[laeclaserind]

I know I'm not supposed to post duplicate questions, but I fear my fish is getting worse and in hopes of getting a quicker answer I'm going to break the rules. My female ram cichlid has lost basically all of her color except for a faint blue shimmer and a patchy black line along her sides. My male has been chasing her a little bit (not excessively) and I'm trying to determine if she has a disease, or if there is some other reason for her color loss (breeding??)

 

[aunt kymmie]

I wish I could be of some help but I don't know the answer to your question. Hopefully someone who knows will chime in.

Not that this helps but I have three rams and the smallest one of the three will occasionally "gray out". When this first happened I was worried that the fish was ill. After a few days the color was back. I have no idea who is male/female but I think that may have something to do with it. Either that or a territory issue. :-?

 

[laeclaserind]

my female has gotten her color back for the most part. I think i just overreacted, as I haven't owned them for very long. btw, I tell mine apart by the colors, the male has really developed colors everywhere, deep reds and blues, and a thick black spot with a blue ring on both sides, the female is really washy and, except for a little bit of a blue shimmer, doesn't have much color

 

[aspects]

german blue?

 

[1077]

German blue rams are a rather difficult fish to keep healthy in the long term. I attribute this to poor breeding practices by those who import them and those who try to keep this little fish in unsuitable water conditions. They much preferr Ph values of 7.0 or lower and require water temps in low to mid eighties. They are also intolerant of high levels of nitrates and nitrates should be below 20 which can be accomplished with small regular water changes. I have attempted to keep many of these little fish and the longest lived ,,seemed to be tank bred specimens if you can find them. Also the gold balloon variety or angel veil as they are sometimes called,, appear to be somewhat hardier along with those that come from germany as opposed to fish farms in the east. Some say these fish farm fish are raised in veritable soups of anti- biotics and when removed from this soup for shipping, they begin to deteriorate. Add to this the stress from shipping and acclimation to dealer or fish store tanks and then to your tank or mine,, and many succumb. There are also those who ship tired old breeders to the states from these fish farms .Other breeders inject dyes and or hormones to get small fish to display the colors that these little fish are noted for.Very young specimens don't color up for four to six months or longer and are rather drab looking until then. These little fish sadly are rather short lived with three years being perhaps their life expectancy in favorable conditions. I have learned the hard way that this fish is NOT one that adapts to water parameters different than those afore mentioned and thrives. But inch for inch They have more personality than just about any fish that swims.

 

[laeclaserind]

My rams are german blue rams, they are tank bred. Today she seems to be doing okay, her color is still kind of faded, the male is acting kind of territorial so I think they might be getting ready to mate (not sure as I don't have much experience with these fish). The male has never been aggressive before and I've had them for about 4 weeks. Anybody know how they act when they mate??