German born or local - Rams: What's the differences???

**Wyrmbait** · 4th Jan 2003, 19:27

I have been to quite a few LFS. Most of them have been offering Ramirez (Common/Blue Rams)
for the price range of $2.50 to $9.00. However today I have just been to Sam's Pet &
Aquarium at United Square and they were selling some Rams (the label says German Born) for
$25 each. Now granted, they Rams seems a little smaller than the ones seen at other LFS
(definitely not Round Rams) and the colours are more striking. However is there really any
difference in quality? Or is the higher price just for them being a foreign stock?

**stormhawk** · 4th Jan 2003, 23:10

there's another one called the Holland Ram. according to the pet shop uncle, he mentioned something about local rams being not as beautiful as those from Germany or Holland. furthermore, they say that the quality of local-bred rams is far lower than those from foreign stocks. but in my opinion, i see no difference between them except for the colours and size. even that doesn't justify the cost of the fish. at $25 a piece, it's better to buy an apisto.

**chia2k** · 5th Jan 2003, 22:24

are these ram chiclids aggressive like parrot fish ? coz i have neon teras and i am wondering if its ok to add them

**Wyrmbait** · 5th Jan 2003, 22:56

Well I was back again at that Sam's to have a look.
An observation was that though more colourful, they seem to be more
aggressive.

Interestingly enough, in my own tank, I have one male and 2 female
rams. The male Ram is the only colourful one and it is quite
aggressive to the females. A previous colourful male Ram I had was
pretty aggressive to its kind too. So I'm wondering if the
colouration is in relation to their aggression.

Note: Rams seems to be only aggressive to their own kind. I have
never seen any of my Rams attacking the other fishes (neon tetra
included), though they do show aggression to the other Rams.

**stormhawk** · 5th Jan 2003, 23:03

they show aggression to conspecifics, (i.e. fishes that look and behave pretty much like it, in this case, apistos and the like). other than that they usually leave other fishes alone. but when it comes to shrimp.. eh.. it's a 50/50 chance they might just snack on a shrimp once in awhile.

**DEA** · 6th Jan 2003, 09:04

it's like pringles, rams and shrimp
once they start, they just can't stop [

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**CoryDorus** · 6th Jan 2003, 09:57

My RAM laterly starts to take a slight peck on almost all fishes bigger than him in my 3FT tank. And he will keep doing it until they moves away. Once I saw him peck my cory eye. That's it ! I transferred him out to confinement.

So far I did not see for myself him pecking the rummynose nor shrimps. But I saw dead bodies.

Fishes - Corys, Rainbow (3x his size !), Rummynose, shrimps...

**cyberjoe** · 6th Jan 2003, 10:08

Can anyone pls tell me how to spot a male and a female ram i also bought 4 pcs i asked the uncle how do you know from a male or a female he also dont know [:

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