German Blue Ram Help :( - Fish for the Planted Aquarium

DUHK · 10-31-2009, 08:21 PM

Hey guys, I've been trying to keep german blue rams. I bought two just Friday. Today one of them died. I know GBR are very sensitive to water parameters but I don't know what I can do to keep the water idea for them. :\ I'm really sad that one of them had to die because they are absolutely beautiful. Can anyone please provide me with some desperate help on anything I can at all? Any help will be greatly appreciated. I want to be able to finally feel comfortable in buying another female because that was the one that I lost. I don't want to yet until I feel comfortable that I can keep them because they are pretty expensive.

Thanks in advance!

TAB · 10-31-2009, 09:05 PM

With out knowing what your water is like, where they came from and etc. the best thing I can tell you to do is do WC every few days.

it may not be your fualt, there have been lots of "weak" GBRs coming into the hobby as of late.

DUHK · 10-31-2009, 09:59 PM

I got those guys from a pretty reputable store. I got them from houston tx fish gallery. I'm not sure if they care too much for their fish however cause they seemed to be overpopulating their holding tanks but the store is nice.

Philosophos · 11-01-2009, 12:00 AM

I could rant all day about high mortality rate from even the most reputable store keepers, the antibiotic baths they grow rams in using cheap labor, the fact that they feed cayan chilli powder to color them because spirulina is, "too expensive" and the questionable wholesalers that bring them in. I'll save you a few paragraphs of ranting though, and just tell you to buy local GBR's that prefferably have some basis in a wild strain. You'll find many popular apisto varieties are stronger fish than the overly inbred rams.

For now, get to know your water if you haven't. Get a water quality report, find out what your tap pours out for pH/KH. After that, figure out how you're going to keep the fish you want, then find a decent source for it.

-Philosophos

Six · 11-01-2009, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philosophos

I could rant all day about high mortality rate from even the most reputable store keepers, the antibiotic baths they grow rams in using cheap labor, the fact that they feed cayan chilli powder to color them because spirulina is, "too expensive" and the questionable wholesalers that bring them in. I'll save you a few paragraphs of ranting though, and just tell you to buy local GBR's that prefferably have some basis in a wild strain. You'll find many popular apisto varieties are stronger fish than the overly inbred rams.

For now, get to know your water if you haven't. Get a water quality report, find out what your tap pours out for pH/KH. After that, figure out how you're going to keep the fish you want, then find a decent source for it.

-Philosophos

This is great advice. The rams you see in stores are usually "altered" in some way to make them more popular and sellable. If you aren't sure about the amount of wild in the fish, ask. Try to get as close to wild as possible, or a few years out (called F-1, F-2 generations). I've never had a hard time keeping rams, but I know there are some horrid strains out there NOT to buy.

Wild fish can be sensitive too, but you'll be much happier if you are successful with them. Good luck!

DUHK · 11-01-2009, 10:30 AM

Thank you guys for all of your input. I really appreciate it. As an update, however, I found the other ram dead this morning when I checked.

So now I am left with an empty tank again. Do you guys know any reputable sellers? Would I have a better chance buying them online from a good website? I saw some on this website: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...84&pcatid=1084 don't know how they are yet. Does anyone have any experience with buying good GBR somewhere online or a breeder I could contact?

Philosophos · 11-01-2009, 11:19 AM

liveaquaria.com is an extension of Foster and Smith, which is no doubt a reputable company. You'll pay twice as much for their fish, but I've not heard complaints from anyone who has ordered from them.

I haven't bothered with getting decent rams in a while. The last thing I did was give gold rams a try; they were just as unstable, perhaps more so. If nobody here can help you, I'm sure there are a number of individuals who can on cichlid dedicated forums.

-Philosophos

TAB · 11-01-2009, 12:10 PM

I've heard that blue ram 06 on aquabid breeds great rams. I have no personal exp with him, but I've heard several people rave about him on diffrent fish sites

this thread has some other links as well
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...ms-online.html

DUHK · 11-01-2009, 12:26 PM

Thank you for the help TAB! I really appreciate any input at all. I was looking on liveaquaria and the shipping rates plus the fish were... YIKES! O_O But by ALL means, I would rather spend extra to get fish that'll last then keep wasting money on dead ones.

Philosophos · 11-01-2009, 01:35 PM

The gold rams I've bought and watch die in fish stores went down to all kinds of ich and internal/external infections. Both of the ones I bought died from something odd; perfectly little red spots formed on the fish, and were flush with the body. I believe it was protozoan parasites, perhaps something related to cold transport. Either way medication didn't do anything.

Give the aquabid breeder a try if they've got a reputation for good rams. If they're a breeder and not simply a middle man, you've got good odds on a stable fish.

-Philosophos