Dark Rams

[coralbandit]

Figured that since many people are searching 'Dark Rams' this would be an excellent way to share some the dark / black rams members on this forum have ..
Here is one from a customer of mine [Damon] that looks too good to not share .. He sent me this picture and permission to use it so had to share ..
Pretty dark huh ?


This guy is from my 9/11/18 F1s ...
They are an interesting and challenging fish ..

 

[chromedome52]

While I am sure that is a nice black fish, I think most of the darkness is due to poor lighting for the photograph. Even a dark fish would have details like an eye and gill cover.

 

[Rcslade124]

Oh I seen pics from corals tanks he has some dark rams they are beautiful! If it was bad lighting the background would be darker in my opinion.

 

[coralbandit]

While I am sure that is a nice black fish, I think most of the darkness is due to poor lighting for the photograph. Even a dark fish would have details like an eye and gill cover.

I rated your post funny...
They're a tough to photo fish .. At least for me ? That was a buddies pic he emailed me ..
So you provoked me to take pics ...
Here is how I got these pics [2 leds enough light ?]

^ The set up ^




^^ They are much harder to see with light background ?? Maybe the flash did not go off like in the others ??^^


They do show better with dark blue back ground ..

Oh I seen pics from corals tanks he has some dark rams they are beautiful! If it was bad lighting the background would be darker in my opinion.

Thank you very much !
Keep the faith !

 

[Rcslade124]

I'm in love with apistogramma but omg you make me want a group of your black rams in my 29 instead of apistogramma. Lol but all your rams are beautiful seen your fish room its amazing how many rams you have in tanks! I am the type to dive head first. I'd love an apistogramma fish room like your rams!

 

[Feohw]

I rated your post funny...
They're a tough to photo fish .. At least for me ? That was a buddies pic he emailed me ..
So you provoked me to take pics ...
Here is how I got these pics [2 leds enough light ?]

^ The set up ^




^^ They are much harder to see with light background ?? Maybe the flash did not go off like in the others ??^^


They do show better with dark blue back ground ..


Thank you very much !
Keep the faith !

Absolutely stunning! The dark rams I've seen have been nowhere near that nice!

 

[chromedome52]

The pectoral fins in CB's photos are quite visible, and the eye has a distinct outline, so are you saying that the friend's fish apparently has no pectoral fins, and no eye? The background is well lit, but there is no front lighting on the fish. The same thing can happen when you have auto settings that adjust for an average between the background and the foreground. In fact, the excellent color of the fish is probably why the photo came out poor.

As I said, it is obviously a nice dark fish, but the photography was a bit lacking. It was an honest critique of the photo, pointing out technical flaws.

 

[Cale24]

Can't take much credit apart from buying from a good breeder, but I'm pretty pleased with my pair. Female not as nice but I'm yet to get a non blurry photo of her. Have a few more on order, 4 weeks.
The bare bottom, white painted tank does tend to reflect a bit on the fish underside but the pair are very dark. Aged around 7 months in the pics.
Never black substrate or backgrounds for dark/ black rams!

coralbandit I refer people (living in the US) to your Aquabid if they're after them. See people on Reddit trying to get them now and again.

 

[coralbandit]

Here are some rough pictures !
Every body say BLACK !







So this pair was in the 60 gallonwith my male disc and clown loaches.
There is maybe 10+ other rams also .
It seemed pretty clear watching they were pairing and I could see their tubes .
So I caught them much to all the fishes efforts against me and placed them in a 5.5 g.
Eggs within hours but I wasn't really sure the male did his thing ?
That was 2 days ago 12/29 and today it is clear the eggs are viable so I am the bandit ..
I just mentioned that I have not yet had a single spawn that was all dark yet ..
Fins crossed and leaving nothing to chance .
This seems to be a great pair so they can stay in their 5 gallon and raise the next batch .
Kind of excited to see a spawn from two such dark [BLACK] parents …
To boot their darkness they are both beasts in size even by my standard ..

 

[ChikoritaTheAxolotl]

I rated your post funny...
They're a tough to photo fish .. At least for me ? That was a buddies pic he emailed me ..
So you provoked me to take pics ...
Here is how I got these pics [2 leds enough light ?]

^ The set up ^




^^ They are much harder to see with light background ?? Maybe the flash did not go off like in the others ??^^


They do show better with dark blue back ground ..


Thank you very much !
Keep the faith !

Love the photos! And is it just me or are their mouths so cute. Beautiful fish

 

[Rcslade124]

Looks like I found my spawn. Congratulations. I am working through bags to put together a 20L.

 

[DeniseF]

wow! nice fish and massive spawn! How's the dark gene going? any luck increasing the %.

 

[coralbandit]

Thanks Denise .
The size of the spawn is not surprising to me but the % that are good is very high and that is a great sign !
Every spawn so far has been gold and dark ..50/50 ..
Funny but I placed several of my established breeder pairs in a 60 gallon[48x24x12] with my discus and they seem to be playing musical chairs !
This is the first spawn from these two so kind of hoping ??
Fins crossed .
Nice hearing from you ,winter really is my fish time ..

 

[coralbandit]

So pics or a video coming but just want to say at this time it is EASY to see I have 50/50 gold and dark rams from this spawn !
EASY TO SEE on day 2 or 3 free swimming !

 

[Thedudeiam94]

So pics or a video coming but just want to say at this time it is EASY to see I have 50/50 gold and dark rams from this spawn !
EASY TO SEE on day 2 or 3 free swimming !

So cool that the batches are half and half! Can’t wait to see rams in my tank!!

 

[coralbandit]

So pics or a video coming but just want to say at this time it is EASY to see I have 50/50 gold and dark rams from this spawn !
EASY TO SEE on day 2 or 3 free swimming !

So I wanted to say I was not thrilled with the 50/50 as I have seen a lot of this and the degree of darkness can vary widely ??
Now I am thinking these might have been good dark ..I say might have been as about 90% of all have died .
Most of what is left is the lighter color ! The darkest are weak and this just makes me think the pair is good but this could be difficult ?
The parents look ready to go again any time and they get to keep their fry this time ?
Another pair long fin gold and dark black female are 2 days on wigglers now ..maybe the third time will work out better ?

 

[e_watson09]

Wow, I will say I am NOT usually a fan of super dark rams but these are stunning that have been posted here. You're pulling me towards the dark side

 

[ProudPapa]

So I wanted to say I was not thrilled with the 50/50 as I have seen a lot of this and the degree of darkness can vary widely ??
Now I am thinking these might have been good dark ..I say might have been as about 90% of all have died .
Most of what is left is the lighter color ! The darkest are weak and this just makes me think the pair is good but this could be difficult ?
The parents look ready to go again any time and they get to keep their fry this time ?
Another pair long fin gold and dark black female are 2 days on wigglers now ..maybe the third time will work out better ?

I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck, and I hope things work out better this time.

 

[coralbandit]

I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck, and I hope things work out better this time.

Thanks Glenn . We can't win them all .. This is part of the breeding game .Many see the finish product without knowing the 'history' .
I see the failure as a sign of getting the quality fish I want but now knowing it I have to work harder for these guys ..
The darkest ram still seems elusive here in the US.. I am told I am pretty far ahead of most other breeders with these guys so it is a bummer but a good bummer at the same time ..Letting the parents [if they will] do their part this next spawn will have better results I am sure .

 

[coralbandit]

Maybe this combo will work out ? Not the same pair at all but a hope of long fin could be here ? You don't have to be in Israel to use golds to get blacks ! Fins crossed .

Sure helps to have a back up plan or several tries at the same one !

 

[Rcslade124]

Good luck

 

[jmaldo]

Beautiful!

Looking forward to a pair of the Long fins from you.

Oldie but Goodie Tune, haven't heard it in years.
Thanks.

 

[coralbandit]

wow! nice fish and massive spawn! How's the dark gene going? any luck increasing the %.

This would be a 'massive spawn' ! Same dark pair I stole the eggs from that more then half have not survived my artificial rearing that I mentioned .



^ in the water ^

^ out of water ^
Now we will see how this works out ..
I am a man of my word ..They get to keep these ..
Adding alder cones to the tank ..

 

[Thedudeiam94]

What a HUGE mass of eggs! Hopefully this time they can get it right! That would be a huge batch of fry!!

 

[86 ssinit]

Great thread! Great looking rams. Do you ever get black faced golds or gold faced blacks?

 

[ProudPapa]

There's a guy that posts on craigslist occasionally that I've been meaning to get in touch with. He's only about 20 miles from where I work. The picture below is in his latest ad (listing removed). Are those dark rams, or something else?

 

[chromedome52]

JettsPapa , those are Green Terrors. They get large, and can be quite ornery.

 

[ProudPapa]

JettsPapa , those are Green Terrors. They get large, and can be quite ornery.

Thanks. I'm not really into cichlids (at least not yet), but I need to stop by and visit with him anyway.

 

[86 ssinit]

I think those are Dempsey’s maybe electric blue.
Chrome dome is right green terrors.

 

[coralbandit]

What a HUGE mass of eggs! Hopefully this time they can get it right! That would be a huge batch of fry!!

These parents are so calm it is unreal .They sat there and let me hold the eggs for pics , she is in one where they are in the water you can't see her ! Then they let me change a little water with a polite thank you ? These fish blow my mind .

Great thread! Great looking rams. Do you ever get black faced golds or gold faced blacks?

So far all my golds are from the darkest black rams .I never bought one gold ram and had any luck with them. The on 9/11 2018 I think I got my first dark blacks and a couple golds from my own breeding ! I was told they are used by the IsraelI breeder as a blank slate . So far breeding gold with black just gets 50/50 no real color variation like my black headed EBR ? A black headed gold or vice a versa would be cool ..

chromedome52 got you papa

Now as far as how many ? Long run if I get 25% of those eggs I will be very pleased ! That would be 100 rams or so either dark or gold I think ..
50 darks would nice ..
These guys are just one pair out of too many ! I got 5 parents with fry/juvies and 5 tanks of fry no parents ! That's 10 sets of fry so even 50 from each would add up ?
Almost all done for the season but the water changes !!! Just kidding ,I have no control .Given time I will play with fish all day ![/QUOTE]

 

[coralbandit]

Thanks. I'm not really into cichlids (at least not yet), but I need to stop by and visit with him anyway.

I agree 100% . Even if you didn't want any of the fish he keeps or breeds I love seeing other peoples fish rooms and chance are if you said " Oh I was looking for X" he would no some one with them .
Meet as many people as you can ,why I went to the auction ..You never know ...

 

[Thedudeiam94]

I agree 100% . Even if you did wan any of the fish he keeps or breeds I love seeing other peoples fish rooms and chance are if you said " Oh I was looking for X" he would no some one with them .
Meet as many people as you can ,why I went to the auction ..You never know ...

Some of the best advice you can receive right here!

 

[Dunk2]

Maybe this combo will work out ? Not the same pair at all but a hope of long fin could be here ? You don't have to be in Israel to use golds to get blacks ! Fins crossed .

Sure helps to have a back up plan or several tries at the same one !

Simply awesome!

 

[jake37]

...deleted....

 

[Dart]

Lovely dark rams! Yours are gorgeous coralbandit . I can never keep them so I'll just live vicariously through you, and pine after your white swordtails!!

 

[Dunk2]

Lovely dark rams! Yours are gorgeous coralbandit . I can never keep them so I'll just live vicariously through you, and pine after your white swordtails!!

Dart

The GBRs raised by coralbandit ain’t bad either!

 

[coralbandit]

So the eggs from the two darks are in this video so it might as well get posted here ?
I said I had a few fry right ?

 

[jake37]

How long till you know their colour? Also in the middle tank you left the parents with the frys ?

 

[coralbandit]

How long till you know their colour? Also in the middle tank you left the parents with the frys ?

With the dark rams I will know in first week or two of free swimming .Those batches still come out 50/50 gold and dark so it shows pretty easily .
Several of the tanks have the parents with fry .My pairs seem to be doing very well this year so until I want to separate fry or breed the parents I have been letting them stay together. Just like artificial hatching I have found that fry completely raised by parents can be separated very young like first week free swimming without issue .
I do like most think that fry raised with parents grow faster the first month if you can manage it .
Watching the fry with parents is way more fun and cool for sure ..
I hope I make this look easy ! This is where I am at after 7 years of playing with these fish .
I have put fourth GREAT effort the last 5 years ,there is no part of this that is easy for me but the fish have trained me and I have no real life so ?

 

[jake37]

Thanks. Yea I would prefer to have my fishes raise the fry - i'm not actually breeding anything at the moment. Well I have a gazillion guppies and the angels lay eggs on a regular basis but I don't want angel frys.
-
Did it actually take 7 years to learn how to get the process down pack or was a year or two sufficient for most of the details. I really like rams but i'd like them to breed enough to be self sustaining given that they are not a long lived fishes like clowns or angels.

 

[coralbandit]

Did it actually take 7 years to learn how to get the process down pack or was a year or two sufficient for most of the details. I really like rams but i'd like them to breed enough to be self sustaining given that they are not a long lived fishes like clowns or angels.

I have been raising and sell rams for 5 years with good success and a better measure of luck ..
Without being able to breed most any fish easily I would not think this is a fish for most to breed with high hopes ?
On the parents raising fry this was unheard of for me just 3 years ago .I was 100% artificial hatch the first 3-4 years with these fish ..
Their is a small group of decent keepers [all do the discus thing] that are trying to raise rams since they each have a pair that spawns ..
I think each of them is on their third or fourth try and the best they get so far is seeing wigglers.. They the parents are mostly eating the eggs ?
I think they will each have success some time soon but they have been trying for well over a month ..

 

[DeniseF]

Maybe this combo will work out ? Not the same pair at all but a hope of long fin could be here ? You don't have to be in Israel to use golds to get blacks ! Fins crossed .

Sure helps to have a back up plan or several tries at the same one !

I think you are right about the Long Fin, I think that would be my next breeding project, they are very flashy! The equivalent of the Arabian Horse in the fish world!

 

[coralbandit]

OK fry from the massive egg lay on 1/13 are those are special eggs ! And although I took and lost a lot of the eggs from this pair right before those fish are special also..The 1/13 fry are still in their 5 g tank . They have turned out to be STEP 3 in getting Pitch Black Rams locked in . The spawn has turned out to be only 25% gold instead of being 50/50 like all previous efforts [finally] .An article on the 'DoubleDark angel ' by Norton in the angelfish society site explains exactly where this spawn is ..One step away from being locked [I think ]?So this only took since 9/11/18 when I got my first darks and golds ..Moving 'quickly' I think without much to compare it to ?
So The oldest I hatched I separated the gold from pitch blacks . They seem to be even in growth although separated .
The PBR 12/29/19 taken today



And next door to them Black /GBR LF cross 12/22/19 [ just 2 months old today ]


So the 12/29 pitch blacks are hot ! They are the best I have seen at that age and I am seeing very similar results in the 5 gallon with the 1/13 fry with one exception … It seems in this group ,not separated the golds are larger ..Clearly IMO .
When I compare the size of the 1/13 pitch blacks they match up fine to BEX I have that are 1/17 so I really think the golds are growing faster ?
I will separate them ASAP to promote the pitch blacks ..
I have fry from Long Fin gold and black but no sign of LF black yet ...
All in all pretty pleased .. Happy Friday everyone !

 

[Rcslade124]

Love them they look great!!

 

[Thedudeiam94]

coralbandit whenever you get some long-fin black rams let me know!! Excited to see what comes of these next few batches!