John Rundle explains how to breed the popular dwarf cichlid, the blue ram.
When visiting a new fish shop, a tank of fish that were shining like brightly coloured butterflies caught my attention. Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, commonly known as the blue ram or butterfly cichlid, comes from Venezuela and Colombia. They are a dwarf cichlid, reaching around 5cm (2") and are an instant hit with all aquarists. However, they don't fare too well in a standard community tank.
Despite their requirements for high temperatures and softer water, they remain incredibly popular. Mikrogeophagus ramirezi first entered the hobby in about 1948. Since then, breeding them has become far easier, and commercial farms produce the vast majority of the fish we see in stores today. A variety of body and fin shapes, and colours variants, are now available in the hobby.
So, clearly breeding this fish is possible in captivity, but how can we hobbyists do it at home? Below I outline my methods to guide you through the process.
All photos by Shutterstock unless otherwise stated
Introducing the blue ram
The wild Mikrogeophagus ramirezi originate from the Rio Orinoco drainage. You may see them as German blue rams, but this name actually refers to a captive strain from Germany. They were selected for vibrant colours and a hardy, more robust nature.
Wild rams are hard to come by, but if you find some they are well worth dedicating a tank to. Perhaps, you could create a display inspired by the flooded grasslands they often move into during the wet season. That would be an incredible sight.
Instead, however, you are far more likely to see one of the other selectively bred strains. This includes: gold rams, electric blue rams, black rams, long fin rams and balloon rams. Personally, the more traditional ram remains my favourite, although captive strains are still more colourful than their wild ancestors.
Related article: The essential guide to the Apistogramma dwarf cichlids.
Fact file
Scientific name: Mikrogeophagus ramirezi
Size: Up to 5cm (2”).
Origin: Native to the Orinoco River basin in Colombia and Venezuela, South America.
Habitat: They live in slow moving or still waters over soft substrates. Both botanicals and aquatic plants can be present in their natural habitats.
Tank size: 60x30x30cm (24x12x12”)
Water requirements: Soft and acidic is best, although neutral pH can work. Aim for a pH between 5 and 7 and less than 6°H for captive bred fish.
Temperature: 26-30°C (77-86°F)
Temperament: Fairly peaceful as cichlids go, but will become territorial when breeding. Suitable for a carefully planned community aquarium housing small fishes, like tetras, that require similar water parameters.
Feeding: In captivity they are usually unfussy, accepting all the common offerings. A varied diet including sinking granules and frozen foods like Daphnia, bloodworm and mosquito larvae will work well. Live foods can help to condition pairs.
Availability & cost: Common and seen in most stores. Prices vary depending on the quality and size of the fish, but prices tend to start at around £7 per fish.
Related article: Can I mix dwarf cichlids?
Sexing blue rams
In mature fish, telling male and female blue rams apart is fairly easy. Female rams are smaller than the males and the second ray of the dorsal fin is shorter. The male dorsal ray extensions (third and fourth rays) are longer than the female's.
When in breeding condition, the female's belly area will be a brilliant red-pink in normal coloured fish. If you are lucky to find mature fish for sale, this will be a quick way to spot potential pairs. The female with the brightest colour will usually have a male staying fairly close to one another.
Male front, female behind
With juveniles, opt for a group that you think are a good mix of genders and allow them to pair naturally. This is what I opted to do when attempting to breed this beautiful species.
Ideal breeding conditions
Aquarium literature tells us that rams need water that is acidic and soft. This is certainly best if you have wild stock. However, fish from farms will do well in water with a neutral pH of 7 and moderately soft water, up to 6°H.
However, it will not do well in hard water. In my case I have tap water that is neutral pH and incredibly soft, which is ideal for keeping rams.
If you live in a hardwater area, consider using RO water instead. This water has been filtered to remove the majority of the dissolved salts, leaving you with soft, almost pure, water. You can often buy it from your local fish store fairly cheaply.
Related article: Understanding water hardness.
Mikrogeophagus ramirezi must have rather warm water though, even captive specimens. Aim to keep your tank at 27°C (81°F), or slightly higher, for spawning. Temperatures as low as 25°C (77°F) can work for just housing them, but this is the absolute minimum.
Conditioning a pair of rams
I used a 76x30x30cm (30x12x12") tank for my group of five rams, along with six rosy tetras. I decorated the tank with groups of Java fern and small clay plant pots laid on their sides to provide shelter.
I set the heater's thermostat to 26°C (77°F) and filtration was a homemade gravel filter. A small internal or air driven sponge filter would have also worked.
I fed the fish a diet of dry foods, frozen bloodworm and live foods such as grindal worm and white worm. On this varied diet I hoped they would grow well and come into breeding condition.
I didn't have long to wait... One morning I went to feed the fish and noticed something was going on. A male and female ram were being abnormally active over the top of one of the plant pots at one end of the tank. All the other fish, including the tetras, were at the opposite end of the tank, well away from the rams.
On closer inspection I could see the male guarding a large batch of amber coloured eggs. I decided to leave the situation as it was and allow the pair to guard their eggs. They did brilliantly and within eight days there was a large brood of about 200 tiny free swimming fry. The proud parents continued to work hard to keep the other tank mates at bay.
Rams can become unsure and panic if disturbed and when this happens they often eat their young. Unfortunately, that's what happened in this case. I think they felt insecure with the other fish in the tank and devoured the fry – I know because I watched them do it.
Photo by Matt Hayes
Breeding rams - attempt number two
My next move was to set up a 60x25x25cm (24x10x10") tank with a layer of aquarium gravel. Plants such as Java fern and Java moss, flat stones, small clay flower pots decorated the tank and I added a sponge type filter.
I set the aquarium heater to a slightly warmer 27°C (81°F). I kept the tank subdued with no tank lighting, just daylight from a nearby window.
Into this tank the pair of rams that had previously spawned were placed and fed the same diet as before. The tank was the uppermost in a bank of four – I thought that this would allow the pair seclusion from seeing me pass by each day.
Within a few days the pair began to clean a flat stone and I could clearly see the genital papilla (the tube extending from the urogential opening, used for egg or sperm deposition) on each fish starting to show. On the female it was smaller and more rounded than the male. The colours at this time were brilliant on both of them, as they showed off to each other and prepared to breed.
I was able to watch them breed, with the female passing over the stone and laying a few eggs. The male would follow closely behind to fertilise them. This action continued until there were about 200 amber coloured eggs on the stone.
Caring for blue ram fry
Rams are monogamous, and both parents care for the eggs and fry. In four days the eggs were a wriggling mass. I did panic on the fifth day when I peeped into the tank – the stone was bare, no mass of hatching eggs and no parents!
On closer inspection, the male and the tiny wriggling larvae had moved to one of the plant pots that was turned on its side. Within another four days a large brood of tiny free-swimming fry surrounded the male. The female was close by and lost no time in coming to the front glass to tell me to go away!
The fry appeared to be smaller than other dwarf cichlids I have bred. I wondered if they would take brine shrimp nauplii for their first food. I use San Francisco strain brine shrimp which produces smaller nauplii than the Utah strain, so I decided to try it for their first feed.
I had no need to worry for they were soon visibly feeding on the brine shrimp with the parent still in attendance. Within another week I was feeding brine shrimp nauplii, microworm, and a ZM fry food called ZM-000 which is 30-90 microns in size and ideal for tiny fry.
When the fry were three weeks old, I removed the parents as I was concerned they would take fright again and eat the brood. After another two weeks I carefully moved the whole brood from the breeding tank into two 60x30x30cm (24x12x12") bare grow-on tanks.
Baby rams look nothing like their attractive parents and indeed have no sign of colour until they are about 1.2cm (0.5") long.