# German Blue Ram Woes



## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

So, I decided to move the 3 corys sharing Jack Sparrows 20g long NPT to the 20g sorority, and purchase a pair of German Blue Ram Cichlids to go in with Jack. I went in knowing that they are pretty sensitive fish, but I figured I could make it work especially since the tank they are going into has been very well established for 6 months (always all 0's and 5 or less nitrate). 
The only fish store that carries GBR's in my area is Aquatic Critters in Nashville, TN so I went picked out a male and female pair and brought them home. 
I did a 3 hour drip acclimation into the tank and kept Jack Sparrow in the breeder box so he wouldn't stress them out, lights out as well. From the moment I began acclimating them I could see that they were super stressed. Very rapid breathing and pale coloring (they were beautiful and appeared healthy at the store), but I continued hoping they would gradually settle down. 
After being acclimated into the tank they would just hover in 1 place, one of them breathing really rapidly and the other very pale. After an hour of this I decided to hook up an air stone to see if I could remedy the breathing issues. A couple more hours and nothing was helping. It was late at this point so I went to bed.
Got up at 7am the next morning to check them out, and both were still alive and one of them had become more colored! I felt like there was a glimmer of hope, so I went to work. Got home at 3 pm, and what do I find? The GBR that had actually colored up had died. The other is still kicking, it seems to be doing really well except it is still pale. 
Now my dilemma is do I keep the surviving one and get the dead one replaced or do I return them both and get something different? I really loved these fish, but I don't know if they are worth the trouble.
One more thought, I read that many GBR's sold in fish stores have been injected with hormones, could this affect their ability to acclimate properly?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

The issue with getting two from a store is that, for them to co-exist mostly peaceful in a tank is to have a mated pair. They can still be slightly aggressive to each other but they definitely won't kill each other. And their rapid breathing is rather normal 

You can keep the remaining one and see how it does, normally they like groups or they'll get shy but sometimes you get a funny one haha. Do you have enough hiding spaces? There could be that issue since they do like to hide a lot. I don't think the hormones have anything to do with how they acclimate but it might, never really know.

I have a trio myself in my sorority who are doing fantastic. One female and two males, the one male was a free-be and that male hides quite a bit because the other male harasses it and the female just does whatever she wants lol. But the mated pair is out in the open quite frequently and seemingly happy, all colored up and doing well! But anyway, I also did a two hour drip acclimation and never had an issue with them, of course they're hormone free but that's just my experience.


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

I would say there are plenty of hiding places for them. I had even added a cichlid stone and a decorative stack of pipes for them. I would love to be able to buy a mated pair from an actual breeder, but I don't believe there are any in my area. I would be very scared of having any shipped to me.
If I was able to successfully keep and breed some I'm sure I could make a pretty penny in my area lol, too bad I don't have the space, money, or time to do so!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

They're pretty easy to breed actually lol, easier than Betta's at least! haha

My mated pair came from Yunite on AquaBid and were only 13 dollars for the pair plus 
one! and they're doing wonderful! But of course, I know it can still be scary 

So that's good about the hiding spaces! It's possible that it was just sick when you brought it in, sometimes they don't show symptoms. Also what's your pH and do you know your GH/KH?


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

My pH is 7.6, but I do not know my GH/KH as I do not have any testing equipment for that. 
I will definitely look up Yunite, and maybe message them to see if they have any available. 
It is possible that it was sick when I brought it home, but it definitely didn't appear to be on the outside and all of the fish in the tank it was kept in at the store were in what appeared to be pristine condition. It was the female that passed, and it seems that other peoples' that have died soon after being acclimated were females too, I guess they are more sensitive?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

it is possible but I'm no expert so I don't quite know about that.

Do you have driftwood in there? That will make it softer, they tend to like softer water so that's why I was asking. Also if the store's pH is vastly different that could be an issue as well, if it's off by 8 points or more there needs to be a mid-way tank so they can slowly acclimate over a week. But Yunite's Ram's are kept in water that's 7.8-8.0 so they have virtually no problem acclimating and of course no hormones! :-D

They only have pairs up right now but I'm sure if you message them and ask for just a female, they'll probably sell you one ^_^


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

I have a large piece of driftwood that has been in there since I started the tank. It still gives the water a slight yellow tint.
That would be awesome if they would send me one!
As always, thanks for all of your help and advice.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Great! That sounds good! I hope you can get yourself a lovely female ^_^


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

Messaged Yunite and they said they'd be happy to send me a single female.
They also mentioned that the hormone injected GBR's tend to die prematurely.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh cool! Well I'm glad they could give insight to the poor fish death as well! They're such awesome people, CT is very nice to speak with ^_^


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

I made the decision to just return the dead one and the remaining one and with my in-store credit I purchased 12 harlequin rasboras. I am going to ask Yunite to send me a mated GBR pair because I trust the quality of their stock.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh good ^_^ They'll normally send a spare male/female so if you don't want that, make sure to specify in the email that you only wish to have the mated pair :-D

I do love my mated pair from them +one lol, although the males have been going at it lately, no hurting, just sparring and showing off for my tiny lady. The girl isn't quite breeding age yet so that kind of isn't great since they were advertised as Breeding Pairs, but she'll grow yet! And it will be fascinating to watch them grow  I'm very happy with my ram's that's for sure! I hope you will be as well ^_^ Ram's are just amazing little cichlid's! :-D


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