# Electric/Cobalt Blue balloon Rams



## Richard

It is really nice, isn't it?  This is a male one. It looks more like a mini high-fin cobalt blue discus to me. The female one has a balloon belly.


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## gklaw

Can't wait till you start breeding them


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## jm.

Wow he looks awesome!


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## Richard

gklaw said:


> Can't wait till you start breeding them


Hahaha, yes, I got first batch of babies. Hope they will grow. :lol:


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## hlee72ca

Wow, he is gorgeous, I have noticed some at a LFS.Richard didn't you use to breed the german rams before? Do the new rams require similiar conditions?


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## Richard

hlee72ca said:


> Wow, he is gorgeous, I have noticed some at a LFS.Richard didn't you use to breed the german rams before? Do the new rams require similiar conditions?


Yes, I breed GBRs. I don't have much experience on these guys; So far I would say these guys are harder. They are very moody. I am looking for the tricks to get them to spawn more often. The male ones are very picky.


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## Diztrbd1

absolutely gorgeous Rams Richard! I will definitely want a few if you decide to sell any


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## Shell Dweller

Me too....after I seal my tank


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## MELLO

where did you buy these guys? how much are they? they look nice!


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## Smiladon

I want first dibs! lol


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## monkE

MELLO said:


> where did you buy these guys? how much are they? they look nice!


They had them recently at IPU in Richmond, i'm sure the Burnaby store as well

IPU NEW ARRIVALS THREAD


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## gklaw

Smiladon said:


> I want first dibs! lol


Don't think so. I mentioned breeding first. Plus I can get there waaaaaay quicker than you :bigsmile:


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## Ebonbolt

Just so you guys know, the balloon ram is a genetic mutation that was allowed to live and breed. Although interesting in appearance, the defect makes them much more sensitive, more than their non-balloon counterparts.

While we're on the topic of your rams though, Do you have any non-balloon german ram females? I have an extra male and he needs a mate =]

Thanks,
Ray


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## Rastapus

BelieveInBlue said:


> Just so you guys know, the balloon ram is a genetic mutation that was allowed to live and breed. Although interesting in appearance, the defect makes them much more sensitive, more than their non-balloon counterparts.
> 
> While we're on the topic of your rams though, Do you have any non-balloon german ram females? I have an extra male and he needs a mate =]
> 
> Thanks,
> Ray


Sorry Ray, going to have to dispute this one. Although I am not a strong supporter of balloon style fish, they are actually much hardier then their natural cousins. In fact, it is not unusual to not lose a single balloon ram in a shipment, the same cannot be said for natural rams. The same can be said for Balloon molly etc, they actually tend to be more active as well.


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## Richard

Rastapus said:


> Sorry Ray, going to have to dispute this one. Although I am not a strong supporter of balloon style fish, they are actually much hardier then their natural cousins. In fact, it is not unusual to not lose a single balloon ram in a shipment, the same cannot be said for natural rams. The same can be said for Balloon molly etc, they actually tend to be more active as well.


I agree with Grant. They are very, surprisingly hardy. :bigsmile:


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## BCAquaria

Whoa those look awesome!


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## Richard

Diztrbd1 said:


> absolutely gorgeous Rams Richard! I will definitely want a few if you decide to sell any


Sure, I'll see how well they will grow. So far so good, they are definitely stable, sturdy mutants. :bigsmile:


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## hlee72ca

Very nice babies Richard, I can see some blue coloring already!


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## Richard

hlee72ca said:


> Very nice babies Richard, I can see some blue coloring already!


Thank you, yes, they are really cute. Too bad, I only have few of them.


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## Diztrbd1

Great pic of the baby Richard! Keep us updated with those great pix. Look forward to seeing how they develop and color up as they mature more. Adorable for sure. Wanted some of these since the first time I seen them. Did you get yours from IPU? They have some nice ones there too.


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## Richard

Diztrbd1 said:


> Great pic of the baby Richard! Keep us updated with those great pix. Look forward to seeing how they develop and color up as they mature more. Adorable for sure. Wanted some of these since the first time I seen them. Did you get yours from IPU? They have some nice ones there too.


Yes, John. They are adorable indeed. IPU does have some nice ones too. I am sure it will take them for a quite long time to naturally grow to these size. Lets see what I can bring them up to. Here they are right now, doing very well. They start to colour out. They are hard to be sexed at this time.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

Wow, just an amazing job you've done with breeding and rearing Rams in general. Best of luck with these new Balloon rams. They are gorgeous.

Anthony


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## Richard

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Wow, just an amazing job you've done with breeding and rearing Rams in general. Best of luck with these new Balloon rams. They are gorgeous.
> 
> Anthony


Thank you Anthony for your kind compliment. Yes, they are really lovely. Hope I will have some more for our members soon.


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## bamboo

Those are really nice looking balloon rams. I will get some too (6?) if the price is not too crazy =)
Thanks!!!


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## Richard

bambam said:


> Those are really nice looking balloon rams. I will get some too (6?) if the price is not too crazy =)
> Thanks!!!


I wish I have many available. These fishes are awesome. Look at them!


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## Ebonbolt

OOOH PRETTY! :O

reminds me of my EBR


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## hlee72ca

Richard, that is a gorgeous pic, how many pairs do you have? The pic looks like two males fighting for dominance.


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## Diztrbd1

Great pic Richard! Every time you post a new pic I look at my tank and dream about a few of these beauties swimming around in it lol


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## Richard

They are 4 months old now. Noticed, they will have a red streak on their dorsal fin.




























They are very, very cute.


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## Diztrbd1

They sure do look great Richard! colors are coming in very good on them. They are little pigs eh? Mine will just about fight my Leopard Ctenopoma for the blood worms lol they are very smart too. When I drop the flake food in on one side of the tank, they have learned where I normally feed the Ctenopoma his blood worms on the other side and you can guarantee that where those fish go at feeding time lol I really can't thank you enough for selling me a pair. They are doing just great!


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## momof3

Great pictures, love the blue coloring amazing for freshwater


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## willhanchun

get the yellow balloon rams they are pretty cool too


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## Brendan

Yellow balloon rams are nice, does anyone have some for sale?


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## Ebonbolt

PJ`s pets in Richmond might still have a few, if not they can probably order some in for you.


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## Richard

BelieveInBlue said:


> PJ`s pets in Richmond might still have a few, if not they can probably order some in for you.


Also, Island pet has some great looking adult male electric Balloon Rams. Man they are really big. It will take at least a year to grow to that size. Go check it out if you like the blue, and believe in blue.


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## Richard

willhanchun said:


> get the yellow balloon rams they are pretty cool too


Speaking of gold balloon rams, I found some babies in the batch which have gold body covering with electric blue scales. Can't wait to see how they will look like when they grow up. Here are the pics showing how they look like right now. I will definitely need a new name for these guys.


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## Ebonbolt

Richard said:


> Also, Island pet has some great looking adult male electric Balloon Rams. Man they are really big. It will take at least a year to grow to that size. Go check it out if you like the blue, and believe in blue.


I see them like 4 times a week :lol: But personally, I prefer the natural, non-balloon blue rams more than man-made strains. And I'm moving back to apistos now


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## Richard

They are cute and beautiful IMHO. I found they are showing the best and true blue under daylight (6500K). I am using daylight CFL 6500K for the tank. I can tell they have two different blue, electric and cobalt blue in the batch.


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## Richard

I have seen new ram strain called "powder blue rams". I think I got some "powder blue balloon rams" too. I hope to have some of their offspring as well.


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## Richard

They are about 6 months old now. Here is the video.


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## Richard

Many of them start to spawn. Man, I can't handle this all at the same time. What a waste of these eggs!!


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## Keri

When do you expect the next batch to be ready? they are so beautiful....


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## Richard

Keri said:


> When do you expect the next batch to be ready? they are so beautiful....


Thanks, Yes, they are beautiful. Look at my few Electric Powder Blue Balloon Rams. They are females. I wait for a male to be mature. It will be spectacular I believe.


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## Claudia

Beautiful


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## Diztrbd1

Very nice Richard! Cool video too!


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## Morainy

These are really pretty! I got some from Aquariums West, but I think they probably grew up in your tank. (Am I right?) They're so much fun to watch.



Richard said:


> They are about 6 months old now. Here is the video.


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## Jasonator

Richard said:


> Many of them start to spawn. Man, I can't handle this all at the same time. What a waste of these eggs!!


Well, if you let me know when you are bombarded, I will volunteer to take some - I have a tank going just for that reason!


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## Atom

Love them. Makes me want another tank.


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## Richard

Thank you all. 


Yes, get another tank for them. lol


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## scott tang

if you want to sell some im in  sweet rams !!


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## Teranosarus

Richard said:


> Thanks, Yes, they are beautiful. Look at my few Electric Powder Blue Balloon Rams. They are females. I wait for a male to be mature. It will be spectacular I believe.


Hi Richard, they're very beautiful,your Blue Balloon Rams, I want to have flock of fish like u, so I want to ask u a question "how did you distinguish between males and females?"
This is picture of my fish, u can show me?


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## Richard

Hi, How old are they? Mines which are ready to go a new home can be easily sexed. From the picture, I would guess they are all males. But I could be wrong. BTW, your tank is stunning, very ,very nice planted.


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## Diztrbd1

Hope you still got some of the EBBR Richard. My male died  I may need to buy another soon


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## FishFreaks

my pair of EBR are looking right at home. quality pair. thanks


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## Claudia

Diztrbd1 said:


> Hope you still got some of the EBBR Richard. My male died  I may be in need of another soon


I got 2 females and a male from Richard and one died too  dont know if the male or one female


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## Teranosarus

Richard said:


> Hi, How old are they? Mines which are ready to go a new home can be easily sexed. From the picture, I would guess they are all males. But I could be wrong. BTW, your tank is stunning, very ,very nice planted.


I don't know how old are they, cause I bought them on the way and they look so small (around 1~1,5cm). I'm waiting ... and hope you wrong 
And thanks for your praise  , this is my tank


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## Richard

Teranosarus said:


> I don't know how old are they, cause I bought them on the way and they look so small (around 1~1,5cm). I'm waiting ... and hope you wrong
> And thanks for your praise  ,
> 
> Wow, spectacular!!! speechless !!!
> 
> Anyway, actually male EBBR is very handsome.
> 
> Here is the male.


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## Diztrbd1

Agree with Richard! That tank is gorgeous Teranosarus! truly jealous!



Claudia said:


> I got 2 females and a male from Richard and one died too  dont know if the male or one female


I suspect mine died from over harassment of a widowed GBR in the same tank. Far as I can tell they are pretty easy to sex as the males are bigger and their fins seem to be a bit longer.


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## FishFreaks

man that tank is sick!!!!!!


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## Jasonator

A little off topic, but I need a few female GBR's. Richard - do you have any?
...And, I will probably pick up another pair of Balloons, because they are soooo amazing in every way!!!


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## Richard

Jasonator said:


> A little off topic, but I need a few female GBR's. Richard - do you have any?
> ...And, I will probably pick up another pair of Balloons, because they are soooo amazing in every way!!!


Sorry, I am short of female GBRs. Has the balloon pair spawned yet?


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## vicdiscus

Hi Richard, I love your electric blue balloon rams are very nice and the babies too.

Do you breed the same electric blue balloon rams? What is percent the offspring electric blue rams?

Thanks
Duncan


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## Richard

Hi Duncan,

Yes, I do. You need a lot of work to get a big batch.



vicdiscus said:


> Hi Richard, I love your electric blue balloon rams are very nice and the babies too.
> 
> Do you breed the same electric blue balloon rams? What is percent the offspring electric blue rams?
> 
> Thanks
> Duncan


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## vicdiscus

Hi Richard,

I love to work with my fish. 

I will pm you


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## Richard

My Electric Powder Blue Balloon Male Ram is growing up too.

Male Powder Blue









Female Powder Blue


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## Claudia

They are beautiful!!


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## vicdiscus

Hi Richard,

Thank you for bring the fish to me, It was nice meet you.

Your package the fish are well done! 

They are doing well and no issue. 

I can not believe that they will spawn soon. The female 1 1/8" and the male 1 1/4" are so small.


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## Richard

vicdiscus said:


> Hi Richard,
> 
> Thank you for bring the fish to me, It was nice meet you.
> 
> Your package the fish are well done!
> 
> They are doing well and no issue.
> 
> I can not believe that they will spawn soon. The female 1 1/8" and the male 1 1/4" are so small.


You are welcome, Duncan. Yes, they will do if they like your tank, plus they are round shape.  Please check fishfreak's thread in this section. I think his fishes are the same age as yours. I found the smaller size of the balloon female spawns more frequently than the bigger sized one. I don't know why. Maybe they have bigger balloon. lol


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## vicdiscus

Hi Richard, Thank you , now I am going to look at Fishfreak's thread.


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## Richard

My EBBRs have grown up a lot. Here is their video.


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## arash53

I got bored with my tank , and I want to redo it with new fishes. I just wonder how big they gets and what is the minimum tank size to keep Electric/Cobalt Blue balloon Rams.


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## Richard

You can definitely keep a pair in your 8 gallon with some tetras too. EBBRs are very hardy, friendly towards their tank mates and easy to keep. They are very cute too. 



arash53 said:


> I got bored with my tank , and I want to redo it with new fishes. I just wonder how big they gets and what is the minimum tank size to keep Electric/Cobalt Blue balloon Rams.


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## arash53

Richard said:


> You can definitely keep a pair in your 8 gallon with some tetras too. EBBRs are very hardy, friendly towards their tank mates and easy to keep. They are very cute too.


Oh Great, do they dig substrate ? could I keep them in planted tank?


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## Richard

Planted tank is perfect.



arash53 said:


> Oh Great, do they dig substrate ? could I keep them in planted tank?


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