German Blue Rams

[Oreo]

Last weekend I went to this gigantic fish store with the intent of getting a female kribensis. Somehow I ended up leaving with 2 blue rams(male/female I'm pretty sure)for 5 bucks each and a very small fish that I later learned was a festivum. I've had them for 2 days now and they all seem to be doing pretty well(except that the smaller ram keeps picking on the larger one). They will be going into my 10 gal. tank very soon.

So, what's your experience with GBR's? Are they a difficult fish to keep alive? I've looked them up and some people say that they're pretty easy to keep. Others say that they can't keep them alive.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I can't keep them alive for anything. Might be my water.

Just keep the water as clean as possible and technically you should be fine, but i'll let others chime in.

 

[Dino]

A lot of it depends on your water.
Rams do much better in softer water.
The festivum will need a much larger tank than 10 gallons.

Dino

 

[Oreo]

I'm just going to keep the festivum in the 10g until it gets a bit larger. It's barely bigger than bite size for one of my fish in the 55g and I don't want it to become a snack.

 

[Fuzz16]

ive had my GBRs for a while, and i went through maybe 7 to get a pair to live. they spawned for me twice, very aggressive during spawning. and then after moving, they dont get along as well.
so you may loose them both, one, or neither. to not loose one might be lucky though.
and yes, i agree about the festivum...i would try to take him back

 

[GeraldTheMouse]

I recently got 2 rams also, I've noticed that they come out more when you raise the temp to around 80*F. But since you have a male and a female, that could also make them start breeding.

 

[bigrojo28]

Yeah, I have actually had three die, and none were very lively to begin with. They do seem to do much better when it's close to 80 tho.

 

[straitjacket]

M. ramirezi are generally short-lived anyway. Not living more than 3 years at most and considering many are already about a year old at time of purchase some don't have very long anyway.
Todays rams are becoming hardier or weaker, depending on your source. I think the mass-bred rams from Asia, where many are not culled and may be hormoned, tend to be very sensitive while I've had some locally bred beauties spawned by enthusiastic breeders who've lived and spawned very comfortably in local (hard) water.
The key for a longer lifespan seems to be warm and very clean water. Nitrates should not reach over 10ppm.

 

[Fuzz16]

nitrates reach 5ppm and my rams get upset.

 

[Oreo]

Well its been 2 weeks and both rams(and the festivum) are still alive and well.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Good to hear!

 

[cchase85]

My GBR's have been some of the easiest fish for me so far. My nitrates are between 0 and 20 ppm for the most part, don't do much other than weekly 25% water changes and they seem pretty hardy.

And I doubt mine are "designer", I got them at Petco and they aren't very colorful.

 

[Oreo]

Just thought I'd mention that the blue rams are still alive and well. In my experience they've been pretty hardy fish.