Care of Longfin (Golden) Rams

[lscall]

My LFS got in a dozen or so Longfin Rams this weekend...I have reserved a pair that I get to pickup on Wednesday.

I have an established and planted 30G tank that I intended to put them in...Right now the water is:

- 7.4 ph
- 0 Nitrate
- 0 Nitrite
- 0 Ammonia

Any info on the appropriate water conditions and care would be greatly appreciated?

 

[wwildcats04]

I have German Blue Rams which I believe are the same thing, I know that they prefer to have a lower pH. I have mine at about 6.6. Mine feed them pretty much anything I feed them but really like freeze dried tubifex worms and frozen blood worms. They are really beautiful fish, I have never seen a long fin one before, You'll have to post a picture when you get them. I have only had mine for a couple of weeks and they come up to the front of the aquarium whenever I walk around it or if im lying down and watching them from my bed they will sit and stare at me from the corner. Good Luck

 

[NatakuTseng]

Your pH is perfectly fine. GB rams will be happy and healthy in a pH even up to 8 or a tad higher. Most will even spawn in water like that. The biggest factor with the rams is CLEAN and WARM water. Bump your water temp up to 80-82. Why this high you ask, because the Ram's immune system functions better at this temp range. Where they come from its not uncommon for water in their pools to reach 90 during the day in the SHADE. The temp is one of the reasons why they make very good tank mates for Discus. Water quality is another big issue with them, if you don't do enough water changes, you will end up with sick Rams. In planted tanks, I'd do a 50-75% change every week for them. That should keep them pretty healthy. Another thing, give them a large varied diet. Get a good staple food, I prefer the Tetra Colorbits, and a wide variety of frozen foods. Goldens, and especially being long fins are gonna be a little more delicate than regular GB rams. Keep any eye on them and give them the care they need.

 

[lscall]

Thanks...I used crushed sea shells to get the ph to 7.4 for my angels, so no harm with chemicals.

I will definetly post pictures...These were a really gorgeous pearl with a bright orange-red nose and extremely long fins. They do not look like GBs' in color, just in body shape.

They also had a bright almost neon orange Discus that I am thinking about getting.

THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!

 

[NatakuTseng]

I don't know why your bothering to do anything with your pH. Its better to leave it alone. As to the Discus comment, read up on the article in my Sig, which is also in the article's section of AC. Discus are a big commitment, a lot of work, and you deffinately need more than one. Optimum is having a shoal of 5-6, with a minimum tank size of 55gal just for them as adults, they WILL get to 6-8inches in length when fully grown. Research heavily on them before doing anything, or your gonna be throwing money away. If you want to get into discus I would strongly suggest against purchasing them from your LFS. The discus they get are Grade B culls from Asia that are not very healthy 90% of the time. Look into some of the discus forums, and find some reputable breeders to purchase some nice fish from.