# The Rams



## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Got these a few days ago from Richard (Thanks again Richard ) Wanted to share a few pix of these beautiful fish. They are my favorite fish right now and a lot of fun to watch. If you were ever thinking of getting some GBR's. I highly recommend some of his ,if he has any left (wish I would have gotten 5 more now lol). I always heard they were sensitive fish and not for beginners & I was a little leery about getting some. But these guys looked as good when I got them as they do now & settled right in and are doing just great


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

nice looking fish. the tank looks good, too. good shots.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

cool lookin fish and plants


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow! These Rams look great. Makes it so tempting to get some to try.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Guys 
Give in to temptation Gary lol you won't be sorry


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

those are some sweet rams.
the colour of Richards Rams can't be beat...


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

They have great colouration... I have always been attracted to GBRs, just something about them. You are very lucky!


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## weirdboyrox (Apr 27, 2010)

WOW nice looking fish!! You can also try Electric blue rams, those are stunning fish of the same family as well


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

weirdboyrox said:


> WOW nice looking fish!! You can also try Electric blue rams, those are stunning fish of the same family as well


Thanks....I seen the electric blue rams and yes they are stunning. I will probably get some after I switch to the 50 gallon



Emily said:


> They have great colouration... I have always been attracted to GBRs, just something about them. You are very lucky!


i feel lucky  especially since they have all survived thus far. Yes the colors are awesome, looked just as good in the bag when I received them. Dunno what Richard is feeding them , but apparently it's good stuff lol



Adz1 said:


> those are some sweet rams.
> the colour of Richards Rams can't be beat...


thanks Adrian & couldn't have said that better myself


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## Rayne (Jul 12, 2010)

Wow those are real beauts! I've always wanted to try some of these guys


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## Richard (Apr 23, 2010)

Thank you for sharing. They do look colorful in your tank. Don't be afraid of these guys. They are very hardy, believe me, and also frugal.  I have added new gene to the line. This batch has more black pigment if you noticed.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Rayne said:


> Wow those are real beauts! I've always wanted to try some of these guys


thanks , I've been wanting to try them for awhile now too. Soon as I seen Richards ad I knew it was time. These guys are just gorgeous, super hardy and doing great!



Richard said:


> Thank you for sharing. They do look colorful in your tank. Don't be afraid of these guys. They are very hardy, believe me, and also frugal.  I have added new gene to the line. This batch has more black pigment if you noticed.


Hey Richard , my pleasure. I believe your Rams are the best looking ones I have ever seen. The color is absolutely amazing & they are doing great! Glad I waited till now to try them, I really don't think I could have gotten better Rams anywhere else. Thanks again for the awesome Rams  I may end up getting more later this week if you still have some.


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## Richard (Apr 23, 2010)

> Hey Richard , my pleasure. I believe your Rams are the best looking ones I have ever seen. The color is absolutely amazing & they are doing great! Glad I waited till now to try them, I really don't think I could have gotten better Rams anywhere else. Thanks again for the awesome Rams  I may end up getting more later this week if you still have some.


Thanks, I am pleased when you are happy with the rams. I still have some but not many left. I've never fed them with any unusual food. So their color won't fade away but intensified when they get older.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Richard said:


> Thanks, I am pleased when you are happy with the rams. I still have some but not many left. I've never fed them with any unusual food. So their color won't fade away but intensified when they get older.


I can't imagine the colors getting more intense , but look forward to that. I didn't think you fed them anything special. I have been feeding with Tetra color flakes and granules plus frozen blood worms, I even noticed them picking at the algae on that skull, till the Clown Panaque in there turned it white again lol . They seem to really like everything. They are definitely the best addition to that tank and have created alot of activity in there amongst themselves and the rest of the community. Never been happier with that tank than I am now


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## dabu (Jun 23, 2010)

Yea very nice , i have 2 that i got from Kirk and they are a great little pair . I've been waiting to find some new guy to toss in der.


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## Krazykarl (Nov 22, 2010)

Great looking Rams. I tried my hand at rams twice but it did not pan out (probable cause I didn't get them from Richard) so I switched to Apisto's and love them.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Krazykarl said:


> Great looking Rams. I tried my hand at rams twice but it did not pan out (probable cause I didn't get them from Richard) so I switched to Apisto's and love them.


thanks, yea Richards Rams rock! I didn't think mine would last long but still looking great for the 8 days & 45 minutes  that I have had them now.
The Apisto's are very cool too. Most likely have some myself one day



dabu said:


> Yea very nice , i have 2 that i got from Kirk and they are a great little pair . I've been waiting to find some new guy to toss in der.


Thanks & I got these from Richard , if your interested he may have some more at a great price.... here's his thread:http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/freshwater-livestock-25/fs-german-blue-rams-$5-each-5-$20-8282/


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

well apparently I have some busy fish after the lights go out, turned the lights on today to find someone decided to try again and laid another batch of eggs. Both my females laid eggs last week too, but ended up eating them for whatever reason. Anyway, I don't have another tank or the room for one to transfer them to. So I guess I will be letting nature take it's course in the current tank and see what happens this time around. I'm just about willing to bet I will see eggs from the other female soon again as well. I get pretty excited about this as I have never had any fish breed for me so hopefully, eventually there will be a successful batch lol Anyway thought I would share a couple pix and vid's, you'll have to excuse the video quality and crap in the water, was just cleaning the tank when I shot 'em

last weeks spawn, on the driftwood:









vids from today:


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

can't believe you're watching the canadiens vs the sucky leafs. haha.
nice videos of the rams. i'm now tempted also.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

lmao you mean the sucky canadiens vs the sucky leafs...that was my roomies watching the game, they watch whatever game is on. Thanks Ming.... Yep I'm thinking 5-6 would look good in your new 33  If I ever get offspring , I will give you a couple pairs if you'd like, altho Im sure thats a few months down the road if it happens lol


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Congrats on the spawn! Gorgeous rams.

I'll ask the usual question whenever someone has a spawn from fish that I have an eye on: what are your water parameters?


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

thanks Crazy, haven't tested the water in the last week but on average it test:
Nitrate:0
Nirtate:0
Ph: fluctuates 7.2-7.5
Kh: 4-5
Gh: 5
temp:80-82


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

gh and kh 50? my scale doesnt even go up that high on my test kit


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## Nanokid (May 18, 2010)

thoose are some nice rams - very well colored and healthy. as for the eggs... most GBR dont raise young well at all. every pair that spawned in my tanks always ate the eggs/ didnt survive, regardless of tank mates. i got rid of my germans and im trying to breed the wild variations.... regardless, richard breeds some nice rams. also - dont let PH scare you, i had a pair of rams spawn in my tank with 8 ph!

if you want to raise the fry, best bet would be to find some micro worms. good luck!


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> thanks Crazy, haven't tested the water in the last week but on average it test:
> Nitrate:0
> Nirtate:0
> Ph: fluctuates 7.2-7.5
> ...





Nanokid said:


> thoose are some nice rams - very well colored and healthy. as for the eggs... most GBR dont raise young well at all. every pair that spawned in my tanks always ate the eggs/ didnt survive, regardless of tank mates. i got rid of my germans and im trying to breed the wild variations.... regardless, richard breeds some nice rams. also - dont let PH scare you, i had a pair of rams spawn in my tank with 8 ph!
> 
> if you want to raise the fry, best bet would be to find some micro worms. good luck!


Alkaline pH?! Hey that's news to me! I thought that GBRs needed acidic pH! I kew of people keeping them in alkaline pH, but them actually spawning in alkaline pH I didn't know. That's great! About about the fry then? Do they make it in such pH or do you need acidic water to raise them?

Thanks guys, very informative.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> gh and kh 50? my scale doesnt even go up that high on my test kit


lol Mike 50 dGH would be kind of high, don't know what I was thinking. That would have been a ppm reading and your kit should go up that high as 50 ppm is only about 3 dGH (or 3 drops with a API test kit) 



Nanokid said:


> thoose are some nice rams - very well colored and healthy. as for the eggs... most GBR dont raise young well at all. every pair that spawned in my tanks always ate the eggs/ didnt survive, regardless of tank mates. i got rid of my germans and im trying to breed the wild variations.... regardless, richard breeds some nice rams. also - dont let PH scare you, i had a pair of rams spawn in my tank with 8 ph!
> 
> if you want to raise the fry, best bet would be to find some micro worms. good luck!


thanks, I was thinking of maybe getting a few wild ones and mixing it up a bit and see what happens And not too worried about the PH as I see these guys are super hardy  I will keep the micro worm in mind if it ever get past the point of feeding them


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

crazy72 said:


> Alkaline pH?! Hey that's news to me! I thought that GBRs needed acidic pH! I kew of people keeping them in alkaline pH, but them actually spawning in alkaline pH I didn't know. That's great! About about the fry then? Do they make it in such pH or do you need acidic water to raise them?
> 
> Thanks guys, very informative.


I used to think the same, But as far as i know Richards rams were bred and raised in a higher ph, so it would appear possible for the fry to survive apparently. I'm completely new to the rams myself , so everything is trial and error to me lol I feel lucky none have died on me yet and even more lucky they have spawned twice in the little time I have owned the horny lil fishies lol


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## dabu (Jun 23, 2010)

Yea thoses are my fav , gota love em . great pics !


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Richard's Rams are the best!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

mysticalnet said:


> Richard's Rams are the best!


Without a doubt!!

And thanks Dabu

Well as usual eggs are gone within 24 hours everytime, so if it happens it happens lol I give up hope for now. 
In the meantime I took a few vids around noon today. This tank sits on a wall across from a sliding glass door and on a sunny day like today all the fishes in the 33 gal get to enjoy a little direct sunlight on about 1/2 - 1/3 of the tank for about an hour or so. They really seem to enjoy it alot , but the Rams really like it. When they swim in the sunlight , I swear it looks like someone turned on a switch and these guys light up lol The vids aren't the best of quality ,thanks to the glare of the sun off the glass. I was having some focus issues and also couldn't be as close to the tank as I would normally like to be as I was blocking the sun and getting too much reflection. Of course there was a limited time frame as well to deal with, but anyway wanted to try and share the vibrant colors these guys have in natural sunlight. The vids don't justice for the real beauty of them , but I'm sure you'll see what I mean.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Don't give up hope, they wil learn to be good parents!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm sure one day it'll happen lol no hurry anyway, no extra tank to put fry in yet.


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## PeteAce (Oct 23, 2010)

John, i got 3 pairs from richard too. same thing happened to me one pair spawned but ate all the eggs. now another is spawning so i'm hoping. but i admit that i don't have the best tank setup for them... still resisiting MTS.... it's been hard....


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Hey Pete glad to hear ya got some of these great fish from Richard. Pretty awesome addition to have 'eh,.....between the 2 pairs I have, they've spawned 2-3 times each within the first couple weeks. Of course ate them every time lol Haven't seen any more in a few weeks, but I'm sure I will soon. I'm thinking we'll both have more than we know what to do with before long lol it just a matter of time before everything is just right.....as for the MTS, it's just a matter of time too....before you break lol


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## PeteAce (Oct 23, 2010)

Yup, mine guarded their eggs for almost two full days and ate them last night... I was hopeful too


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

*The Rams :: 1/2/11 Updated with a few somewhat cool vids lol::*

Good luck to you guys!! I think I might have too many GBRs soon... Babies are getting bigger and they look cute! Just wondering, how big is your tank? I find that they like bigger tanks like 30G or more and they will spawn an not eat the eggs.


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## PeteAce (Oct 23, 2010)

Mine are in a 25. They'll have to wait until I can find a great deal on a 33/40 long.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Mine are in a 33 (36"x12" footprint) right now , but I plan on transferring everything in that tank to my 50 gal long soon as I get another 90 gal or bigger for my shark , loaches and angels. Hopefully in the next couple months that will happen. I think my SAE's might have been too annoying for the rams when they had their eggs, as they are very active. Trying to get rid of them too see if that makes a difference.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

*took a few new pix*


























*Someone needs a diet....little pig*









*Love when they get in the right light, the blue on them lights up so nice, hard to get a good pic of it tho*


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

Those are very nice. My girl got some from Richard as well. He has the best stock around and a great price.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

They look great, John. What beautiful little fish they are. And great personality too. I don't keep GBRs myself but I keep Bolivian rams. Less colourful but similar personality as far as I read.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

crazy72 said:


> They look great, John. What beautiful little fish they are. And great personality too. I don't keep GBRs myself but I keep Bolivian rams. Less colourful but similar personality as far as I read.


Thanks Franck, the personalities are really great. I believe most of the dwarf cichlids have the similar personalities from what I have read too. I have quite the interest in them right now. And I think I may try some different ones this year (perhaps Bolivian) & I'd really like to find some fancy looking Apistos as well. Maybe when I find a 33 long I will do that :bigsmile:



Vman said:


> Those are very nice. My girl got some from Richard as well. He has the best stock around and a great price.


Thanks, yes Richard does produce some of the nicest ones I have seen & great price indeed...now if I can get them to let their eggs hatch I will be super happy lol


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## Richard (Apr 23, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> *took a few new pix*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very nice, John. They grow bigger now, and they are more colorful.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

John, your sure one of those fish needs a diet or is she ready to spawn? hehe.
Great pictures.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Thanks Franck, the personalities are really great. I believe most of the dwarf cichlids have the similar personalities from what I have read too. I have quite the interest in them right now. And I think I may try some different ones this year (perhaps Bolivian) & I'd really like to find some fancy looking Apistos as well. Maybe when I find a 33 long I will do that :bigsmile:


Actually in my (limited) experience, not all dwarf cichlids have a similar personality, no. I find Apistos behave totally differently than rams for instance. They're all interesting in their own rights of course, but personally I really love the way rams interact with each other. They're great fun to watch.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Richard said:


> Very nice, John. They grow bigger now, and they are more colorful.


 Thanks Richard and thank you again for such wonderful fish :bigsmile:Yes they are bigger now and the colors have definitely gotten better , not they weren't gorgeous from the minute I got them from you. One of the females has some weird lump that we can't seem to figure out what it is. But other then that, they are doing awesome! Always spawning , but keep eating the eggs. I think the next time they lay eggs I may pull them out and put in a separate tank & see what happens



crazy72 said:


> Actually in my (limited) experience, not all dwarf cichlids have a similar personality, no. I find Apistos behave totally differently than rams for instance. They're all interesting in their own rights of course, but personally I really love the way rams interact with each other. They're great fun to watch.


Rams are the only cichlid I ever had so I wouldn't know from experience , yet anyway lol The Rams are definitely fun to watch, They are my favorite fish I have without a doubt , next to my Betta's. I really look forward to getting a longer tank to work with for more of whatever I get. Would be nice to get a 6' tank. Then I'd get a a few of everything Rams, Kribs & Apistos. Would be so much easier having it all in one tank to sit back and watch as opposed to 3 different ones in other spots lol Hmmmm ....wheels are turnin' now :bigsmile:



jobber604 said:


> John, your sure one of those fish needs a diet or is she ready to spawn? hehe.
> Great pictures.


 Ming , thanks & I'm quite sure it needed a diet ....I can't possibly think it has anything to do with spawning.....being SHE is actually the largest HE out of the group lol The females are really camera shy and hard to get a pic of, not to mention faster than the speed of light lol


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