Replaced German Blue's With Bolivians

[ippielb]

So, my two German blue rams were bad stock, and turned belly up. So i took them back to the store i got them from. They took them back, and offered new fish. I went back 5 or 6 times in the past month, i live 45 minutes outside the city, so i was disappointed to see that they didn't have them for a month, i asked a few times, they said that they are trying to get them ordered in, but have been unable to because the supplier didn't have them on their list. But they did have Bolivian Rams. They ordered in a batch of 30, and they held them until i could come back in to town, it was a week until i came, and they held them all for me so i could have first dibs on the fish. I asked the guy if he could determine the males and females so i could hopefully get a spawning pair. And he did his best, and he made sure i would get at least one spawning pair. He gave me 6 bolivian rams to replace my 2 german blue rams! I've had the fish for 24 hours now, and they're getting their colour back.

Here's some pictures. Sorry for my horrible aquarium picture taking skills.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[ippielb]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

They're in my spare tank right now, while i get my other tank ready for them.

[rich311k]

Nice looking rams! Good luck with them.

[WhiteDevil]

Good luck as well
also I cant help but notice they all appear female in your pics, from dorsal height and body colorations.

[HeyNow]

I have bolivan's as well, and I read different things on how to sex them.

Does anyone know how to tell for sure? Is it the dorsal fin height of the 3rd ray? I read somewhere that was just for german rams

[kurly]

Thanks for sharing your pics. My 6 Bolvian Rams arrived today and I'm hoping that all of them aren't the same sex. They are really young, about 2 months old, so I guess it will take time for me to tell. I can't post pics of them now but hopefully will be able to in the future.

Hope everything turns out well for you and your fish.

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Nice looking rams! Hard to sex them from your pictures so this thread will help you get an idea of what you have.
Sexing Bolivians ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

hopefully the tank you are putting them in is pretty big if you plan on keeping all of them... For 6 rams I would say at the bare minimum a 60 Gallon tank. Rams are territorial and will require a decent sized space. I believe the general guideline I saw when I first researched them was 10" squared with visual breaks.
I would also suggest sand in your tank if you are looking to breed them. They are earth movers and are very interesting to watch when there are fry needing care.

Here are some great threads from a different forum that I found extremely helpful. Good luck!

Bolivian Ram general info ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])
breeding Bolivians ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])
The very long BRC (Bolivian Rams Club) but informative thread ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

[WhiteDevil]

fish dont read books.



Secondly its very easy to sex most cichlids if not all.

Bolivian Males have the 3rd dorsal ray higher then the others, the males have one big spot on the side and a pink/red belly, Bolivian females have two smaller spots on their side with a orangish belly, when males come into season(get frisky) their back half of their body comes alive with colors and bars, it is 100% unmistakable. Also the females have darker bars over their eyes the male is faint if at all there.

My practiced theories have proven themselves time and time again.

[ippielb]

Thanks everyone, they're coloring up a little more today. But, is it normal for ALL of them to be chasing eachother? They're trying to find the pecking order correct? I hope they pair with eachother, how long does it normally take for them to pair up? I will get more pictures of them when they settle down a little bit, and relax. Hopefully i don't have all of one gender.

Also, my tank i'm going to be putting them in is a 90 gallon tank with sand substrate. I'm just trying to rehome my piranha's for the time being, they went crazy on eachother and kind of ate the little one, and one lost an eye. there's two left, they need more of eachother to feel safer in.

I will get pictures of them later, hopefully they will show off the fins.

[kurly]

Thanks everyone, they're coloring up a little more today. But, is it normal for ALL of them to be chasing eachother? They're trying to find the pecking order correct? I hope they pair with eachother, how long does it normally take for them to pair up? I will get more pictures of them when they settle down a little bit, and relax. Hopefully i don't have all of one gender.


Can anyone answer the question as to how long it normally takes for Bolivian Rams to pair up? Mine are only 2 months old but I'm curious about that too.

[Lab_Rat]

Mine never paired up. They hate each other. The male has his side of the tank, the female has hers.

[kurly]

Are those the only two you purchased? I've got 6 and am hoping that I will get at least one pair out of them. I am not sure how many are male and how many are female. I think I have at least two females by looking at the shape of their heads but like I said they are still pretty young.

I guess I'll just let nature take it's course after I get them in my main tank and not worry about it.

[Sursion]

Congrats on the buy. I myself have two Bolivian Rams and I love them. Very hardy, while still maintaining the classic cichlid exoticness. And I truely hope you got males & females. I asked for a spawning pair and the fish guy gave me two males. It was fun watching them lock lips and battle for dominance, but now one just chases the other one and it's quite frustrating.

[kurly]

Thanks Sursion. Sorry you ended up with two males. I keep looking at mine to see if I can determine their sex but still not sure. They are doing really good in my QT. No signs of stress, and they are eating well but I want to wait the full two weeks just to make sure they are fine.

I can't wait until I can put them in the main tank. One week down, one week to go!

[Gisela]

I am getting 7 wild ram crosses today in the mail. Hope they don't hate each other and some pair up.:hmm3grin2orange:

[kurly]

What is a ram cross?

[WhiteDevil]

What is a ram cross?
A hybrid with wild blood.

[kurly]

A hybrid with wild blood.

Oh, okay. Never heard of them before.

Thanks

[WhiteDevil]

its pretty much a half wild hybrid when all is said and done. sterile too I believe.

[kurly]

If that's the case then I hope Gisela isn't expecting any little Ram babies :scry:

[ippielb]

I have 6 and haven't yet had any pair up yet. I hope i didn't get all the same gender, a couple have VERY different body types, here's pictures of both types. Just noticed, but they have coloured up quite a bit since my last pictures.

Type 1 - seems smaller, and more narrow and slender
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Type 2 - larger then type 1 and rounder and larger
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[kurly]

Nice looking Bolivians ippielb. Mine are still young so they haven't colored up yet. They are getting bigger though and loving the extra room in my main tank. I see a few lip locks from time to time and chasing each other out of certain areas but that's about it for now.

I do like how my Bolivians don't scatter when I come up to the tank. I bend down to look at them and they look right back at me. Sometimes they even follow me and go back and forth as I move from one side of the tank to the other. Love that. Now my tetras, that's a different story. They rush to the opposite side of the tank whenever come near them. That is, until they realize I'm there to feed them.

Hope you get a pair or two out of yours.

[ippielb]

I know, my angelfish i have is quite skittish, gets startled easily, and then goes 100mph into the glass and hurts itself. Then is upset with me because it hurt itself. MY rams are TOTALLY opposite, they're always at the glass trying to get at me for food. I am enjoying my rams a lot, don't regret getting them at all, thanks for the hopes, i haven't found any signs of them pairing up. I hope they do, i would like to try my luck at breeding! Not many Bolivians in my area at all.

[Mrs.JayMay23]

What camera are you using btw? I can never seem to focus correctly on my ram... He always comes out fuzzy. My cam is a nikon coolpix. Your bolivian rams are awesome!! :) I have a pic of mine but I am still new to the forum and I can't figure out how to load a pic... I will figure it out eventually. :)

[kurly]

At least you have a digital camera Mrs.JayMay23. I still don't have one (blush)
and my camera phone is crappy. I'm going to get a digital camera soon so I start posting pictures of my fish and tanks too!

[ippielb]

The camera i was using has two macro settings(for close up pictures) and a manual focus option. Plus in the different types of picture taking options its got an "aquarium" option, which is nice. Thanks for the complements on my rams! I just want to have them pair up now!

[kurly]

An "aquarium" setting on a camera? Wow! That's really nice!

And I know exactly what you mean about just wanting your rams to pair up. I keep watching all six of mine just go round and round the tank with an occasional lip lock every now and then.

[ippielb]

Yeah, it's a nice camera thats for sure. Costed $600 couple years ago. It also has Super Macro for taking pictures so close the lens is basically touching the thing you're taking picture of! My rams are very random, Does anyone know the expected time for them to pair up?

[Mrs.JayMay23]

At least you have a digital camera Mrs.JayMay23. I still don't have one (blush)
and my camera phone is crappy. I'm going to get a digital camera soon so I start posting pictures of my fish and tanks too!

:scry: I'm a broke woman myself; the only way I got this camera was with tax refund money a while back. I agree with the camera phones; they do stink. Mine is a newer phone with supposedly a better picture but they still stink.

I would love to see pics of ur tank! thumbs2:

[ippielb]

I think i've come to the conclusion that i have 2 males and 4 females. Based on their ventricle differences.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Only one raises it's dorsal fin, the others just swim around.

[kurly]

From what I've been told it's better to have more females than males so the numbers for at least two pairing up are on your side thumbs2:

I think I may have the same ratio but am just gonna let it happen when and if it happens. Can't do much else but wait even no matter how hard it is to do. :sconfused: