Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi ?s

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R

RNJ_Punk

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 14, 2008
23
0
0
North Carolina
So this weekend I got an amazing pair of german blue rams. They are becoming my favorite fish in the tank. Mine are living in my 55 gallon planted tank with an old bolivian ram,1 male black angelfish, 1 platy, 1 male bn, some amano shrimp, and some ottos. The male is already becoming the dominant fish in the tank. He is chasing the bolivian ram that is MUCH MUCH bigger than he is. My two blues are young, the male does not yet have a dorsal spike and the female is lacking colors normally seen in older, larger females. I do have a few questions.

In terms of size/age when does pair bonding and breeding usually start?
What sort of behaviors should I look for as pair bonding begins?
Is it ok to have 2 pairs in a 55 gallon tank?(Well planted, lots of hiding places)?

Thanks for the help, I attached photos of the pair and my setup.

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12-14-08 007.jpg

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Nice rams!

They should start breeding when they are about six months old - they only live for a couple of years (sigh).

A pair usually stay together most of the time. The male would display color/finage to the female (courting).

Two pairs should be fine in your tank - it looks long enough. My two pairs spawn every weekend like clockwork. They take it easy on Mondays, fight Tuesdays through Fridays in the middle of the tank, retreat to the two ends on Saturdays, and spawn on Sundays. Very interesting fish...

A picture of one of the two pairs getting ready:
GBR_4.jpg


Another pair in action - see if you can spot the eggs:
GBR_Spawn3.jpg
 
Hardcandy,
Haha thank you, Im still working on it, its 2 years in the making!

Peathenster,
Thanks for the info, I didnt know rams bred that often, thats really cool. Yours look amazing! They look nice and well fed! Also, any guess as to how old mine look?
Thanks!
 
RNJ_Punk;2543650; said:
Hardcandy,
Haha thank you, Im still working on it, its 2 years in the making!

Peathenster,
Thanks for the info, I didnt know rams bred that often, thats really cool. Yours look amazing! They look nice and well fed! Also, any guess as to how old mine look?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not sure but they should be close...a word of caution - spawning and breeding are very different things...GBRs are actually quite difficult to breed.

Your female looks a little strange, almost like an F1 between a blue and a gold ram. I've seen them before in fish stores but they didn't know either.
 
I mean spawning. I dont plan to rear any fry.
You could be right about the female. When the lights go out she gets alot of her darker colors back, but when the tank lights are on she usually is displaying those colors. The store I bought my rams from also sold gold rams but she was in the same tank as my male. Maybe later this month or next month, whenever a I feel like commuting to to my LFS, and buy my other pair I will compare her to the new one. Ive never seen a cross though.
 
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