Rams from SLS

[Proteus]

Well the Rams came in today, and as usual, I couldnt resist... (just got one pair atm, will get some more over the weekend).

I acclimated them for almost 1 hour in a container, and they have only been in the QT tank for less than 10 minutes and they are in full colour...

VERY NICE!!!

Please excuse the shaky pics, not easy to get them to stay still, they are exploring there new home...

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=661

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=660

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=659

[marg]

Gee they are pretty Proteus. Do they get on well with the Discus? What sort of prices are they?

[Proteus]

Do they get on well with the Discus? What sort of prices are they?

Yes, and $18.95 ea

[marg]

what size do they grow to? They would certainly brighten up the tank and also look more eyecatching than cardinals.

[kevkoi]

These are wildcaught Venezualan young rams. They are no where near their their full glory yet. Need about a month to 2 months of growing to be in full colour. These have been quarantined and stabilised for a good period of time, eating just about anything and some are already starting to breed!!

Rams seldom get over the 5cm mark.

These rams are hardy little nuts, and if you've had little or no success keeping the crappy rams Australia has been getting, it's about time u try these and debunk the myth that rams are difficult to keep fish.

At $18.95 they're almost too cheap to believe for such quality rams!!!

Pictured is the colour we expect from good quality rams..... There are crappy rams, and there are wild rams! :wink:

PS: I'm arranging a shipment of wildcaught Peruvian rams (by way of Germany) shortly... Just curious to see if the Peruvian Rams (also Microgeophagus ramirezi) are any different to the Venezualan.

[marg]

wow they really are pretty. Have to save my Dollars, won't I?. I'm already trying to save my pennies so I can come to Sydney and visit your shop - although I can only afford small Discus - unfortunately I am a Disability Pensioner - but whatever I do spend on my Fish is worthwhile, I get so much pleasure out of them.

I'd love to see a few of those little rams in my tank with my Discus.

[skoom]

They are really nice.

Do rams have to be kept in a colony, in a pair or do well just as a single fish?

[kevkoi]

Pairs is preferable... singles will do if you have small tank.

These are not shy fish at all!!!

I have these here in Malaysia in a 1ft cube with A.cacatuoides "red flash" and A.trifasciata.... Rams are first to the front glass at the hint that I'm walking towards the tank. The apistos just go about their own bussiness.... :?

[Shawnts106]

Yes, and $18.95 ea

OMG!!! you cant be serious!!!! they are only like 6$ here in the states!!!

wooooooooo, I can get the same rams for only 6$ here! geeze!!!!... anyway, you have 2 females I think... I love rams.. tried them once, but after loosing all of them and most of my cardinals and neons from fish TB I decided to just forget them!

very beautiful!

[kevkoi]

WILDCAUGHT RAMS.... There's a big difference my friend.

Give a tingle to Jeff Rapps to check the price of Venezualan Rams in USA. :wink:
http://www.tangledupincichlids.com/

There's also a big difference in freight from Columbia (where these fish are shipped out from) to USA or on a 70hour flight from Columbia to Australia (by way of Frankfurt, Singapore, Malaysia and finally Sydney).... add the 2 week quarantine required for cichlids in Australia, u must feel lucky that you are in the USA. :lol:

[SLS]

US$6 = almost AU$10

:wink:

[skoom]

SO what is the difference between wildcaught species and ones bred in captivity?

wild ones are more colourful?

wild ones may be less hardy?

wild one are more expensive?

They look great in the pictures.

[kevkoi]

Wild ones are more colourful
Wild ones are more hardy *surprise surprise*
Wild ones are cheap to buy from source, but freight is expensive
They look better in real life... :wink:

Farm bred strains out of Asia are the cheapest and most widely available. These are so inbred they have poor colour, are weak from the start as they are bred and raised as fry in water heavily medicated with methylene blue and (would u believe it) high salt levels. Also, what is with all this "long-finned" rams? Most of the Asian rams tend to have overly long fins... It's not right!

... avoid like the plague!!

Attached is a picture of these "longfin" monstrosities.... These have given rams a very very bad reputation as touchy and difficult fish to keep when infact they are tough little fish!

[Proteus]

anyway, you have 2 females I think...

Magenta belly = Female

The other more colourful specimen is a Male (he also gets more Blue as he ages) refer Kev's first image

The Male also has an extra spike on the dorsal fin

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=660

I now have 2 pairs in my QT tank

As Kev has pointed out, to get Rams in the U.S. is only a quick flight from Sth America, here we have to go through either Europe or Asia, and in many cases both, plus add to that the long QT periods required, the cost builds up. On the other hand, go look at what some local Australian Rainbows cost in the U.S., whereas we can get them cheaply, or in some cases, go catch our own depending on when we live.

[skoom]

I picked up a pair today too! Can't wait till they settle in. You're female is really nice, i'm jealous. I'll try to put pic up soon too!

[Shawnts106]

your right.. I didnt even notice the belly.. well darn! LOL

yes the ones we get here in the US are wildcaught and there is NO quarentine length that I am aware of... they really are beautiful.. we often here in the US get in longfin rams... they are the same species but have very long elegent fins.. very beautiful! :)

[DR.V]

How are they going now Pro ?

They sure eating well arent they ? Look at the first pic LOL ^^

[Shawnts106]

your right.. I didnt even notice the belly.. well darn! LOL

yes the ones we get here in the US are wildcaught and there is NO quarentine length that I am aware of... they really are beautiful.. we often here in the US get in longfin rams... they are the same species but have very long elegent fins.. very beautiful! :)

[Proteus]

How are they going now Pro ?

They sure eating well arent they ? Look at the first pic LOL ^^

They are going great, pair #3 has just been added.

They are eating like pigs (I guess you noticed his 'other' tail)

overall, I am very pleased to have these little gems in my possession.

[kalebjarrod]

from one to two to three pairs

move out discus move in rams

hang on

does that mean i will wake up one morning and find my favoruite plave has become RamsFroums.com?

[Proteus]

nope, but working on something that will shake the forum scene up for Dwarf Cichlid lovers worldwide...

[kalebjarrod]

Here we go againnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn :wink:

[merman]

Picked up some of these Rams from SLS and am very very happy with them their colour is great and were eating flake within the first 24 hours.

PS Can different strains(sub species) of Rams be kept together. How terrortorial do they get when they breed are they as bad as Kribs?

[kevkoi]

On a scale of 1-10, a krib is at 5. The rams are at 2.

There is only ONE species of Ram recognised at present... Microgeophagus ramirezi. There are line bred colour morphs such as the gold rams. They are just a man made line-bred fish. These can be kept together, and will interbreed.

kev

[skoom]

how long before these rams will grow til full size?

when do you think the peruvian rams will come in?

[Proteus]

well, here is a surprise...

The first pair I introduced into my QT tank was last Thursday evening...

well, they have eggs :shock:

The Male ate most at first, but she has dropped another 10-15, and they are still there...

cool

[Merrilyn]

Wonderful. Pics proteus please :P

[Davo]

So how many pairs can you keep in a tank?

I have a pair of SLS German F1 Rams that are full size and are looking fantastic. I just bought a female Venezualan ram last week to stop the male from chasing the female. The female Venezualan is about 1/3 of the size of the German rams.

Would I be able to buy another male Venz ram?

My tank is a 4x2x2 planted discus tank.

Dave.

[kevkoi]

Gee, in that size tank, u could comfortably go with another 4pairs!!! I have 2males and 4females in a planted 2ft tank!... and they're breeding.

[Fishpimpin73]

I have kept upto 5 pairs of rams in a 4 foot tank and had eggs EVERYWHERE.

As long as your water quality is good, and they don't feel threatened they WILL BREED :wink:

You only have to worry about them after they get a little older, Males stop producing viable sperm at around the 2 years old mark.

As far as raising the fry goes........

Not the easiest fry to raise, but due to the fact that Rams will just keep "making babies", you could easily end up with several dozen fish at diff stages of developement.
Just keep your water quality up and feed them VERY well.
I have found that at a little bit higher temp ( 82-84 degrees ) the growth rate is increased.
Good feedings, daily or twice daily water changes, and increased temp will see them grown to beautiful little rams in no time.

[skoom]

My pair from last week laid eggs but didn't make it to the wriggler stage. However, my female no has no colour (i'm thinking she may be stressed for whatever reason....just laid eggs...postnatal depression...) and still getting harassed by the male. What should I do?

[akroyd]

Hey Kev,


of Ram recognised at present... Microgeophagus ramirezi

I've not seen you make a mistake before. :P

It's now Mikrogeophagus. Hope to be down to see you guys in August. :wink:

[anti-generic]

Great rams they are. Very flirty femals too. the moment they got in the community tank they got my older males in a frenzy.

hahaha

[kevkoi]

:lol: Malcolm.... I'm only human mate. :lol:

[AussieStar]

very nice, i have 2 pairs of wildcaughts that i got from auburn aquariums, great colours

[Proteus]

Just an update, one of my pairs continues to make a spawing site, only to have it bulldozed by the Geophagus... sometime soon they will get there own tank.

[parkap]

Proteus,

I've never spawned rams before but the pair I have at the moment look very cosy.

I know they're substrate spawners, but beyond that I've got no clue.

How big a substrate a area do they need/want?

The female looks like she's ready to spawn, tummy has gotten a little bigger but she's lost a lot of her colour. But then the next day she's in full colour again. Is this suggesting she's actually not well? I saw discharge a white liquid substance the other day, which makes me think she's actually getting sick. But then the next day she's full of colour and swimming fine. Very contradictory behaviour at the moment. I even watched her and the male cleaning a big lotus leaf with such attention that it reminded me of how my angels prepare a leaf surface prior to spawning. It's all very strange.

p.

[Robdog]

Is a "wildcaught via Germany" the same as a "wildcaught in a little net straight out of the Columbian/Venezualan drink" with these guys?
I've always been told that with Rams you have to stay away from the Asian bred varieties like the plague. And with those hideous Balloon Rams getting around I can see why. Instead always go for the German bred or imported from Germany fish.
Now when these little guys fly from SA do they just refuel in Frankfurt or do they get off the plane, pull up a tank somewhere and settle in and THEN head down under.
If they were straight out of SA then I would expect them to be a bit more expensive than $18 even if this thread was started a year ago. :? :?

[kevkoi]

Wild rams usually come out from Venezuala or Columbia. From there, they fly to Frankfurt and get held there as per what AQIS requires fish from South America to be held for at least that duration before they are allowed in to Aust.

Germany very often have lots and lots of wild rams, and the prices are quite reasonable for juvenile fish.

The price is a fair price.

We sometimes import wild rams from Columbia to Malaysia where they are held for the required time on our farm under quarantine prior to shipping. I've got about 50-60pc of rams ready to ship out to SLS on the next shipment.

[Robdog]

Not complaining about the price at all Kev. For fish that look that good, thats a dam good price and they're worth every cent.

[aprofromindia]

Hey Kev I got a 65 ltr moderately planted tank, do you think I can keep two pairs of wild rams and if yes how often do you think I should change water, atm I have one angel and 20 cardinals in it

[kevkoi]

would recommend about 30% water change at least once every 2 weeks.

U should be able to house 2 pairs of rams.