The Ram Cichlid (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) is one of the most beautiful cichlids available in the aquarium hobby. The species has vibrant colors, is relatively peaceful and doesn’t need large tanks to live happily and healthily.
Below, check out a complete Ram Cichlid care guide. Learn about water parameters, food and feeding, appearance, behavior, tank mates, reproduction and aquarium setup.
Ram Cichlid – Care Guide
Technical Details
Name: Ram Cichlid, German Blue Ram, German Ram, Electric Blue Ram, Butterfly Cichlid, Golden Ram;
Scientific Name: Mikrogeophagus ramirezi (Myers & Harry, 1948);
Family: Cichlidae;
Species Origin: South America (Amazon and Orinoco river basin);
Length: Up to 1,3 inches;
Life Span: 3 years or more;
Care Level: Moderate – Difficult;
Water Parameters
pH: 5.0 – 6.0;
Water Hardness: Between 5 – 12;
Temperature: Must be kept between 27 – 30°C;
Distribution / Habitat
The Ram Cichlid is a fish native to South America and inhabits the Amazon and Orinoco rivers basins in Venezuela and Colombia. In nature, it’s found in shallow streams with sandy beds and abundant vegetation.
The species is also well adapted to blackwater and slow-flowing environments.
Description
The Ram Cichlid is a very colorful fish, having the head and body with yellowish, almost greenish colors, with the rest of it containing shades of blue and white. Some black lines run along its body with a prominent black dot in the middle of it. Generally, specimens captured in the wild have more visible lines than those bred in captivity.
His eyes are red and its fins are colored yellow or red with blue lines that are almost transparent. The dorsal fin of this fish is usually black. Females, however, have a pink belly and are slightly smaller than males.
The Ram Cichlid’s body shape is oval, with pointed fins.
Overall, the Ram Cichlid is known to be one of the best cichlids to keep in tanks, as they are peaceful and because they have a very striking coloration. In addition, if well cared for, it can live for up to 3 years without major problems.
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Foods and Feeding
Omnivorous. In nature, the Ram Cichlid feeds on small insects and invertebrates, as well as floating vegetable matter.
In an aquarium, he can become a little skittish, and because of this, he may refuse food at first. But, don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with that, he just needs time to get used to his surroundings. To convince him to eat, you can try feeding him some kind of live food, such as bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp.
Once it’s acclimatized, you can feed the Ramirezi two or even a maximum of five small portions of food per day. In addition, you can also offer a few small portions of live food daily.
Try adding some cooked vegetables to maintain a balance in your diet and, above all, always offer small portions to help maintain water quality for longer.
Temperament / Behavior
The Ram Cichlid has a very peaceful behavior, but may show some signs of aggression during mating periods.
Overall, he’s considered to be quite shy and withdrawn. But, like many other cichlids, it has territorial behavior and will spend most of time trying to attack conspecifics, avoiding the other fish tank mates.
Want to succeed in raising Ram Cichlid in an tank? So, try to create a couple only.
Tank Mates
The Ram Cichlid can get along with many other fish. However, your tank mates should be small and peaceful. Avoid any large fish as it can become a tasty meal for these species.
Below, check out some tank mates for the Ram Cichlid:
- Corydoras;
- Harlequin Rasbora;
- Zebra Danio;
- Golden Tetra;
- Honey Gourami;
- Galaxy Rasbora;
- Kuhli Loach;
- Dwarf Gourami;
- Bolivian Ram;
- Rummy-nose Tetra;
Sexual Differences
The male Ram Cichlid is usually a little bigger and has more elongated and pointed fins. The female, however, has reddish or orange tones on the belly.
Reproduction
Many hobbists successfully breed the Ram Cichlid, sometimes the process takes place without any human intervention.
You should set up a separate breeding tank to create the perfect environment. This will also help protect the fry from being eaten by any hungry tank mates.
So, set up the tank based on the fish’s ideal water parameters. However, breeding conditions are a bit more acidic, with a pH ranging between 5.8 and 6.0. The ideal environment to instigate spawning should contain rocks and plants in which the female can lay eggs.
To encourage fish to breed, add a pair to the tank and provide them with a nutritious, protein-rich diet. Some of the main foods you can provide include, for example, daphnia, brine shrimp and bloodworms.
If spawning doesn’t happen naturally, you can try to encourage it by gradually increasing the temperature by 1 – 2°C (Celsius) per day, until it reaches a maximum of 29°C.
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The pair will begin to follow each other around the tank and female will lay her eggs and the male will fertilize them shortly thereafter. The parents will tend to the eggs, taking turns guarding them until they hatch after about 60 hours, although the fry will take a few days to swim free.
Finally, the male will take care of the fry until they are big and strong enough to take care of themselves.
When the fry yolk sac disappears, you can feed them with microworms or infusoria. They will be able to eat brine shrimp nauplii when they are about a week old, although some experts say they can eat them as soon as they are hatched.
Watching the fry swim around the aquarium is really fun, as the male will always be catching the rebellious fry in his mouth and spitting them back to the main “group”.
Try to keep the water quality high while feeding the fry, changing about 10% every other day. The fry are sensitive to water changes, so 10% changes are acceptable.
In a maximum of 3 weeks, the male will stop caring for the fry and can be removed from the breeding tank. At this point, you can perform water changes of up to 50% to get the best results for their growth.
Aquarium Setup
The fish tank for a Ram Cichlid couple needs to be at least 20 gallons (75 litros).
The Ram Cichlid is in the fish category that are a little difficult to breed, as they are very sensitive to water parameters (especially high Nitrate levels), so it’s not advisable to place this fish in tank that have just been Cycled.
You should perform frequent partial water changes, at least once a week – replacing between 10 – 20% of it. If you have an environment with other fish, you may need to increase the percentage a little more.
If water quality is ignored, for example, you’ll have big problems keeping your Ram Cichlid healthy. Therefore, when performing partial water changes, make sure you are using a good conditioner and that the water temperature is the same as the main aquarium.
In addition to the many common diseases related to poor management and oxygenation of water such as, for example, Ich, the Ramirezi is particularly susceptible to Tuberculosis.
References
FishLore. Aquarium Fish Information. Disponível em: https://www.fishlore.com/freshwaterfish.htm. Acesso em 16 de abr. De 2019;
Kullander, S.O., 2003. Cichlidae (Cichlids). p. 605-654. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil. (Ref. 36377);
“Blue Ram (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi)”, Aquarium Life. Referenced online, 2007;
Glen S. Axelrod, Brian M. Scott, Neal Pronek, Encyclopedia Of Exotic Tropical Fishes For Freshwater Aquariums, TFH Publications, 2005;
