Do ram cichlids need special conditions?

In my long aquarium career, I have tried to buy ram cichlids (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) several times. Each time I bought a pair of them. Every time ends up the same way: they live for a certain time without any problems during 5 - 6 months, they show no stress, no loss of appetite, no strange behavior, no decease. And then they both die in two weeks one by one. I bought both times small fishes (3 - 4 cm), so it should not be death of old age (I think).
I don't remember the water parameters of my previous aquarium (except the volume - 240 l or 60 gal), but in my current:
pH - about 7 - 7.5
hardness - 10
temperature - 25
volume - 240 l (60 gal)
NO3 - 0

I have a lot of plants in my current aquarium, and only a few small fishes, so it allows me to keep the water clean - no NO3 at all even if I don't change the water (but normally I vacuum the substrate and then add fresh water). Feeding - once a day with dry food. All other fishes usually live without any problem.
So what is the problem? Do ram cichlids need something special?

 

Maybe higher tenperatures. A lot of what i see when i google is closer to 28C-30C.

 

Agree, that temp is too cold for them, 80-84' is ideal. What other fish were in the tank? You're from across the pond, I have read some keepers have water issues, or it could just be inferior stock?
coralbandit is a "Ram Breeder" extraordinaire here, he may be able to help.

Good Luck!

 

I have seen a variety of recommendations for water parameters for Rams. Your water conditions seem appropriate with the possible exception of temperature. Some say your current temperature is suitable, others say you should run the tank on the warmer side as noted in the post above.

I am a little confused by your pH range of 7-7.5. Although the exact pH level is not all that important, the stability of pH is important. Are you testing with the wide range Tetra pH test kit that only provides color standards for each 0.5 pH unit? It uses a combination of indicators to cover the wide range, but in doing so, you lose accuracy. Since you are running slightly above neutral, I would suggest using a bromothymol blue based test such as the API pH test. You should not need the High Range test than uses meta-cresol purple.

 

Ram cichlids in general like higher temps, in the 80s. This could be the reason they are dying. If you want a cooler water Ram Cichlid you could get a Bolivian Ram, as they prefer temperatures of 74-78 degrees.

 

I have seen a variety of recommendations for water parameters for Rams. Your water conditions seem appropriate with the possible exception of temperature. Some say your current temperature is suitable, others say you should run the tank on the warmer side as noted in the post above.

I am a little confused by your pH range of 7-7.5. Although the exact pH level is not all that important, the stability of pH is important. Are you testing with the wide range Tetra pH test kit that only provides color standards for each 0.5 pH unit? It uses a combination of indicators to cover the wide range, but in doing so, you lose accuracy. Since you are running slightly above neutral, I would suggest using a bromothymol blue based test such as the API pH test. You should not need the High Range test than uses meta-cresol purple.

the reason he put 7-7.5 may be because it is so hard to distinguish between colors on the test kit.

 

Thank you all for the answers. It looks like I was not attentive enough when checked the conditions for ram cichlids before buying them. I have checked once again now. Different articles give different temperature ranges (BTW, Wikipedia, depending on language, has very different recommendations for the lowest temperature: from 22 in Russian to 27.5 in German :mad.

I am a little confused by your pH range of 7-7.5. Although the exact pH level is not all that important, the stability of pH is important. Are you testing with the wide range Tetra pH test kit that only provides color standards for each 0.5 pH unit?

Sorry, can't recall the precise value. I started my aquarium at the beginning of September 2019, bought cichlids at the end of September, and they had died in January. I have checked pH today, it was 7.5. I think it was more or less the same before.

 

Your experience is unfortunately not uncommon. My theory is that the many of them that come in from the large Asian fish farms often have some sort of genetic or immune issues. But some shops here in Australia can source Australian bred ones which are better. Perhaps you can find some European bred ones. I keep mine at a minimum of 27C. Also, they are not good candidates for newly established tanks.

 

the reason he put 7-7.5 may be because it is so hard to distinguish between colors on the test kit.

It sounds like you need a more accurate test kit.

 

Temperature is the single most important parameter for rams IMO .
82f plus . lower is slow death ..

 

Thank you all for the answers. It looks like I was not attentive enough when checked the conditions for ram cichlids before buying them. I have checked once again now. Different articles give different temperature ranges (BTW, Wikipedia, depending on language, has very different recommendations for the lowest temperature: from 22 in Russian to 27.5 in German :mad.
Sorry, can't recall the precise value. I started my aquarium at the beginning of September 2019, bought cichlids at the end of September, and they had died in January. I have checked pH today, it was 7.5. I think it was more or less the same before.

The German version of the article is the closest. PH should be a bit on the lower side, between 6 and 7. Most Rams you get here in our region (I'm about 100km from Luxembourg) come from either the Czech Rep or the Netherlands. The latter have proven slightly more durable than the Czech ones, but the prices are quite different. For these fish I would look for a local breeder, though. Higher quality than anything you find in the trade. The species is so massively overbred, it's hard to come by good quality in stores.

As I assume you speak German, for articles with somewhat consistent numbers: AQUARIUM GUIDE - Fische - Pflanzen - Wirbellose - Amphibien - Technik - Lexikon
They still give ranges, but most descriptions nail all important points.

Temperature is the single most important parameter for rams IMO .
82f plus . lower is slow death ..

If coralbandit doesn't know, nobody knows.

 

The German version of the article is the closest. PH should be a bit on the lower side, between 6 and 7. Most Rams you get here in our region (I'm about 100km from Luxembourg) come from either the Czech Rep or the Netherlands. The latter have proven slightly more durable than the Czech ones, but the prices are quite different. For these fish I would look for a local breeder, though. Higher quality than anything you find in the trade. The species is so massively overbred, it's hard to come by good quality in stores.

I never asked vendors about the origin of fishes. Actually, I know 4 stores in Luxembourg, and two of them are departments in hardware stores. Maybe I am wrong, but I wouldn't expect that vendors know much about the fish origin.

As I assume you speak German, for articles with somewhat consistent numbers: AQUARIUM GUIDE - Fische - Pflanzen - Wirbellose - Amphibien - Technik - Lexikon
They still give ranges, but most descriptions nail all important points.

Unfortunately no. I speak only Russian, English and French (and I am learning Luxembourgish, so, maybe one day I will learn German too - but not very soon). I have made a small investigation of what I can find about my fishes in those languages, and found, that in any language one can find a wide range of water parameters for any fish (and Russian articles systematically propose lower temperatures). I will try that site with google translate assistance, and I would appreciate it if someone can suggest anything in English.

 

I never asked vendors about the origin of fishes. Actually, I know 4 stores in Luxembourg, and two of them are departments in hardware stores. Maybe I am wrong, but I wouldn't expect that vendors know much about the fish origin.

They usually do, as wholesalers have to label the country of origin as per EU regulation. I had more than one chance to look into the retailer lists at different stores here. It's possible though that the employees you got to talk to were not the ones responsible for purchase, but at least the one in the department that orders the fish should know. Otherwise they definitely can ask the wholesaler.

Unfortunately no. I speak only Russian, English and French (and I am learning Luxembourgish, so, maybe one day I will learn German too - but not very soon). I have made a small investigation of what I can find about my fishes in those languages, and found, that in any language one can find a wide range of water parameters for any fish (and Russian articles systematically propose lower temperatures). I will try that site with google translate assistance, and I would appreciate it if someone can suggest anything in English.

Ah, I see. I mean, 9 out of 10 Luxembourgers speak German and you mentioned a german article, so I assumed this.
In that case: Seriouslyfish.com is one of the most consitently reliable sites I know in english.