Ram Cichlid
American Cichlids | Visited 1035 Times
Care should be taken with water qualities, as Rams are sensitive to water conditions and do not like changes in the chemical nature of their water. Best kept with similarly-sized fishes, Rams are non-aggressive Cichlids.
Rams are quite difficult to breed, and as for cichlids, they make suprisingly poor parents. A pair will form when both fishes are between 1.5 to 2 inches in length and will spawn in the open (on a flattened rock, on the gravel, or on a large leaf) between 80-200 eggs.
Often the pair simply disolves and one of the parents eats the eggs, or both seem to forget they have laid any eggs at all and another fish eats the unguarded eggs.
The eggs take 48–76 hours to hatch, after which time they take on a larval form in which the fry are no longer eggs, but they are unable to swim. A few days later, they start “hopping” and are after finally able to swim. All in all, this transition take 5–7 days.
HABITAT: Streams in Venezuela and Colombia.
Family: Cichlidae
Species: papiliochromis ramirezi
Size: 3 in (7.5 cm)
Diet: Omnivorous
Temperament: Schooling
TankConditions: 72-82°F; pH 6.5-7.5; dH 0-10