Re: I've got baby blue rams!

[Paul Evans <pm_evans@yahoo.com>]

Congratulations on the fry!

---Tim Ellis <timellis@flash.net> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> 
> As you could have guessed my blue rams spawned and now there is a
cloud
> of fry. 

I was going to wait a while before posing this 
question but list traffic has been light lately 
so I figured that I might get more than the usual
amount of help.

I have always liked Rams.  In fact they 
rekindled my interest in the hobby a few years
ago when I saw some beautiful rams in a fish 
store.  Until this past Saturday, I have never
owned any.  

I have seen many rams in various LFS's be they 
always look sickly or highly selectively bred,
usually both.  This tank of them was different,
the fish were small, about 2-3cm.  There were
about 20 in a 60gallon tank.  They were defending
territories and chasing each other around rather
than sitting on the bottom with their fins clamped.
The manager confirmed my suspicions; they were 
from a small local breeder.

I picked up two that looked like a pair.  They were
digging in the sand together and defending a 
territory together.  One's black lateral spot was
rather indistinct and the whole side including 
the black spot was covered with blue sheen/flecks.
The other was more aggressive about defending the
territory and had a distinct black spot although 
on one side had three blue flecks that extend some
what in to the spot.  I figured this was the male
although "he" did (and still does) have a bit of red to his belly.  

I got them home and placed them in a lightly populated
45gallon tank.  They stay pretty close together 
and, rarely, the one that I assumed to be the female
chases the one I assumed to be the male.  Mostly, there
is peace.  Most puzzling is that since they have 
been in my tank, the one that I assumed to be female's
lateral spot has become quite distinct and the blue
on the lateral spot region that was evident in the
pet store is no longer visible.  Further, "she"
does not (and never did) have any red to her belly.

So my question(s) are this, do I have a pair?  Were
my presumed sexes right or wrong?  Or is it too 
early to tell?  If I have two of the same sex
would they stay so close together?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Paul Evans  
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