And the winner for my "final touch" fish: Two Bolivian Rams!

[TeaPea]

Thanks to all who helped with their suggestions the other day, they were all appreciated. I went to the LFS armed with my list of possiblities. But the LFS guy suggested the home-farmed Rams and I fell in love! I bought a male and a female and they hang out together, it's so cute (unlike my two male Dwarf Gourami's who hate each other!)They really seem to like each other.

The gourami's didnt seem to like them very much at first, they were "sniffing" them like crazy. I think they'll be fine though.

I put updated pictures of the Rams and my tank (I "renovated" it, it's a work in progress!) you can view them at:

http://www.PictureTrail.com/teapea

I also bought my first live plant yesterday, a floating something or other (forgot what it is!!! )

 

[Pootspete]

TeaPea, nice updated pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Z Man]

TeaPea,
Very nice fish and photo's but you do not have Bolivian Rams. They are Gold Rams; a color form of the Blue Ram Microgeophagus ramirezi. The Bolivian Rams are Microgeophagus altispinosa. Note the red in the eyes and the absence of black verticle bars in the dorsal.
Z-Man

 

[TeaPea]

Gold Rams? Looks like my lfs made a boo boo. Thanks for the info! Do you know if the personality is the same as Bolivian Rams? And are they as hardy and easy to keep? I already love them because they are so visable in the tank--I can't stand a shy fish!

 

[Ashes]

In my experience, the Ramirezis are slightly harder to keep. But I've had eight or nine of them compared to two Altispinosas, and I might just have gotten lucky with my As and unlucky with my Rs. The oldest of my Ramirezis lived longer than the oldest of my Altispinosas (1.5 years compared to about 1 year).

Ramirezis are also a lot smaller than Altispinosas, unless you got the more expensive, larger German variety.

Rams are pretty short-lived, which sucks because it's so easy to get attached to them.

 

[TeaPea]

Oh man, I hope they don't die on me! I introduced them to the tank over a period of 4 hours, but they did warn me at the lfs that my PH (7.5)is a bit higher than they're used to. I hope i didn't make a mistake with these guys.

 

[Z Man]

Don't worry about your pH. That's the same pH that I have and they breed for me all the time. It's the water hardness that determines if the eggs will hatch or not. If you just want them in a community tank they should be fine if you make regular water changes. Some people try too hard to adjust their water conditions and that's where all the troubles begin.

 

[Cichlid Woman]

They are gold Rams, and they're lookin' good. Fins are standing up straight, they're swimming around. Their dark markings are a bit faded out; could be the flash on the camera, or just stress (a bit) in a new home. I'll bet you'll see some darker markings come through in the next few days as they get used to their new surroundings.

They ARE cute!

-- Pat

 

[Endlerama]

Rams are pretty short-lived, which sucks because it's so easy to get attached to them. [/B]

I couldn't agree more. On Monday, I noticed my male Ram looking sullen and lost, and the female was nowhere in sight. After spending most of an hour searching near the tank to see if she'd jumped, I finally found her under the bog root. The loss of her, and the sad and confused look of the male literally brought me to tears. I wound up spending half the day driving about town to get him a new wife.

But attachment aside, I think they'll be a great fish in your tank that you'll really grow to love more and more each day.

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

You will love your Rams...I have 5 of them and they only get better and brighter. Feed them a varied diet of a quality staple and some blood worms..They love blood worms.