REIMAGINING RAMS
The Ram has been a community favourite for decades, yet most are kept incorrectly because of one fundamental error.
The Ram has been a community favourite for decades, yet most are kept incorrectly because of one fundamental error. Are yours housed with the right substrate?
THE RAM cichlid — at various times called the Blue ram, the Ramirezi, Ramirezi’s dwarf cichlid, the Butterfly cichlid or the Dwarf butterfly cichlid — is arguably the most colourful of the readily available aquarium fishes. But it is shrouded with misconceptions, folk wisdom and half-truths, out of which has emerged much incorrect care advice from hobbyists and retailers alike. As such, and despite its popularity and enduring presence in the trade, how to correctly care for it still remains a mystery to many.
Right off the bat, one point of confusion is the correct scientific name to use. Look back through old aquatic publications and you’ll find pages dedicated to the fish under the name Apistogramma or Papiliochromis/Papilochromis ramirezi. In some circles these synonyms still seem alive and well, despite taxonomic updates placing the fish in the genus Mikrogeophagus many years ago. Note the ‘k’ in the middle of that, as some literature might still have one last synonym to offer —Microgeophagus.
Early origins
Rams, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, were first imported in the mid-1900s from Venezuela, and for a while they were considered the holy grail of the aquarium trade. These early fish were all wild caught, and all were widely coveted.
Once captive breeding was cracked by pioneering cichlidophiles, new strains began to appear, often farfetched from their wild equivalents. Amongst these, German blues made their debut — a very specific line that was bred by aquarists in Germany. In this line, blues dominated a fish which already displayed all the colours of the rainbow, but these are not the same as the Electric blue rams, which appeared much later.
Another notable trait of the German blues was the size — they were large, and significantly so, dwarfing most other Rams. Unfortunately, this strain no longer seems to be extant and if it is, it no longer graces the British trade (Editor’s note: The last time I saw a German blue for sale, marketed as a ‘German mega ram’ was in 2004).
Nowadays, anything labelled or sold as a German blue should be approached with an air of caution — it’s likely that these are Blue rams, the standard form as far as the industry is concerned.
More recently, Gold, Electric blue, Black and Dark knight rams have begun to swamp the trade, a huge array of intrinsic hues emphasised by the hands of breeders. Some of these fish are indeed beautiful, but the cost of this is that they are so far removed from their wild ancestors that much of their parental instincts have been lost. Without direct intervention, they can be difficult at best to breed.
What’s more, many of these are difficult to sex, as we have changed the species’ phenotype so heavily. On top of colours, there are shapes — Balloon rams with their squat bodies, and long-finned variants with draping appendages. Both of these present a ‘marmite form’; love them or hate them, they are here to stay.
Some like it hot
Ask the internet how to keep Rams and you’ll find yourself in a bog of contradictions. Alas, while many keepers have only dabbled with Rams in community tanks, they still feel obliged to share their opinions and one-dimensional experiences.
Hailing from equatorial South America, warmth is necessary for successful Ram keeping, and I cannot stress this enough. Many tropical fish are chronically kept too warm in aquaria, but for Rams the reverse is true. Somewhere between 27-32°C should be considered a prerequisite. Keeping them in cool water leads to lethargy and general poor condition, inviting bacterial and other infections in.
Interestingly, wild caught specimens seem to be a little bit more forgiving with regards to parameters once quarantined and settled, which is unusual when contrasting wild and captive bred fish. Anywhere between 4.5 and 7.0pH will suffice for quality stock. From working in the trade, I have found that after only a few weeks in captivity, wildcaught specimens can display their full colours and go through the spawning motions even at a pH of 7.2 — albeit in soft water.
Meanwhile, I’ve found that captive bred Rams from the Far East struggle in such conditions and require an even lower pH to thrive. For farmed fish, anything above 6.5 runs the risk of inviting bacterial infections. Regardless of the source of the fish, it’s worth aiming for a low KH, under 5° for the optimum results and longevity of fish.
Kiss the ground
Mikrogeophagus translates as ‘small earth eater’ and any prospective keeper would be wise to remember that. Kept on anything other than the finest substrates, Rams will struggle and often fail, despite otherwise impeccable water conditions.
Sand is passed over the gills as a feeding mechanism, filtering out any small morsels, much like a Baleen whale filtering krill and baitfish from the sea. This sifting process also helps to clean the gills and being denied the opportunity to do so may result in specific bacterial infections, localised around the gills and opercular region. This can manifest itself as some mysterious yet lethal disease, with the aquarist looking for all potential causes while ignoring the obvious. On the back of that, all manner of theories are born, each less accurate than the last.
In aquaria with outstanding water conditions but incorrect substrates, Saprolegnia and fungal-like growths may be witnessed.
In some cases, you might even see symptoms of hole in the head (HITH), with emaciation, eroding patches of skin over the face, and pinhole sized holes appearing. Often these symptoms will be protracted, and may lead to fatalities if not recognised and acted upon.
The best substrate in any situation is undeniably a fine grade sand. Feeding Rams is the most straightforward aspect of their care, with flake, frozen, pellet and live food taken by virtually all specimens. Keep your fish on a staple of well formulated prepared foods, but don’t be afraid to offer frozen and live food regularly, and look upon tiny copepods and ostracods growing around the substrate as a bonus.
Distribution
The distribution of Rams is vast, and they are found virtually throughout the spa of the Orinoco. They are incredibly commonplace in the Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela, a huge tropical grassland comprised of savannah and shrubland, not overly dissimilar to those of Central and Eastern Africa.
Here, Rams can be found in warm, shallow water, often living over a
substrate of silt and sand, from which they find subsistence in the forms of micro-organisms and insect larvae.
Across their range, sympatric species vary, but if you are aiming for a biotope style aquarium, then Rummy-nose tetras, Petitella bleheri, Cardinal tetras, Paracheirodon axelrodi, and Green neons, Paracheirodon simulans, will all be authentic.
Spawning at home
Under ideal conditions, a ripe pair of Rams should spawn. Selecting both sexes should in theory be simple, but given the convoluted history of their domestication, it’s worth getting the opinion of an expert on any prospective pair.
Being substrate spawners, pairs typically deposit eggs on a flat, hard surface. This might be a pot, a piece of flat slate or even the glass sides of the tank. Sometimes a large leaf such as those of Anubias or Echinodorus may be used.
In theory, the eggs, larvae and fry should be cared for by both parents, but neglect runs rife amongst the species, and especially with fish from farms. Eggs will hatch after 36-48 hours, but don’t become mobile for another five days or so. You might find that once they’ve hatched, the fry need to be siphoned into a smaller vessel, where water quality and feeding may be monitored closely.
Start the youngsters on small foods such as infusoria and Paramecium. Once they’re large enough to take newly hatched Brineshrimp, the fry grow quickly.
Wild caught specimens seem to be a little bit more forgiving with regards to parameters once quarantined and settled