German Blue Ram
Care Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Color: Yellow, Blue and White
Lifespan: 2-4 Years
Size: 2-3 inches
Diet: Omnivore
Family: Cichlidae
Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallon
Tank Set-Up: Freshwater with plants and hiding places
Compatibility: Peaceful small fish
The German Blue Ram in a Beautiful, Peaceful and very Social South American Cichlid with a Great Personality. Although Cichlids are often thought of as aggressive fish, German Blue Rams are one of the best Cichlids for community tanks.
This unique fish is a vibrantly colored and peaceful fish, perfectly suited for well established community fish tanks. Their eyes are red with a vertical black band that runs down their eyes and their fins are yellow or red with blue lines which are almost transparent. When you see a healthy ram in breeding condition, They display almost every color of the rainbow.
Tank Mates
Avoid large, aggressive fish as they are not a good match for the German Blue Ram. Therefore, they need to live in a peaceful community aquarium as they will struggle in an aggressive tank.
German Blue Rams can live with almost any community fish that can thrive in the same high temperatures, such as tetras, Cory catfish, plecos, discus, angelfish, and other dwarf cichlids. They don’t do well with really fast eaters that will outcompete them for food or larger fish (like oscars) that may consider them food.
Origin
Interestingly enough, German Blue Rams are not from Germany.
The name “German blue” refers to a color variation that was selectively bred in Germany and became popular worldwide in the aquarium trade.
German Blue Ram Cichlids are originally from South America.
In the wild, they live in the Amazon River, especially the Orinoco River Basin in Venezuela and Colombia.
German Blue Rams in the Aquarium
Blue Rams are used to slow flowing rivers having plenty of vegetation so it’s important to have dense pockets of plants with plenty of open swimming space so plants and rocks are a must in your aquarium. Some good plants you can use for your aquarium are Java Fern, Amazon Swords and Wisteria and most other easy plants.
German Blue Rams will appreciate a heavily planted tank with lots of hiding places – you can use rocks or driftwood for this.
When arranging the plants make sure you also leave some space for free swimming.
Rams will spend most of its time swimming around the tank at all levels of the water.
Although you can keep single Rams in a tank as small as 10 Gallons, the recommended size is 20 gallons or larger.
Especially with multiple Rams.
If they are taken care of, they can live a happy life in your tank for up to 4 years.
They don’t get too big only growing to about 2-3 inches.
The German Blue Ram is sensitive to water parameters, therefore it is crucial to give them the best environment possible.
Good water quality is essential. The Rams prefer soft to medium hard water with a neutral pH and slightly raised water temperatures between 84° and 86°F.
It’s very important that your tank is well established and fully cycled with an excellent filtration system.
Blue Rams are very sensitive to water conditions, so make sure you perform frequent water changes and have a good filtration system.
What to Feed German Blue Rams
The German Blue Ram is an omnivore and eats a varied diet of both meat and plants. Typically in the wild, Rams feed on small insects or invertebrates as well as plants. A healthy and balanced diet along with suitable water conditions will keep this fish healthy.
German Blue Rams are not very picky, so you can feed them just about any dry food from the pet store, like flakes, sinking pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, and freeze-dried tubifex worms. They also love frozen foods, such as brine shrimp, cyclops, bloodworms, and mysis shrimp for larger fish. They thrive best with a wide variety of foods so they get all the essential nutrients and vitamins they need to stay healthy.
Here is a list of some of the foods I feed my German Blue Rams:
Fluval Colormax: https://tropicalfishguy.com/colormax
New Life Spectrum: https://tropicalfishguy.com/newlife
Omega One Freshwater Flakes: https://tropicalfishguy.com/OmegaOneFood Omega One Veggie Rounds: https://tropicalfishguy.com/veggierounds Omega One Mini Pellets: https://tropicalfishguy.com/omegaminipellets
Sexing of the Rams
Sexing of the Rams is relatively easy. Males are usually bigger and more colorful with larger fins but the sure way to tell is that females have a pink-orange belly. Both the male and female share the rearing of the fry
They are very common in the fish stores and the price range is around $8-15 or so depending on the size of the Ram.
In summary, German Blue Rams are some of the most colorful freshwater fish with a great personality.
They are easy to feed and with the proper attention to water quality and special requirements, they can be a favorite among aquarium keeper for several years.
I would highly recommend German Blue Rams for fishkeepers looking for a unique fish to keep.
