Care Level: Moderate

Temperament: Peaceful

Live Plant Safe: Yes

General Description: The German Blue Ram is native to the Orinoco River basin in Los llanos of Venezuela and Colombia, however aquacultured rams are readily available from Asia. Both male and female German blue rams are flamboyantly colored, with a yellow-green body decorated with blue spots, a red patch on the belly and black at the front edge of the dorsal fin that gives it a “punk” look. Sexing male from female can be challenging at times, but male German blue rams have a solid black spot (the female’s black spot will have a ring of blue speckles around it), the second ray of the dorsal fin will be much more pronounced and taller, and the dorsal and anal fins will have a more pointed edge. Even though German blue rams are cichlids, they are very peaceful (with the exception of territoriality during spawning) and are popular choices for planted and community aquariums. Either one German blue ram, or a male – female pair, is recommended per aquarium. An adult German blue ram can reach a size of approximately 3″.

Diet Requirements: German blue rams are omnivores. A diet made up of various high quality vegetable based and protein based flake foods, sinking pellet foods and frozen foods such as bloodworms, spirulina brine shrimp, daphnia or other mixed freshwater preparations are ideal. Variety is the spice of life in order to maintain color, immune function and longevity of your fish.

Care Requirements: An extremely established minimum 20 to 30 gallon aquarium is ideal for a pair of German blue rams. German blue rams can be successfully kept in smaller aquariums, but this should only be attempted by the dedicated aquarist who can handle the difficulty of maintaining superb water parameters in less water volume. German blue rams are intolerable of nitrite or ammonia spikes. Weekly water changes are encouraged to keep water parameters up to standard (Nitrates < 15 ppm). The aquarium should be aquascaped generously with rocks and other furnishings to create many hiding spaces. Few hiding spaces could result in your German blue ram acting more aggressively toward tank mates. German blue rams thrive especially well in dense live planted aquariums. Given their temperament, German blue rams rarely conflict with tank mates and are best kept with peaceful species, such as tetras, danios and rasboras. Other semi-aggressive bottom dwelling species and dwarf cichlids, such as apistogrammas, should be avoided. Recommended water conditions, 78-82° F, KH 5-12, pH 5.0-7.0.

Purchase Size: Small: 3/4” to 1”, Medium: 1-1/4” to 1-1/2”

Note: Your item may not look identical to the image provided due to variation within species. Purchase sizes are approximate.