# Getting German Blue Rams Tomorrow



## Xox-Zip-xoX (Aug 14, 2010)

Well, after a lot of thought, I've decided to add some blue rams to my 55 gallon. I'm going in to pick the little guys up tomorrow night and I'm quite excited. That being said, I have a few questions before I go in to pick them up, the first being, how many, and what male to female ratio would be best? I was initially thinking a trio, or male and a female pair.

Second question, the fish are fairly young looking, under an inch in size, would I still be able to sex them using the dorsal rays, and rounded vs pointy fins? or would I have to wait for them to mature a bit more before sexing?


Normally I would have had all of these things figured out long before going in to purchase them, but Blue Rams are incredibly hard to find in my area, this is the first time I've ever seen them here so I'm jumping at the chance to grab them while I still can


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

buy 5 or 6...they will hang together when young..a 55 will give them a little room to spread out...i have 5 adults in a 10 gallon and they are doing just fine together..


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## Xox-Zip-xoX (Aug 14, 2010)

Thanks! It's not so much aggression that I'm concerned about, I just don't want them feeling overwhelmed in such a large tank with bigger fish.
Is a school of 5-6 necessary, or can they live happily in smaller groups? At $6.99 a fish I'd prefer to get a smaller group, but can make room in my budget for more if necessary lol.

Gah! starting to think I should have done more thorough research on these guys, but it seems that there's a lot of contradictory information on GBR's out there, insight from someone who's had first hand experience with them is appreciated.

Oh! I also have a question about colouration. Around what age do they begin developing brighter colours? The ones at my LFS were pretty dull looking, not sure if it's due to age or stress, or if they're just poorly coloured stock in general. They're beautiful little fish either way, I just figured I'd ask out of curiosity. I'm kinda new to cichlids, and only really have experience with Blood Parrots and Convicts.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

they do not have to be in groups..you could do fine with 2 or 3..i keep forgetting that i usually buy with future breeding in mind , so i buy in numbers to ensure getting a pair...
give them a home with lots of plants and driftwood and hideouts...
fish are often washed out in shops..they should be developing colors very soon though.. especially when given a nice cozy permanent home..


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