them

Blues - Require more care, pristine soft water - nitrates under 15 or so, warm - 84 degree temps, weekly 50% water changes, get 3 inches, don't live long, most come with lots of disease issues, can be quite feisty. Are very colorful. Like pH's of 6. - 7, however if the water is SOFT they do just fine in 7.4 pH.

Bolivians - 4 inches, live longer, are hardier, can do fine in 80 degree water, can take a little harder water then blues - but still on the soft side, nitrates - can take a higher level - say 20ish for normal living. Can survive some of your mistakes, can get fiesty - but usually not as fiesty as the blues. (imo). Are rather drab gray unless spawning, or facing territorial challenges. Have bigger dorsal fins, longer flowing caudal fins- with beatiful red extensions. Golden bellies when spawning with light silvery skin. They also have bigger eyes and faces than the blues. pH's of 7. - 7.4 preferred, can do well in 7.6.

Let your water choose which one, if you have water on the harder side, best go with Bolivians. If you have a taste for a challenging fish from start to finish, and have soft water, blues are very pretty. You might avoid LOTS of trouble with blues if you order from a reputable breeder, and NOT buy one from your lfs. (Unless you lfs is selling local bred rams).

I breed both, have both and really like both.
Cathy

Pics - Female Bolivian - she is spawning, Male Blue - he is ready for action.

cathy hit it pretty good.

get your fish from a reputable source preferably a breeder or a LFS that utilizes local breeding stock.


I have bolivians as many blues come from a across the pond.

the rams in general are not as passive as many believe. particularly if you have breeding pairs.


basically blues are more colorful and easier to sex. they are less tolerant of poor water quality and tho they can live in neuatral to even slightly basic water..they do much better in water that is slightly acidic.

the bolivians are quite a bit hardier than the blues, less colorful(btw at 84 degrees they have really nice color) .

rams are entertaining to watch..make sure you have a decent sized tank if you plan on keeping more than 1 pair( a 20 will work fine for 1 pair)

they are very active and almost comical to watch.

I'm probably going to either move a pair of bolivians or pick up a pair of blues to place in my 55 angel tank.

btw, bolivians will stand up to just about any fish in my tanks(discus and angels).

I bought blues from petsolutions.com and they are very hardy. I've had them for about three weeks. They were pale from shipping stress, but colored up nicely 3 days later. I have very hard water. Just make sure to acclimate them for longer than you would a non sensitive fish. I drip acclimatized them for 6 hours long. It was a very patience testing process but in the end it was better for them. I do weekly water changes of 30 - 40%. They can be fairly senstive to any changes greater than 30% unless the water is aged and dechlorinated properly. However, I have over-filtration to keep the water crystal clear.

They are very territorial so space is a must. Im putting them in a bigger tank thanksgiving. It's funny because they love to be around each other even though they fight a lot. I've seen 4 of them stay in the same area for minutes without any problems, then all of a sudden a fight breaks out. The n they hang out again until they fight again. lol

Its almost impossible to keep them with other bottom dwellers because they are territorial bottom dwellers. They also rarely feed off of the top of the water. I feed them bloodworm cubes that sink to the bottom. Sinking foods will be ideal.

Also, they love plants. They love being around them. Mine claim foreground plants as territory rather than the caves I built for them. They go in the caves at night, surround the plants at night.

Hope this helps.

there is absolutely nothing wrong with bolivians(altispinosa)

if you don't find blues..give them a shot..you won't regret it.

if you choose the blues, you might want to get another accompaning (is this a word??? lol) filter to go with the one youse got, perhaps an internal filter or a smaller HOB filter that puts out 25 gph- 50 gph