The Electric Blue Ram is the latest colour morph of the Common Ram. They are members of the dwarf cichlid family. They originate from Venezuela, Colombia & Brazil and are farm bred. Rams are found in heavily vegetated streams, rivers & flooded forests in the wild and with these fussy little fish, as much as possible should be done to mimic their wild habitat.
Tank Requirements
- Cautious Community
- Temperatures between 22°C and 30°C
- Water between pH 5.0 and pH 7.2
- Lots of hiding spaces
- Lots of live plants & driftwood are preferred
- Minimum of 30 gallons (136 litres) per pair
- They do better in an established with stable parameters
- Kept as a single pair in the tank
Temperament wise, these fish can be semi-aggressive. If you end up with two of the same sex rather than a pair, you should expect them to beat each other up. When you do get a pair, they have been known to defend their own patch in the tank and beat their tank mates up. Having said that I personally have not experienced any aggression with my pair.
They are fussy fish. They are slow eaters & will not always be first to the food, caution should be taken when picking their tank mates for this reason. They prefer slower moving fish to live with, but you will successfully keep them in a community tank so long as you have stable water parameters & lots and lots of hiding spaces in the tank.
They prefer a mature tank with stable water parameters and a heavily planted tank. Many new hobbyists have tried to keep these attractive little fish and failed purely because they do not have the stability of an established tank. They do require good water parameters and prefer a slightly warmer tank.
Feeding
- These are omnivores
- They are slow eaters and will not always fight for their fair share of the food
- A mixed diet of flakes, pellets, live & frozen food is appreciated
Male & Female Electric Blue Ram
Size: Maximum length 6.5cm
Colour: Pearly white which in certain lights will look electric blue. The top of their heads are yellow and they often have red eyes.
Sexing: Telling the difference between the males and females is difficult if they are not an established pair. The males tend to have a slightly longer dorsal fin.
Personal Review
My Electric Blue Rams are hands down my favourites in my tank. Not only are they the most amazing colour, but they interact with me more than any of the fish in my aquarium. I try to avoid putting my hands in the tank, but when I do have to go in these little fish are always there poking their nose where it’s not needed (I will add, they have never bitten me or tried to, they just like be close to your hands and scavenge any goodies you stir up). When I go to the tank, they are the first to come and see me, they enjoy following your finger around the glass.
With the other fish, they have shown no signs of aggression. They keep themselves to themselves and honestly are more interested in spending time with me than the other fish. They spend some of their time chilling around their cave, the rest is spent picking things off of the live plants. They are particularly fond of the moss balls I have.
I was very sceptical about getting them as everything I read said they could be territorial and that they were hard to keep, I can honestly say mine are no trouble. Weekly water changes, good varied feed, lots of hiding places and you are good to go. I wouldn’t put anyone with an established tank off of having a pair of these beautiful fish.
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