Pls help ID this ram species

[tingfeng]

Hi all, need some assistance on this species of ram please.
Thanks!

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[stormhawk]

Normal Ram from what I can see. Mikrogeophagus ramirezi.

[furyprix]

Normal Ram from what I can see. Mikrogeophagus ramirezi.

Agreed. Just without the colours. Are they new? Perhaps just need some time to get used to their new home

[tingfeng]

Yup they are new. Anyway I Googled the name given by storm hawk bro, turns out so many pictures with so many different colors.
What color they actually are? Lol, pls pardon my ignorance !

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[furyprix]

Exactly what u see on google!
red around the eyes, some neon blue and black patches. No doubt one of my favourite species
intensity of the colours would depend on each individual fish though...

[stormhawk]

The colors you may get depends on what strain of Rams these are. Typical ramirezi, aka the common types are washed out versions of the wild form, which does not have an obvious gold head. Read the following for short descriptions of the strains available locally:

1) Normal - wild form but paler in comparison
2) Wild - wild caught individuals, or F1/2 bred from wild stock (difficult to find here)
3) German - bred primarily for brighter colors, with a clear golden head in some individuals and intense coloration and robust size.
4) Gold - yellowish-golden body color
5) Electric Blue - all blue color with a metallic sheen in some individuals
6) Balloon - short bodied specimens that come in various color forms
7) Long-finned - these as usual, come with extended fins and in various color forms

Frankly speaking, nothing beats a wild-type Ram, but sadly it's not easy to come by good quality specimens. Some farm-bred fish are fed hormones to get intense colors and this results in lower fertility at times. There are also cases of malformed fish being found at LFS these days. Some with malformed mouths, fins or kinked bodies. I found some with a noticeable bend to their caudal peduncle. Other problems with our commercially available Rams is that they are not good parents. Some will constantly eat the eggs non-stop and others just refuse to spawn. The majority are pretty bad with brood care. It's a pity because back in the 80s and 90s we had some terrific Rams at the LFSes.

[gwabbie]

Anyone has sightings of normal bodied Gold rams recently?

[erwinx]

Few weeks back, c328 had a few plastic bags containing juvenile male/female pairs, $15 per pair, but sold out within a week.

[tingfeng]

Really difficult to pair them up, the male one I got, keeps chasing the female around till the female keeps hiding. I've got my tank densely planted. Hopefully the female don't die...argh!

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[stormhawk]

To know whether you have a pair, you need to sex them right. The rule of thumb is that females always have a rosy belly when mature. They are fairly easy to trigger for spawning, especially the commonly available ones. If you need help to determine the gender of your fish, try to get a clear picture of each of them and post here. Most Rams are easy to sex but for Electric Blues, the females do not show the rosy belly. Only way to get a female is to find those with shorter fins. Take note that some Rams available locally may produce a mix of fry with different traits.

@erwinx, yes I remember the pairs in the bags. Last bags I saw, one of them contained 2 females and some had diseased fish in them. I was there when the batch arrived in a large bag. They were repacked into pairs later on. Very nice when they first arrived but most were gone early like you mentioned. However, C328 is still the best place to get female Rams.

[tingfeng]

There hopefully u guys can see

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[tingfeng]

The female, I think, keeps getting chased. Didn't even dare to swim out now. But fins are all good. Just keeps hiding.

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[stormhawk]

You might want to get an extra female to diffuse the male's attention.

[illumnae]

Wild rams are commonly available at Jzx, for those who appreciate the wild form over commercial variants

[Lionhead]

haha i love rams as wel but nv really breed them before