Bolivian Ram and lack of colors

Chrisinator

Chrisinator

Ripariumist
Sep 27, 2008
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Chris
Hey gang,

I've had my 2 Bolivian Rams in my 38G for about a month now and everything seems fine. I'm thrown off by their coloration though. They seem to have the coloration of being stressed out with black bars and all. In the tank are 6 Serpaes, 8 Black Neosn, 1 Swordtail, and 2 Bolivian Rams. All the other fish seem fine, but the rams just look washed out. Any ideas? Would adding more Rams be helpful or would they just all become washed out?
 
What food are you using and what are your water conditions/water change regimen? My Ram tends to color up pretty nicely on his own (and will change coloration based on mood). I do a 50% W/C once per week and he's in a planted tank with a bunch of different tetras, a large pleco, and a bunch of cories. I use the kens tropical flake now, and I did notice a difference in his coloration between when I was using his previous food (the big can tetra stuff). Additionally, while they're getting more tolerant, Rams do like softer water, so if you have hard water, that could be affecting things.

One other factor is temperature. Rams tend to like it around 76-78 degrees or so. I keep my tank at 76 so it's not too warm for the cories, but still get good color. I do notice that when the temp gets down around 74 or so he can wash out his color a bit.
 
Chrisinator said:
Hey gang,

I've had my 2 Bolivian Rams in my 38G for about a month now and everything seems fine. I'm thrown off by their coloration though. They seem to have the coloration of being stressed out with black bars and all. In the tank are 6 Serpaes, 8 Black Neosn, 1 Swordtail, and 2 Bolivian Rams. All the other fish seem fine, but the rams just look washed out. Any ideas? Would adding more Rams be helpful or would they just all become washed out?
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Do you have 4 rams or are these the same 2 fish?

Adding more rams would probably make it worse. They are territorial so adding more into established territories would be bad to do.

Do you notice the serpaes picking on them at all? Serpaes tend to be nasty fin nippers.

Also, what are your water parameters, water change schedule and what type of conditioner are you using?
 
sorberj said:
What food are you using and what are your water conditions/water change regimen? My Ram tends to color up pretty nicely on his own (and will change coloration based on mood). I do a 50% W/C once per week and he's in a planted tank with a bunch of different tetras, a large pleco, and a bunch of cories. I use the kens tropical flake now, and I did notice a difference in his coloration between when I was using his previous food (the big can tetra stuff). Additionally, while they're getting more tolerant, Rams do like softer water, so if you have hard water, that could be affecting things.

One other factor is temperature. Rams tend to like it around 76-78 degrees or so. I keep my tank at 76 so it's not too warm for the cories, but still get good color. I do notice that when the temp gets down around 74 or so he can wash out his color a bit.
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I feed them a variety of food from frozen bloodworms, wingless fruit flies (most end up being eaten by the other fish), tetramin, shrimp pellets and aquadine.

My Bolivian Rams are in a tank with hard water, so that's probably causing the change in coloration.

The temp in the tank right now is 76.8F.

I'm wondering if my Serpae Tetras are stressing them out or not, but I've never seen them come to contact each other.
 
My guess is that it's the water hardness. You may want to try diluting your tap water with some distilled water during your next water change. Give it a try over the next several weeks and see what happens. Don't make the change too quickly though, or otherwise you will stress everyone out. If it doesn't work, distilled water doesn't cost much.
You could try isolating them from the Serpae's as well, however I think the water hardness issues are more likely the culprit.
 
captive bred fish have no problem adapting to our water as long as it is stable. i had a pair of GBR's, which are more delicate than Bolivians, spawn within a week of introducing them to my tank. i dont really think the hardness of the water will cause stress bars.

i do think that the serpae's have something to so with it though. they can be very nippy fish, and they may be going after the bolivians when you are away or at night.

the temp may also have something to do with it. rams usually like their tank temp around 80º. in fact, any tropical tank shouldnt be below 78º.
 
When I had a Bolivian Ram, it did a good job of chasing off any serpaes to where they stopped bothering it. I'm skeptical to think they are the reason your rams are stressed. My tank was even much smaller, a 20H.

Maybe when your room is dark and your tank lights are on, sit and watch for awhile to see what goes on.
 
jm1212 said:
captive bred fish have no problem adapting to our water as long as it is stable. i had a pair of GBR's, which are more delicate than Bolivians, spawn within a week of introducing them to my tank. i dont really think the hardness of the water will cause stress bars.

i do think that the serpae's have something to so with it though. they can be very nippy fish, and they may be going after the bolivians when you are away or at night.

the temp may also have something to do with it. rams usually like their tank temp around 80º. in fact, any tropical tank shouldnt be below 78º.
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:iagree:
 
I have mine in relatively hard water because my snails are also inhabitants. They should wonderful colors. Mine really flash when I give them live black worms. It's too fun to watch them "hunt" the worms. LOL
 
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