As stated before...they are very delicate fish. From what I was told , by a breeder who has been breeding them for 20 years, the domestic strains in the aquarium trade have been so inbred, they are even more fragile. I had given up trying to keep them until I went to my lfs and saw 2 tanks of rams. The first one was from a local breeder. The other tank was from the same breeder, but they were wild caught. He got them to breed with his stock to stregnthen the strain. He must have had more than he needed and sold them to my lfs. Lucky me! I usually don't but wild caught fish but the difference between the wild caught and the locally bred was amazing and they were the same price...$3.99 each.
