Are you fond of adding colorful varieties to your tank? Then the Electric Blue Ram will be the best buddy for your aquarium. This fish is vibrant, beautiful, and pretty suitable for your tank.
The Electric Blue Ram looks beautiful with its bright blue color. Growing up to 2-2.5 inches, these types of Ram cichlids usually live for 4 years in a 20-gallon tank. They are omnivores by nature and eat any food. However, they are quite difficult to care for by beginners.
Species Overview
| Level of Care | Difficult |
| Appearance | Yellow, blue, white |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Life Expectancy | 3-4 years |
| Size | 2-2.5 inches |
| Diet | Omnivorous |
| Family | Cichlidae |
| Tank Size | 20-gallon |
| Tank Environment | Soft acidic water with dense vegetation |
| Tank Mates | Very peaceful and small |
The recent color morph of the common ram cichlid, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, is the Electric Blue Ram, a very popular fish for hobbyists. However, they are still a bit rare and pretty expensive in the aquarium trade than their other variants.
So, do you want to know what makes this new cichlid fish much more popular and a great addition to your aquarium?
Well, the Electric Blue Ram is a much more stunning fish and looks magically beautiful. Usually, they come with fusiform bodies, which makes their bodies taper at the head and tail area.
These fish possess a base color of orange and yellowish golden on their head, and the rest of their body has a bluish hue. Their large round eyes are bright with neon orange color. Also, their eyes are bisected with a thick and black-colored vertical stripe that extends through both sides of their faces.
The backside of the body of the Electric Blue Ram cichlid is covered with fins. There are metallic blue spots on their body. The blue color on their spangles is bright and looks reflective, which makes this species glow.
Hence, you can easily spot them even in low light conditions. Also, these blue rams come with a single and large black spot near the other side of their body, enhancing their outlook.
Besides, Electric Blue Rams are pretty popular with their other names, such as the South American Dwarf Cichlid. These fish are usually found in their natural habitat in the Orinoco River basin of Columbia and Venezuela.
Size
Usually, Electric Blue Ram or German blue ram grows up to a size of 2-2.5 inches, which makes them relatively smaller than their other cousins that are popular in the aquarium trade.
Lifespan
Due to poor breeding practices or low immunity, these rams tend to get a bit less hardy for your aquarium than other fish species.
However, with proper caring and high-quality feedings, along with regular water changes, Electric Blue Rams can live up to 4 years in your home aquarium.
Behavior & Temperament
The best part about these fish is that they are very peaceful, unlike their other family members.
They are typically best for a community tank. When setting up an aquarium, you will see that these fish will not occupy a particular tank region. They will spend most of the time hovering and swimming in the aquarium.
Also, this fish is a little bit shy, which makes them look for more hiding places in the aquarium.
Tank Requirements
The tank parameters, especially the water chemistry, need to be top-notch for taking proper care of your Electric Blue Ram. Caring for these cichlids is a bit tricky as they are not much hardy.
So, while setting up the aquarium, ensure that it has enough space for the fish to hover around freely. Adding more water will make it easier for you to keep the water clean and at ease.
Blue Ram Electric fish are very much sensitive to organic wastes like nitrate. Thus, you need to ensure a proper level of filtration rate in the aquarium water.
To keep your fish healthy, it is better to imitate their natural habitat. So, offer your Electric Blue Ram plenty of cover with various plants and submerged land foliage.
They usually prefer a tank that possesses dense vegetation. Also, make sure there are plenty of caves and shelters in the aquarium so that they can get proper places to hide.
Tank Setup
The tank setup for your Electric Blue Ram needs to be superior. Ensure you are not placing your Ram Electric Blue in a newly setup aquarium with an unstable environment.
Here is how you should set up the aquarium for your pretty blue ram cichlid.
- For a single pair of rams, a 20-gallon aquarium will be much more suitable. On the contrary, if you are thinking of keeping two pairs, it is better to opt for a 40-gallon tank.
- They will not at all do good with organic waste. Thus, it is vital to add a proper filtration unit to facilitate good water movement in the aquarium.
- These rams thrive best in the water temperature range of 78- 85 ℉.
- Electric Blue Rams usually prefer to live in soft and acidic water conditions.
- Besides, ensure the pH range is within 5-6.
- In the case of the substrate, these fish mostly prefer a sandy one.
- Add a proper amount of dense vegetation, along with driftwood, to the aquarium as they prefer enough spaces to hide.
Tank Mates
Since Electric Blue Rams are not hardy, you need to ensure that you pick suitable tank mates, which are highly compatible with them. Make sure you are never housing them with any aggressive fish.
Also, they do not do well with other quick or energetic species that eat away their foods. It is better to avoid housing them with other dwarf cichlids.
Make sure to house them with docile and peaceful fish so that they feel safe in the community aquarium. Very slow-moving tranquil fish will be most suitable for these rams as they won’t interfere during their mealtime.
Though a community fish, Blue Ram Electric can be kept with the same kinds, either in pairs or alone. If you opt for keeping them in pairs, do not purchase any random specimens from the aquarist shop; let them decide their partners.
If your Ram Electric Blue cichlid starts showing its aggressive nature towards its tank mates, it is advised to include more hiding spaces in the aquarium.
Here are a few suitable tank friends that you can add to your aquarium, along with blue ram cichlid.
- Silver dollars
- Gouramis
- Discus
- Cardinal
- Neon tetras
- Corydoras
- Plecostomus catfish
- Rummynose tetras
- Kuhli loaches
- Clown loaches
- Guppies
- Platies
- Mollies
- Dwarf Gouramis
Food & Diet
Electric Blue Rams are omnivores. Thus, feeding them will not at all be an arduous task for you. It is vital to give them a diet with a combination of meaty and green foods.
As these Mikrogeophagus ramirezi fish are placed in a new aquarium, the stress of getting accustomed to a completely unknown environment with new water parameters will make them have a loss of appetite. So, at this time, don’t feed them with random fish food products.
It is better to feed them mosquito larvae or other similar types of foods. As they start eating enough, you can introduce them to other food products. For a variety, you can offer them flakes and pellets as well.
As soon as they are comfortable with the new aquarium ambiance, they will eat adequate food. Also, try to give them meaty treats with baby brine shrimp, blood worms, or other non-vegetarian foods, which will serve them enough nutrition.
Keep an eye on their eating during feeding time. These cichlids are a bit slow-moving fish, so make sure they are reaching out to their foods and having them properly.
Care for Electric Blue Ram Cichlid
The Blue Ram Electric fish is quite sensitive to changing water parameters. Hence, keep them in a stable aquatic environment.
Make sure to perform frequent water changes at least once a week. It is better to replace 10-20% of the tank water once in 1-2 weeks. For a stocked aquarium, opt for more frequent water changes.
Make sure you are adding plenty of fresh and clean water to the tank. They are fairly adaptable to a wide pH range. If you are accessible to hard tap water, consider diluting the water with the reverse osmosis deionization process.
Also, in the aquarium, you can add Indian almond leaves or driftwood for softening the water quality.
The water you replace with must have the optimum temperature for your Electric Blue Ram. They can easily get affected by some common diseases due to poor water parameters.
Ensure the aquarium water for these rams has a proper level of oxygen. They are much prone to diseases like ICH and fish tuberculosis.
Since this form of TB can be easily passed onto humans, if your fish is suffering from it, do not touch the water without protection. You can treat your rams with antibiotics prescribed by your vet.
Are you thinking, about whether these rams can live alone or not? Well, if you have an overly aggressive ram, then you can keep it alone to let it stay happier on itself.
Besides, it is good to add a gentle or soft sponge filter to the tank of these fish to let them have clean and fresh water quality.
You can also use a bare-bottom aquarium with no substrate for your blue rams. However, these thrive well in gravel substrate too.
Breeding Guidelines
It is pretty tricky to identify the sexes of Electric Blue Rams. Also, they are quite tough to pair.
However, breeders can opt for a group of juvenile rams and help them grow together to pair them up for spawning.
Blue Ram Electric fish are pretty popular for making their monogamous pairs, and both sexes serve to be active parents.
However, low fertility and poor brooding care are prevalent problems regarding these fish.
So, you need to prepare properly before spawning them. If you are thinking of breeding the blue rams in your home aquarium, you need to include some flat stones or breeding slates in the aquarium setup.
The bottom of the aquarium must have a digging-friendly substrate. You can also try coaxing the fish into the breeding mode while ensuring that the water chemistry is slightly soft and acidic.
Also, increasing the temperature will help them breed. You can use a timer-controlled light in the tank with erratic light patterns to confuse your ram cichlids.
Before spawning, these rams will clean a flat stone or dig a pit in the substrate. After that, look for various spawning signs like twirling and nudging.
Sometimes the males tend to dart away or slide against the body of the female Blue Ram Electric.
These species deposit adhesive eggs on the stone. The eggs are too small. They usually deposit at least 150-300 eggs.
However, after the eggs hatches, make sure not to separate the offspring from their parents as Electric Blue Rams of both sexes work together to ensure the survival of the newbies.
Usually, one ram parent guards the territory against other predators. On the other hand, the other parent fans fresh water over the eggs for keeping bacteria and fungus away.
These fish parents can also eat the unfertilized eggs to keep other eggs safe from pathogens.
It sounds like they look after their children enough, right! Well, yes, they do. These fish even tend to get aggressive during the breeding season while caring for their young ones.
The eggs typically hatch after 40 hours of fertilization. The fries usually go for free-swimming after 5 days.
So, you can offer them special fry fish food products for their healthy growth. Feed them with either crushed food products or baby brine shrimp.
Interesting Facts
So, are you excited to know a few more interesting details about Electric Blue Ram? Well, here are some intriguing facts about this fish species; check them out!
- Female Blue Ram Electric usually comes with a bright pink belly when they are ready to breed.
- The males of the Electric Blue Ram fish possess an elongated dorsal fin, along with many spiky points near the edge.
- While picking blue rams for your aquarium, it is essential to ensure that the fish is appropriately eating, along with other rams. A skinny ram with a hollow belly will not survive well in your tank.
Where to Buy?
Though rams have recently become much popular in the aquarium trade due to their magnificent color and look, they are still a bit rare to find in regular aquarist shops.
Blue Ram Electric fish can be easily found in any domestic and overseas fish farm at a bit costly pricing.
However, when you buy them from overseas stores, make sure they are not injected with hormones, as it will hinder their health.
Besides, you can look for them in your nearby pet stores too. There are many hobbyist stores where you can easily find these blue ram cichlids. Also, there are plenty of online stores that sell this cichlid at a fair price rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Electric Blue Rams can I keep together?
Answer: You can either keep blue rams in a pair or alone. If you own a larger aquarium, then you can add more than one pair. Also, they can be kept in a group of 4-6 groups of juveniles.
Are Electric Blue Rams hardy?
Answer: Electric Blue Rams are not at all hardy. They are pretty sensitive to the fluctuating parameters of water conditions, which makes them more susceptible to diseases. It’s pretty tough to make them live for more than 18 months unless you are an expert at fish-keeping.
Can Electric Blue Rams live with angelfish?
Answer: Yes, Electric Blue Rams can gel well with angelfish. But you need to make sure that you have a larger enough aquarium for keeping them together.
Electric Blue Rams typically occupy the lower part of the tank, while angelfish roam about on the upper half of the aquarium. And this keeps them away from indulging in petty fights with each other.
Wrapping Up
Keeping Blue Ram Electric fish in your home aquariums is undoubtedly feasible. However, they are not at all suitable for beginner aquarists.
So, it is better to keep them in your aquarium only if you have a proper level of experience in fish keeping.
These ram fish are much more sensitive to the tank set up with improper assortments. Thus, make sure you offer them a proper aquarium set up with an adequate amount of care and diet.
