I finally found a mate (potentially) for my male Blue Ram. She's about an inch and a half long (not counting the tail), but she has practically no color! It's not stress, because she looked the same way in the tank at the lfs. When I asked about the absence of a lot of color, they said "that's the way they came in this time."
When I called this lfs last week to see if they had Rams, they said the Blue Rams were in and were about an inch or so long--young ones. So I made the trip (an hour and a half) today to get a female. They all looked the same; they're Blue Rams, but their coloring is extremely faint--tinges of yellow on the front end, very pale blue on the back end, and faint pink belly. The tank's pH was 7.2-7.4, they told me.
I brought her home and spent two hours acclimating her in the bag to my 7.6 tank. She's out, eating, swimming all over the place, looks totally healthy--except for the faint coloration. It's so pale that if I'd seen her from a distance, I wouldn't have recognized her for a Blue Ram.
At a different lfs last weekend, the owner told me her Blue Rams were yellow on the front and white(!) on the back half because they were so young, and that Blue Rams don't get full coloration until they get a bit older.
If that's true, the one I've got is a good choice. If it isn't, I'm not sure what I've got!!
The web sites I've visited don't address the issue of change of coloration with age. Is this what Rams do, or have I bought a substandard Ram? Or sick? Or what?!
Sure would appreciate any info you can provide. Thanks.
When I called this lfs last week to see if they had Rams, they said the Blue Rams were in and were about an inch or so long--young ones. So I made the trip (an hour and a half) today to get a female. They all looked the same; they're Blue Rams, but their coloring is extremely faint--tinges of yellow on the front end, very pale blue on the back end, and faint pink belly. The tank's pH was 7.2-7.4, they told me.
I brought her home and spent two hours acclimating her in the bag to my 7.6 tank. She's out, eating, swimming all over the place, looks totally healthy--except for the faint coloration. It's so pale that if I'd seen her from a distance, I wouldn't have recognized her for a Blue Ram.
At a different lfs last weekend, the owner told me her Blue Rams were yellow on the front and white(!) on the back half because they were so young, and that Blue Rams don't get full coloration until they get a bit older.
If that's true, the one I've got is a good choice. If it isn't, I'm not sure what I've got!!
The web sites I've visited don't address the issue of change of coloration with age. Is this what Rams do, or have I bought a substandard Ram? Or sick? Or what?!
Sure would appreciate any info you can provide. Thanks.
