German Blue Rams And Light

I have two German Blue Rams and have some questions about them!
1) How long does it take for a pair to become an actual pair?
2) Do they Color up with age? Or are they suppose to have color right from get go?
3) Do they swim up and down the the tank? Mine swim up to top and back down and one was glass surfing. Is that normal?
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Also, I am very interested in buying a new light for the 20 gallon and want it to make their colors pop! Problem is, what light do I go with?
I want the Current USA LED lights plus, but it cost $58.48. It was $63 a while ago and the price keeps on dropping but there is only 4 left and that might be why bc they want to get rid of them. But then there is the Nicrew RGB LED Aquarium Light. It's $35.99 and has multI colors too. There's also this option, a COODIA Aquarium Light. It's $38.99.
Which light is best based off features, not based off of plants bc it will be low light plants?
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I would get the current light. Lots out there about them. Great for low light situations

The rams are stressed. Is this a new tank? Cycled? How warm is your water?

 

I would get the current light. Lots out there about them. Great for low light situations

The rams are stressed. Is this a new tank? Cycled? How warm is your water?

Okay! Thanks and am liking that one too(but not the price)!

The Rams looked this way in the store but the tank is fairly new and Ik ppl advised not to add them but I did. It is cycled though and parameters came back to :
Ammonia: between 0 and .25
Nitrites : 0
Nitrates: 5
The temp is set to 79 but should I bump it up to 82??? Will that make them feel better? Also, maybe I'll add more plants to help them!

 

Warmer is much better. 82-85 is about what you want. Keep changing water to manage nitrogen, feed them well, give them some cover and watch them blossom

 

yes I agree, last year I started out at 78-79F and eventually bumped it up to 83-84F. the rams prefer the warmer temp. the difference in behavior and coloration is obvious. they also prefer the lower pH range. I keep my rams at 5.5 pH

as far as pairing up goes. my rams have paired up almost immediately from being introduced to one another doing their mating dance. they spawned for me within a week to a month of being together, now I get a new batch of fry every 3 to 4 weeks.

 

yes I agree, last year I started out at 78-79F and eventually bumped it up to 83-84F. the rams prefer the warmer temp. the difference in behavior and coloration is obvious. they also prefer the lower pH range. I keep my rams at 5.5 pH

as far as pairing up goes. my rams have paired up almost immediately from being introduced to one another doing their mating dance. they spawned for me within a week to a month of being together, now I get a new batch of fry every 3 to 4 weeks.

I have it at 81-82 rn and hope that helps them! My ph is pretty high but haven't tested it. Should that really affect them? I thought as long as they have stable ph it will be fine.
What's the dance look like? is it glass surfing bc one keeps swimming around in circles and up and down the tank glass! Do they eat their fry?

 

Glass surfing in a cichlid is no beuno.

Ph should not be an issue unless it is extreme


They shake and shimmy next to one another

They will eat fry

 

Glass surfing in a cichlid is no beuno.

Ph should not be an issue unless it is extreme


They shake and shimmy next to one another

They will eat fry

The male keeps on swimming a lot and rn as I type, they are swimming against each other and the male kinda nipped her.
They swim to top of tank and then back down. It's not horizontal whatsoever... I don't k Len if I should be concerned or not.

Would they handle a 3 gallon change? It's a 20 gallon.

 

Match temp as close as you can. Change water relentlessly until they settle, then at least once per week at 50% is what I would do. What are you feeding?

 

Match temp as close as you can. Change water relentlessly until they settle, then at least once per week at 50% is what I would do. What are you feeding?

So do water change tomorrow and then the next day and the next until they start to pop in color and then from there just one per week change?
I'm feeding them Omega color flakes. I think that's the name!

 

Does the glass surfing only start when you're near the tank? My gbr female does the exact same, but it's because she sees me and wants food when I'm not close by she returns to doing normal fish things.

 

I am no expert. But my grb love frozen brine shrimp...
I would match lighting to suit plants. Will also look great for fish.

 

Does the glass surfing only start when you're near the tank? My gbr female does the exact same, but it's because she sees me and wants food when I'm not close by she returns to doing normal fish things.

Not really. It was just yesterday morning he was doing it. None of them have done it Lately yet so ...

The females stomach is starting to develop more pink to it ! That's good right!? Bc that's her natural color!

When mating, is it the male who tries to attract the female by "dancing"??? Bc my Male does the dancing.

 

How long have they been in the tank now? If they are new they some lack of colour is to be expected (from moving stress) but should probably start returning to normal within a few days to a week. I also find with age they do become more colourful

 

How long have they been in the tank now? If they are new they some lack of colour is to be expected (from moving stress) but should probably start returning to normal within a few days to a week. I also find with age they do become more colourful

I got them Thursday night and they seem very young bc they are small and not as bright! You could see tinsels of blue in them and pink but it's not overwhelming! I plan on doing a 15% water change today to get rid of any ammonia in there currently, and in the process, hope to bring out more colors!

 

A pink belly means love might be in the air

The dancing is part of the courting.

If these guys are first and foremost they generally do well.

They will really like brine shrimp, blood worms, white worms. Etc. Remember they are micro geophagus. They prefer to eat from the substrate. Enjoy!! A good pair of rams is fun

 

If they are good specimens, they colour up some more then. This was my male about a week after I got him. He has grown a small amount in size since then (about 3 or 4 months I think) I also think his colour is more pronounced now, not incredibly, but a bit I think the main issue is I recently obtained electric blue rams, which really trump the EBR colour wise in my opinion, though of course I do still love him and think he's beautiful <3

 

A pink belly means love might be in the air

The dancing is part of the courting.

If these guys are first and foremost they generally do well.

They will really like brine shrimp, blood worms, white worms. Etc. Remember they are micro geophagus. They prefer to eat from the substrate. Enjoy!! A good pair of rams is fun

They wouldn't be in love if there wasn't good water right?

What do you mean "first and foremost" ?

Do you think pellets would be better for them???

View attachment 363731
If they are good specimens, they colour up some more then. This was my male about a week after I got him. He has grown a small amount in size since then (about 3 or 4 months I think) I also think his colour is more pronounced now, not incredibly, but a bit I think the main issue is I recently obtained electric blue rams, which really trump the EBR colour wise in my opinion, though of course I do still love him and think he's beautiful <3

Did he start that color? Mine were not very colorful to begin with and I thought it just had to do with them being young and stressed bc there was like 20 rams in a 10 gallon tank! Your ram is beautiful! I guess that means I have to buy electric blue rams for my next tank

 

They wouldn't be in love if there wasn't good water right?

What do you mean "first and foremost" ?

Do you think pellets would be better for them???

I feed pellets, spirolena, brine shrimp and earthworm and then frozen bloodworms and mysis shrimp

By first and foremost I mean everything revolves around the ram, like with discus, or any other sensitive fish.

They will breed in harder water. Most of these fish are a long way from the amazon

As long as nitrates stay below 10ppm and they get good water changes they should settle in well. If in doubt, change water

 

I feed pellets, spirolena, brine shrimp and earthworm and then frozen bloodworms and mysis shrimp

By first and foremost I mean everything revolves around the ram, like with discus, or any other sensitive fish.

They will breed in harder water. Most of these fish are a long way from the amazon

As long as nitrates stay below 10ppm and they get good water changes they should settle in well. If in doubt, change water

I'm gonna give it a day tomorrow and then Tuesday maybe change water again and we'll see from there! Will they switch from flakes to pellets? I'm scared they'll eat the flakes and then the guppies won't get their food and the rams will get both flakes and pellets!
I feel they are lighting up as time passes!

 

Either way is ok. Just don’t over feed. Better to feed them 2-3 small meals than to give them more than they will eat is a couple of minutes

 

I feed mine a variety of things and I feel like it works best for my whole tank as everyone gets something they like and the different nutrients they need

When I first got them home they had basically no colour at all in the bag. The colours started returning almost immediately once in the tank (also due to lighting)

I don't think the pink belly means "love is in the air" the females usually have a pink colouring of their stomachs, though it may intensify during breeding.

 

Could tannins diminish their color??? My tank has driftwood and it is still leaking tannins bc yesterday the water was brownish when it came out!

Also, light does suck and I mm trying to find a good, economical light!

Has anyone had experience with LED Strip lights? Somebody on here suggested it to me but I want to see if anyone else has it and how they like it! Also, does there's stay one color or could you change it with a remote?

 

Tannins in the water will make it harder to see the fishes colour, and unfortunately the wood will leak for months if it was not properly boiled in the beginning

 

Tannins in the water will make it harder to see the fishes colour, and unfortunately the wood will leak for months if it was not properly boiled in the beginning

It was boiled in the beginning for over two hours! Hopefully, with each water change, it will make water more clear!
I can see specs do Blue coming from their fins and maybe it's not coming through with the tannins? Also, I want to add plants bc maybe they don't fee covered enough and aren't wanting to show colors if they cannot hide!

 

Yes I do think a planted tank looks better and more natural and is good for the fish most people leave their wood in a container of water for around a month, boiling it in between... tannins can be stubborn
I made the mistake of putting mine straight in to the tank when I first started, and it took about a month to get the tannins out with water changes, but yes they will go eventually

 

I found this night light sitting around and thought I'd see why it would look like for tank:





This was LE


With bulb, you could definitely see tannins!
Led, you can't or the light sucks that bad you don't see it anyway!
Which one do y'all think is better???

 

Well light A looks warmer, light be makes things look quite clean and crisp. I'd prefer A personally as it just gives off more light it seems

 

Well light A looks warmer, light be makes things look quite clean and crisp. I'd prefer A personally as it just gives off more light it seems

I think the first light makes things brighter, while light b makes thing as you said clean and crisp. I think it's not as clean bc the tannins... hopefully they'll go away! Or else I'll have to take out the wood!

Update on Rams and tank:
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Temp: 80 F
Changed light to desk light for now, seems more light but not a white light, but could also be tannins from wood.
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