Soft acid water

[erpethoichthys]

Do ram cichlids need soft acid water to live?

 

[tlindsey]

Do ram cichlids need soft acid water to live?

That would be perfect for them.

 

[Niki_up]

If you have hard water normally, and If you get local tank raised ones you could be successful.

If you get wild ones, maybe less successful

 

[erpethoichthys]

I am asking because at my lfs they thrieve in just clean hard water.

 

[Niki_up]

I am asking because at my lfs they thrieve in just clean hard water.

Never trust a lfs, their main goal is to sell product...ie rams in this case.

Glad to see you do your research, you could always ask them if they know if the fish are wild caught or tank raised, if you don’t lead them to a preference they might be honest with you.

 

[erpethoichthys]

I am sure that they are tank raised. They are of the balloon variety.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Balloon rams will be over bred and possibly have weak immune systems and be prone to health issues.
Rams are a fairly short lived cichlids at the best of times.
They may well have been bred in harder water. If they are thriving at the local fish store it does not prove that they will thrive long term. Some problems will take a little time to manifest.
If you like rams but have hard water, I would suggest you look at bolivian rams.
They are much more hardy than ramerizi and tolerate a far greater range of pH hardness and temperature.

 

[tlindsey]

That would be perfect for them.

I agree with Stanzzzz7 I have Bolivian Rams that are doing well. Ramerizi specie never survived as long in the water from my tap 7.8-8.0 ph.

 

[convict360]

softer water would be better, as mentioned above, in harder water I'd expect them to have shorter lifespans

 

[decoy50]

Tank raised rams are fine in tap water - raised them & bred them in 7.6 pH. Wild rams will be more finicky about water params. The most important thing with keeping rams is high temps. 84degrees & clean water, you'll be fine.