Blue Rams

[slowlyburn]

ok so i have had these blue rams for about 2 and a half weeks now and they just kinda sit at the bottpm all day? They are very brightly colored and look very healthy. I have seen them eat only once or twice. They dont attack food at all and i only feed them 1 time a day. Most of the time i get bored watching them sit and dont see if they eat. My ph is a little high at 7.0 i think and i do 50% w/c weekly. Water temp is 83f. Is this the nature of the fish? At the lfs I bought them at they were going nuts in there tank.

[sarcare]

Mine aren't like that--but I have psycho blue rams. They are evil encarnate and chase each other and other fish around. Mine can be seen at many levels in the tank, hiding in plants or between the top of the driftwood and the plants. Mine also really like to eat.

[YoFishboy]

One idea is to make sure they have lots of areas to hide so they feel secure and get 3-5 small dither fish, like silver tip tetras, zebra danios or small pencilfish for example, to make them feel more comfortable.

[number1sixerfan]

I have two in a 12 gallon and they are very active and peaceful. And they are both males I believe. I have about 8 lava rocks and two pieces of driftwood to make them comfortable. Without hiding places they usually won't be themselves.

[wackydan]

I wanted Blues but went with the bolivian rams as they are not as fragile.

I've been told the Blues like to be in larger groups - ie; not just 1 or 2.

Everytime I've seen them, they've been very active, but the tanks were all males.

They will tend to like the bottom, the bolivians will be like that too. I've had my bolivians for two-three weeks now and they are starting to stray towards the middle from time to time.

Soft water by the way.

Someday, when I can get water condiftions perfect, I'll have blues..

[fish_freak]

Do you know the rest of your water parameters? They really need perfect water for them to thrive in. They are really best suited for the experienced aquariest. I have bolivian's as well and it took them about a week to settle into there new suroundings but they are always at the edge of the glass swiming like nuts trying to get my attention to put food in with them. Rams by nauture are not vorocious eaters. They will pick a bit here and there. I put just a tiny pintch of flakes in the tank at a time in two to three minute intervals otherwise it just all falls to the bottom because the dont eat it fast enough. They get a bit more excited for frozen brine shrimp. They will gobble that up a bit quicker but they are still by far the slowest eaters of any fish I have ever kept. If you do get dithers try to make it another fish that isnt a big pig or the Ram's will get out competed for food.

[joelfish]

Healthy blue rams will eat like crazy. They also are all over the tank, exploring, picking at things etc. Right now, I have some smaller blue rams that will gobble black worms as long as their body one after the other. They are cichlids and eat like it.

I don't keep them in big groups at all. As a matter of fact, I would recommend one male per tank as dominance is a huge issue. I try to put pairs together to get the nice mating/spawning colors as opposed to the fighting and stress colors (darker).

From what you describe, I'd suspect something is wrong with the nitrites/ammonia/nitrates. Don't worry about ph. My water is very high and I do just fine. It should just be very stable and consistent. Do you have and other fish in there? Blue rams are kind of delicate and stress can lead to disease pretty quickly.

You want very clean - gravel, filter etc.

hth, I will try to post pics of my current pair.

windsurfer. :)

[slowlyburn]

Maybe its because all I have in the tank is gravel and 3 plants... Ill get on the hiding spots right now... Yea I keep clean water. 7-0-0-never more than 10ppm nitrate. I do have slightly hard water but so does the place I got them from... Ill post pics if i can... They are really pretty fish.

[joelfish]

Hi slowlyburn,

It sounds like you have everything down pretty well with water parameters.

If their color is still good, maybe they are still healthy, but just really shy for some reason.

A few dithers as yofishboy mentioned would be interesting to try, I've really seen this help some shy fish.

Also, what do you feed them? Mine do better with live black worms and frozen brine shrimp/blood worms. It could also inspire them to come out too.

hth,
windsurfer

[slowlyburn]

These pics don't really do the fish justice. I gave them a little flower pot thing with the back drilled out and they seem to like it. They hide behind it. Close enough I guess. They still only eat bloodworms, but I'm gonna keep tryin different things untill they find something else they like. They have changed there behavior lately. Both of the fish's heads get real orange and they get bright red fins and there bodies color up more. I like em like this.

This is the male
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8153


This is the female
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8154

[Cathy G]

Nice looking fish. If I may add something here - you should put in more hiding places. Driftwood with java fern/anubias on it would be good, more plants,etc. They will really be happy with more cover...
Cathy

[slowlyburn]

Are rams a pairing fish or will they have multiple partners? Can I add another female or no?

[sarcare]

They are a pairing fish--they can be agressive among both females and males. Mine are always chasing each other around.

[Cathy G]

Don't add another male. How big is this tank?
Cathy

[slowlyburn]

The tank is only a 10g. The guy I bought them off of told me I could put 6-8 in the tank but I know better than that... I was thinkin 3 would be cool but this is my first try at rams so I dont know there personalities yet. I'm going to the store today to grab some more plants and some driftwood.

[Cathy G]

You might have real agression issues in this tank - it is very small. If your male turns out to be a bully, she won't be able to get away from him. I would add 2-3 dither fish and LOTS of hiding places, caves, coconut shells, plants, etc. I have a very passive male and female in one of my ten's. They don't swim around much, don't really fight, but don't spawn either. They aren't that happy in such small quarters and as soon as I can clear out a 20g long, they will get moved into that.
Oh, dither fish - pencil fish would be a good choice- they are rather calm and don't eat fry. They do make a big difference with shy rams. If there are other fish swimming around the rams feel more comfortable about swimming around themselves.

Cathy

[kooter]

I have 3 bolivian rams and wish I had kept them before, they are soooo coool!
In higher temps. they do color up a lot better. It seems you have all the parameters right and they do look very healthy and vibrant. I would agree with the above posts, you need some hiding places to call their "own" and some dither fish will make them more active and not so shy. Once you get some hiding places their personalities will really show. It's like ........." look at MY home, it's great, don't even think about playing in my yard!"

Enjoy your new additions. :dive2:

[slowlyburn]

Here are some pics of the tank now... I bought a few plants and now they have a home... Do I have to have a piece of driftwood or can I buy a fake little rock place to hide in? Do they graze on it like my pleco's?

[slowlyburn]

Some of my plants have holes in them and edges look eaten? Do rams eat plants? How many dithers would be not too many? What is a pencilfish?

[FreakIndeed]

Some of my plants have holes in them and edges look eaten?

Are there snails in the tank (that you can see)?

[slowlyburn]

no there are no snails but i wanted another apple snail... Let me guess they eat plants? I have a big 1 named gary in my 55g

[sarcare]

Some of those plants look like terrestrial plants--as in they are sold as aquarium plants but will slowly break down and die while in the tank. I use the plantfinder on aquaticplantcentral.com to look up all plants before I place them in my tank.

Holes in leaves can be caused by nutrient deficencies, but first make sure your plants are suitable for the aquarium.

[slowlyburn]

To be honest I dont have a clue... I bought bulbs from petco to plant first and just today I bought these 2 plants that are in a package and are in this gel that you rince off and then plant them. They say they are aqua plants... The bulbs have grown so fast it is amazing! they hit the top of the water in days. Do rainbows mix with rams or are they too big?

[ice jack]

i HAVE TWO IN A 20 LITRE TANK (1 WEEK) SAME PROBLEM THEY DONT MOVE ABOUT AND THE FEMALE WONT EAT ,today they have started to move about a bit more ,i was also thinking of adding another female .Last week i got 3 small panda corys to clean tank and perhaps be a kind of dither fish .One died within 24 hours ,the second i found dying with a bite out of his tail ,i removed the third .All my water readings are ok .As you say ,in the shop they were buzzing

[Cathy G]

You have 2 rams, and some cories in a 5 gallon tank? Thats not good...you are WAY WAY overstocked here.

How long have you had this set-up, what is your filtration and when are you going to upgrade to a bigger tank?

Don't add anymore fish, don't add any bottom feeders!

Cathy

[ice jack]

Carhy g ,as i said all 3 are removed,they were tiny anyway.filter is a fluval 1 unit,yes i know where your coming from but now im back to two fish

[sarcare]

two rams in a 5g is still overstocked! I have two rams in a 10g tank with a divider--and it is a temp holding tank until one can go in a 20g. I had to put the divider in because the two rams couldn't find enough space for territories in the ten gallon and were fighting. Quite frankly, the two rams I have in a densely planted 55g tank fight all the time. I'm thinking I'll have to move one of them out soon!

[Cathy G]

I hope an upgrade is in your future - 5g is way too small for a pair or even a single ram. Think how nice it would be to have a 20g!
Cathy

[slowlyburn]

Yea mine are much happier now that I added all of these plants and new hiding spots... They are much more active. I just added this purple and green plant called a Cardinal Plant. My ph is way high for Rams thought I think... I'm around 7.5 this week... I cant get it down but I will have a c02 set up by next week... Hopefully I can lower ph that way and help my plants out... Here is a new pic of the tank... Mine like to chase eachother around all day now... They take turns...

[sarcare]

Lobelia Cardinalis--the cardinal plant will loose the purple color shown--that is only apparent in plants grown emersed. Submursed culture brings out a bright light green--I have a bunch in a number of tanks.

[slowlyburn]

awe no kidding? I thought this was its color... Oh well my fishies like it. Any idea what wattage light bulbs i should be using? I currently have 2 of those Phillips self ballasted 10w screw in type bulbs. I was thinkin of gettin some 13w or some 15w.

[WhitneyGail]

Everyone seems to feel that blue rams like to be kept in groups....if you're only keeping two does it have to be a male and a female? Will two males have aggression problems?......also....can a solitary blue ram be happy and healthy?

[purblind]

The water temp might be a little high... The could be hanging out lower in the tank where it might be cooler....I'd suggest lowering the temp by a degree per day until you see a change in their spirits....

I could be wrong but I believe Rams prefer a temp of 75-80F.

[IndianaSam]

I could be wrong but I believe Rams prefer a temp of 75-80F.
You are wrong. They prefer water temperatures in the upper 80s. I keep mine at 87F.

Sam

[sarcare]

Yes--rams thrive in warm temps--I don't go as high as 87, but mine are at a comfortable 82-84. My angels also like that temp.

[slowlyburn]

I think I said in this post somewhere that I did raise my temp to around 84-85 and now they swim all over the tank... Still at low levels of the tank though. They are eating more and just doing better in general.