Gold rams [Archive] - Discus Forums

Namn8r

Fri Mar 23, 2007, 11:29 AM

from that bottom pic I would say that is a pair althouh cant tell with the top 2. A fool proof way of telling males from females is that females always have large irredescent scales just under their dorsal fins and on their flanks usually on and around the black spot in addition to thier pink bellys. Pretty certain that fish on the right on the bottom pic is s female...

DiscusEden

Fri Mar 23, 2007, 11:55 AM

You might need to tell the male then, 'cos they've been sparring & biting at each other for over 2 hours now. They've slowed down now, but one is still chasing the other around the tank.

I have precisely no idea how to tell them apart in the golds - they look identical to me, although one is a little larger and paler than the other. I was basing it purely on the behaviour. But I really, really hope you're right. And they figure it out.

Namn8r

Fri Mar 23, 2007, 11:14 PM

Females do have a definative pink belly even in the goldens, sounds like you must have 2 males then!...oh well looks like you gota get 2 girls! :P

Ill try and post up some pics of my pair of golds for you later so you can see.

gingerbeer01

Fri Mar 23, 2007, 11:32 PM

I would say definitely 2 males. Pretty nice looking colour too - should look great when they settle in together.

2 males in a display often look better as the battles for dominance are genreally not that bad and very spectacular.

gingerbeer01

Fri Mar 23, 2007, 11:33 PM

scott bowler

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 12:24 AM

they are very nice lttle fish DE , i too would say you have 2 male .hehe you will have to go back out and get some females i would get more then two hehe, buy more fish hehe hope all is well scotty

Robdog

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 01:07 AM

Yep 2 males. Love the irredescence on the tails.
The way Namn8r picks out the female is a pretty good way on blue rams though.

DiscusEden

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 04:03 AM

I suspect they have to be 2 males, since one seems to have bitten the other's bottom lip off, and was still following him around the tank thismorning. I don't know any females that would tolerate that.

Thanks Scotty - like I need encouragement to but more fish! I'm doing well enough all on my own!

They actually both have some red on the fins, but for some reason it didn't show on the photos. I have high hopes for both of them - Gummy and Tyson.

I'd love to see some photos of other people's rams!

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Oh, and there's a little grey (allegedly blue) ram in there as well - but I figure that's female, 'cos she looked on in disgust, explored the tank, found her favourite spot & then went looking for food & cardinals to hang with.

Funny thing was watching the Bolivian trying to get in the middle of these 2. Then get chased off. Brought out the Bolivian's colours nicely though.

fish_r

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 07:34 AM

there looking great DE, what ever sex they are :)

fishgeek

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 07:39 AM

as requested though not gold

Namn8r

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 08:16 AM

How did you manage to keep them still fish geek?

Namn8r

Sat Mar 24, 2007, 12:29 PM

After an hour trying to get photos only to come back and see fish geeks photos, almost too embarrassed to post my pics :oops: ...oh well

here you can see the flecks on the gold females flank as i mentioned and the pink belly.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00602.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00574.jpg

my young female...see how the bright reflective scales surround the black spot....Males only show even irredescent. Females have brighter flecks in both gold and blue rams.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00626.jpg

my young male

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00610.jpg

my old male...you can really see the resemblance to geophagus, hence the latin name microgeophagus, his pelvic fin extensions go right to the base of his tail.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00634.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/DSC00639.jpg

DiscusEden

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 12:09 AM

Just beautiful guys, thanks for the pics!

Now I have some idea of what to look for & will stop filling the tank up with males. (I hope.)

I was starting to think I'll just stick to the golds, since for some reason they seem more resilient at my place (wierd, huh?), but after seeing those photos of the blues, I'll give tham another go! Have you noticed a pattern here? Can't seem to leave well enough alone!

When you say old male, is that like talking about your "old man" - a term of endearment, or do some of these actually live long enough to get old?

Namn8r

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 01:02 AM

No they generally have a life span from 2-3yrs max which is not that long. My older male is not even that old (1.5yrs roughly) but is as large as he will get in terms of growth.

I had that problem for a while too, would loose my blue rams to hex after several months but the golds would last longer. The Hex didnt seem to be contagious but rather affected them randomly.

Although these Rams are still beautiful I can still remember when I first saw blue Rams at my local lfs some 10yrs ago and they were far more amazing. The front half of the blue rams used to be bright yellow with bright red noses, now they seemed to have dulled down to olive and browny oranges. Nevertheless one of my favourites. Pm me if you want some more Rams DE will let you know of some good lfs's. If you grow up your whipstails let me know..would love to get some off you!

gingerbeer01

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 01:36 AM

I kinda disagree with Namn8r in terms of Rams - I reckon they are better today. Back in the old days - 10-15 years ago - only Rams I saw about were more like the asian bred ones and had poor colour and life span. Always liked them but couldn't keep them.

Think we have had better lines come in and been able to breed here.

Some of the "German" rams are spectactular - and I must say Namn8r your male is pretty much perfect. Love that fish. Are you breeding with him - umm I mean are you giving him a female so he can breed.

I say "German" knowing a lot of the german rams don't come from germany but moreso are a tag to let you know to look a bit closer - I have heard some Germans are bred in Asia :shock:

I have bred from three different "german" lines and each had very different characterisitics. First lot had lots of nice reds and oranges around head , second lot had the most briliant blue throughout body. This line seems to be growing quicker - hard to see true colour as in my breeders I don;t have gravel. Once they finish doing there thing they will be in display and then I will see there colours - unless I move them to another breeder.

Steve

DiscusEden

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 01:42 AM

No they generally have a life span from 2-3yrs max

Not in my tank apparently. We're talking weeks. I was starting to wonder how any of them lived long enough to breed!

Thanks for the offer of the info. I saw some really nice Bolivians yesterday - a golden base colour with the blue/red highlights & I'm still trying to figure out where I could put them to quarantine them. :?

Would love to get some tips from you about local places to pick up some rams, if you could pm them to me? Thankyou! I might be able to hold off for a week.

If I can get the whip babies to live, I'm sure you guys will hear all about it!

The golds in the picture seem to have calmed down together & are even hanging out together now. And I don't think Tyson bit the lip off after all. :D

Namn8r

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 02:14 AM

Unfortunately my older male is sterile. I would think he is from the blue base colour form as when he was young he was the just dull blue with black markings whereas my young male now already has the red & gold colouration.

Here in SA we dont come across many good fish, but the rams I used to see were amazing!.

Id love to see pics of your different varieties...to be honest the ones ive seen here whether venezualan, german or asian bred all look kinda similar. Maybe when they are full grown they look better?

pm sent DE.

Rod

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 02:48 AM

A lot of the really colourful fish are colour feed....and that can send them sterile....I like to buy all my fish as young as possible....then you know what they've been feed.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/A_H_Sprite/2006_0321jones0023.jpg

My last pair....still looking for a replacement!

DiscusEden

Sun Mar 25, 2007, 11:05 AM

I think my grey ram might just be young, 'cos she's getting bigger and starting to colour up. We'll see, I might have a female yet!

Beautiful photos Rob! Thanks for sharing!

pm received & replied to Namn8r, thanks!

I love these little rams, and touchy as they are, I just can't leave them alone & love looking at as many photos of them as I can, to see what they can look like. Thanks again guys!

Noddy65

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 12:36 AM

Heres a pic of one of mine from a few years ago.
Havent seen any like this for ages.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/Noddy65/ram.jpg

Mike :D

Namn8r

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 04:03 AM

Found some old pics from my camera phone of my old gold breeders...orry bout the poor quality

Ps DE are you ordering any fish from xtreme this round?

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/Image026.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/Image025.jpg

DiscusEden

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 11:10 AM

Found some old pics from my camera phone of my old gold breeders...orry bout the poor quality

Ps DE are you ordering any fish from xtreme this round?

All of those photos are beautiful!

Namn8r, I hope it's the photos you are claiming are poor quality, 'cos the fish are stunning - and the photos are good enough to see that, so I'm very happy with both!

Ordering fish - like there's any option not to! Yes, I have tank space, yes, they're selling, so yes, I'm ordering. It's not like I have any self-control! Anyway, it's not my fault. They posted pictures.

I obviously need to find some gold female rams, but looking at all of those photos of the blues - I'll have to do something about them too! Thanks for the photos & replies guys! They're gorgeous fish, all of them!

fishgeek

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 01:21 PM

i have some growing out now if you would like
you can have them free

just need to collect form london, and those trousers might come in handy

DiscusEden

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 01:28 PM

Thanks for the offer!

Tempting. I'll be in london sometime in the next 10 years or so. Want to hang on to them for me? Cryogenics might help. I wonder if you put fish in condoms & swallow them like drugs, if you could get them through customs that way?

Just a thought.

fishgeek

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 03:14 PM

probably have to inflate the condoms with some oxygen aswell as the water , i guess the temperature should be pretty stable and less worries about a couple rupturing and causing strife

andrew

DiscusEden

Mon Mar 26, 2007, 03:19 PM

Thanks Andrew. Good to get a vet's perspective. What would the charge be if you got caught but they'd ruptured?

Oh, and I don't know how many you were planning on swallowing, but I thought one might be pushing it.

What do you think they'd taste like? You ever tried?