An ideal diet of Bolivian Ram should consist of the following items:
- Bloodworms (Frozen and live)
- Brine Shrimps (Frozen and live)
- White Worms (Frozen and live)
- Chopped Earthworms
- Cyclopeeze
- Daphnia
- Tubifex
- Blanched vegetables
What type of fish food should I be feeding Bolivian Rams?
What type of fish food should I be feeding Bolivian Rams? I feed mine high-quality tropical flake (Kensfish), cichlid flake (Kensfish), brine shrimp and bloodworms. They brine shrimp and the bloodworms are a bi-weekly treat. I also add some spiriluna flakes to the feeding twice a week.
How to care for Bolivian Rams?
You can complement a dry diet with chopped up earthworms, brine shrimp. We recommend feeding the fish multiple times throughout the day. They have hearty appetites! Keep the meals small. This avoids overfeeding and can prevent large quantities of food from affecting water conditions. Bolivian Rams are very peaceful fish.
What do you feed your Rams?
The Rams first off will not eat off the top of the water, so a good sinking food is adequate. The catfish wafers can be broken up, you can give them the cichlid pellets that eventually sink, or their favorite is frozen bloodworms.
How do you breed Bolivian Rams?
In my experience, the best way to bring Bolivian Rams into breeding condition is to feed them lots of live and frozen foods. I would go so far as to say, for the week or two leading up to spawning them, only feed your Bolivian Rams live or frozen foods.
What food do Bolivian Rams eat?
Bolivian Rams are omnivores. As such, they need a diet that is based on both animal and plant matter. Bolivian Rams will need to be fed a varied, balanced diet which includes a good quality flake or pellet food with the addition of some live or frozen foods such as bloodworms, daphnia, or mosquito larvae.
What do Bolivian Rams need?
The fish are sensitive to high nitrate levels. In addition to frequent water changes, your filter will work to keep those levels low. You also need to make sure that the filter doesn't create too much flow. Bolivian Ram Cichlids prefer light flow.
What do you feed ram fish?
In our experience, these cichlids are not very picky, so you can feed them just about any dry food from the pet store, like 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 adults.
How many Bolivian Rams should I keep together?
Bolivian rams are not necessarily schooling or shoaling fish. That said, they do best with a group of six to eight other Bolivian rams in the tank. For larger community tanks, you can keep Bolivian rams with other peaceful fish of similar size.
Do rams need sand?
In my experience, sand is the best substrate for blue rams. They spend most of their lives hovering near the bottom and digging around in the substrate in order to forage for food. Sand lets them dig around the way they would in the wild. You can use gravel or an aquatic plant soil substrate.
What do Bolivian Rams like in their tank?
A fine sand substrate and pebbles can be used at the bottom of your tank, but should not be too heavy a focus in your set up. It is best to have a well-planted tank yet with plenty of open space for swimming, as well as a few empty hiding places in, for example, rock and driftwood.
Will blue rams eat flakes?
As these fish are poor competitors for food, if they're kept in a community fish tank, it's important to feed the different fish separately. Sinking pellets should be provided for the German blue rams and floating flakes for the other fish.
Do rams eat shrimp?
Yes, German Blue Rams will eat any shrimp they can fit in their mouths. Adult Red Cherry Shrimp or Amano Shrimp may not be eaten, but babies and juveniles almost certainly will. To reduce the chances of German Blue Rams eating your shrimp, provide as many hiding places for the shrimp as possible.
What pH do rams like?
5.2 to 6.7Rams are highly sensitive to water quality, and should be kept at a pH of 5.2 to 6.7, with an optimal tank temperature of 80-81 Fahrenheit.
Can Bolivian ram live alone?
Bolivian rams are good to keep together in small groups. There is no right or wrong here, they do well both alone, in a pair, or in a group. If you want to breed them, get a group of 4-8 then let them pair off and separate the couples. Squabbles among the school are common and usually harmless.
Will Bolivian ram eat guppies?
rams won't eat guppies.
Do Bolivian Rams like caves?
Rams do not need caves in them same way as apistos and kribs do. The important thing with rams is that there is enough hiding places for them to feel calm and safe. It can however just as easy be dense plantation as it can be caves.
Do Bolivian Rams need to be kept in pairs?
Bolivian rams are good to keep together in small groups. There is no right or wrong here, they do well both alone, in a pair, or in a group. If you want to breed them, get a group of 4-8 then let them pair off and separate the couples. Squabbles among the school are common and usually harmless.
Do Bolivian Rams eat plants?
Bolivian rams are omnivores and mainly consume plant matter and small invertebrates in the wild. In their natural habitat, they feed by sifting through the substrate and you will often see a similar behavior in the home aquarium.
What pH do Bolivian Rams like?
from 6.5 to 7.5Aquarium Husbandry The pH can range from 6.5 to 7.5, the GH should be below 10, and the temperature around 25° to 28°C (77° to 82°F). These cichlids grow to around 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) in length, but you should use at least a 50-liter (15-gallon) tank for one adult pair.
Can rams eat bloodworms?
The Rams first off will not eat off the top of the water, so a good sinking food is adequate. The catfish wafers can be broken up, you can give them the cichlid pellets that eventually sink, or their favorite is frozen bloodworms. The bloodworms sink right away and they GOBBLE those things up!!
Can a ram eat flake food?
Yea flake food is not adequate for any member of the Cichlid family, they need more complex proteins as most are omnivore/carnivore, leaning towards carnivore. The Rams first off will not eat off the top of the water, so a good sinking food is adequate. The catfish wafers can be broken up, you can give them the cichlid pellets that eventually sink, or their favorite is frozen bloodworms. The bloodworms sink right away and they GOBBLE those things up!!
Bolivian Ram Water Parameters
Bolivian Rams do not need a huge tank, so as a minimum it is suggested to allow a 30 gallon tank for a single fish, with an extra 5-10 gallons per additional Ram. As well as keeping water clean and well oxygenated, it is important to also monitor nitrate levels and ensure they do not reach a toxic level for the fish.
Bolivian Ram Water pH
As Bolivian Ram like waters similar to their natural habitat, it is best to keep the water slightly acidic, with a pH between 6.0-7.5 being favorable.
Bolivian Ram Temperature
In general, for Bolivian Ram you should have the water at a temperature of 73.4- 78°F. If the aim is to stimulate spawning, you will want to raise this to 80.6 and 82.4°F.
Bolivian Ram Food & Diet
In-keeping with the fact that they are easy to take care of, Bolivian Ram are omnivorous and moreover undemanding. With a good appetite, these fish really will eat anything from frozen to live food. This means their diet can include all the likes of blood or white worm, brine shrimps, daphnia, tubifex, and artificial foods.
Bolivian Ram Tank Setup
To keep your Bolivian Rams as happy as possible, their tank should have plenty of organic matter to and food to feed on at the bottom, as well as a sandy, muddy base similar to how they would live in the wild. A fine sand substrate and pebbles can be used at the bottom of your tank, but should not be too heavy a focus in your set up.
Bolivian Ram Size
At a maximum, Bolivian Rams can reach up to 8cm (3.1inches), but usually males are more like 6cm (2.4 inches) long, and females a bit smaller at roughly 5-5.5cm (2 inches).
Bolivian Ram Tank Mates
The Bolivian Ram, being a community friendly fish, enjoys being in a group of 6-8 of its own kind, and is otherwise most compatible with schools of small sized Characidae species. These species are natural companions for Bolivian Rams in the wild and thus add a sense of security for them.
How big of a tank do Bolivian rams need?
Tank Size. The commonly recommended Bolivian Ram tank size is around 20 gallons for a small group of these fish. However, we recommend using a 30-gallon tank. These fish love to swim and will fair better with plenty of room to explore.
What is a Bolivian ram?
Bolivian Rams ( Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) are a beautiful addition to any community tank. While they are part of the Cichlid family, Bolivian Rams are far more peaceful than other Cichlid species. They’re a peaceful freshwater fish that can get along with others without any issues.
How to treat ich in fish?
You can treat Ich in several ways. Some aquarists like to increase the water temperature to about 86 degrees for a bit to see if the fish heal. If that doesn’t work, copper-based medicines are available as well. Ich is highly contagious, so it’s important to quarantine any sick fish that you see.
How big do Bolivian rams get?
The typical Bolivian Ram size is around 3 inches in length when fully grown. Males can get slightly larger and reach sizes of about 3.5 inches. On the other hand, female specimens usually don’t reach 3 inches at all. They often stay closer to 2.5 inches .
Do Bolivian rams have diseases?
Bolivian Rams are susceptible to diseases just like any fish . While they aren’t at risk for any major problems, you will have to deal with common ailments like Ich if you’re not careful.
Do Bolivian ram cichlids like light?
You also need to make sure that the filter doesn’t create too much flow. Bolivian Ram Cichlids prefer light flow. The same goes for lighting.
Is Bolivian Ram a good fish?
2 shares. The Bolivian Ram is an incredibly interesting freshwater fish that we can’t recommend enough. They’re beautiful, mellow, and easy to care for! For these reasons, this species has quite the avid following in the aquarium community. The fact that they’re fun to watch and approachable for beginners is a big draw.
Size and Length
The Bolivian Rams are smaller than other cichlids – you can expect you Ram to grow to 3.5 inches in length, which is about 9 cm, this is, in a lot of hobbyist’s opinions, the perfect size for a fish for both beginners and experts. Females tend to be a little smaller, growing to around 3 inches which is 7.5 cm.
Lifespan
These fish have a typical lifespan of anywhere between 4 to 7 years, however the lifespan of a fish is almost certainly dependent on the water quality, environment, and cleanliness of the tank they reside in.
Behavior and Temperament
These fish are not only awesome to look at, but they are incredibly social and highly intelligent, spending the majority of their time swimming around in open spaces, socializing with others of their kind even other fish species.
