German blue ram Mikrogeophagus ramirezi

84 to 85 °F on this record, and it is the narrowest temperature row here for a reason: the five published ranges have no value in common. Aquarium Co-Op gives 84 to 86 ideally, Seriously Fish 81 to 86, Fish Laboratory 78 to 85, Wikipedia 77.9 to 85.1 for the wild water, and Aquarium Source 72 to 79. We do not carry the last one, because it shares nothing with the two warmest and because the publisher giving the warmest figure ties it to disease resistance rather than to comfort.

No, and two sources say the more useful thing instead: they lose. Seriously Fish will not put the species in a general community aquarium, because it requires pristine water quality and is a poor competitor. Aquarium Co-Op calls them relatively peaceful and adds that they can be a bit feisty if the fish tank is too small. Aquarium Source calls them peaceful and very mellow, and Fish Laboratory says not usually aggressive, but can get a bit aggressive if they do not have hiding spots. So the risk on this record is not what the ram does to a tank mate, it is what a fast eater does to the ram.

Four sources, four criteria, and no two of them the same. Seriously Fish: adult males grow larger, possess slightly more-extended fins and are more intensely coloured, while females typically have a pinkish patch on the belly. Wikipedia: males have the first few rays of the dorsal fin extended, and females show a pink or red blush on the abdomen and a blue sheen below the dorsal fin that males lack. Aquarium Co-Op is the most specific: females have tiny, bright blue dots inside the big, black spot and males have none. Fish Laboratory: female german blue rams are smaller, with black stripes on their pelvic fins and a pink stomach.

On our sources the blue spangling in the black flank spot is the only mark that does not depend on comparing two fish. Size, fin extension and color intensity all need a male beside the female to judge, and the pink belly is described by two sources as a spawning condition rather than a permanent mark. Wikipedia adds the blue sheen below the dorsal fin. Nothing our sources publish lets you sex a juvenile.

Nothing. Both names are used for Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, and our sources use them interchangeably: Seriously Fish titles the species Ram, Wikipedia titles it ram cichlid, Aquarium Co-Op writes blue rams throughout its ram cichlid care guide, and the trade adds ramirezi and butterfly cichlid. The name german is a trade prefix rather than a place: this fish is endemic to the Orinoco basin in Venezuela and Colombia.

Our two most technical sources both warn about the lines rather than about the fish. Wikipedia lists electric blue, gold, balloon and long-finned varieties and says many of them suffer from lower fertility, health problems, or reduced brood care. Seriously Fish says commercial strains are genetically weak, susceptible to disease, exhibit shortened life-spans and poor reproductive vigour. Neither publishes a separate care figure for any variety, so every row on this record applies to all of them, and the lifespan row is where the warning shows.

One publisher answers this with matched fields on two of its own pages, and station 08 has the table. The short version: the Bolivian ram, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus, is twice the standard length at 80 mm, wants cooler water at 75 to 82 °F, wants a larger footprint at 90 by 45 cm, and Seriously Fish calls it arguably a better choice for less-experienced aquarists than its congener, while describing it as a larger, less-colourful fish lacking blue iridescent markings. The Bolivian ram is a name in the queue on our freshwater fish silo with no record behind it yet.

Aquarium Co-Op names plants like java fern and mosses that do not need substrate, and the reason is the water column row on this record: a fish that sifts mouthfuls of the bottom will move anything rooted in it. Both of those are records here, our java fern and java moss, and the temperatures are the thing to check: java moss runs 59 to 86 °F and contains this row, while java fern stops at 82, two degrees below it.

20 gallons for a pair, on two sources, and 40 for two pairs. Fish Laboratory says a 10 gallon tank is a perfect size and Aquarium Co-Op reserves 10 gallons for a breeding tank rather than a home. Seriously Fish asks for a footprint instead of a volume, 60 by 30 cm, which is 24 by 12 inches, and on a fish that sifts the bottom the floor area is the figure that matters. Our stocking calculator holds the 20 gallons alongside every other record here.

Either 1.6 inches or 3, and both are right. Seriously Fish gives a maximum standard length of 40 mm and Wikipedia 34 to 40 mm, measured to the base of the tail. The three care sheets give 2 to 2.5, 2 to 3 and around 2 inches, almost certainly measured to the tip. The row prints both ends because no source says which measurement it used, and a reader comparing the two figures is comparing two rulers rather than two fish.

Two to four years across three sources, and they overlap in a single year. Fish Laboratory gives 2 to 3, Aquarium Source 3 to 4, and Aquarium Co-Op up to 4. The most technical source publishes no figure and explains the spread instead: commercial strains are genetically weak, susceptible to disease, exhibit shortened life-spans and poor reproductive vigour. That is a statement about where the fish came from rather than about the species.

Peaceful open-water fish that will not outfeed it. Seriously Fish recommends peaceful open-water characids and says to avoid territorial or otherwise aggressive fishes, including most other cichlids. Aquarium Co-Op names tetras, Sterbai cory catfish, plecos, discus, angelfish and other dwarf cichlids, and says to avoid super-fast eaters and larger fish like oscars. On this site the water does most of the refusing: at 84 to 85 °F this record overlaps only the warmest bands here, and our grid carries the discus and the angelfish as one degree pairings and refuses the flowerhorn outright.

This is the disagreement on the record, and it is one publisher against itself. Aquarium Co-Op names discus among the tank mates on its ram guide; our discus record carries Aquarium Co-Op naming german blue rams among the fish to avoid, while Aqueon and aqua-fish name ram cichlids as suitable there. The water leaves one degree: the discus record runs 85 to 86 °F and this row stops at 85.

Yes, and set higher than for almost anything else here. At 84 to 85 °F this is the warmest record on this site except the discus, and it is one of nine records whose band shares nothing with the 75 to 77 °F the rest of the site holds in common. Aquarium Co-Op ties the figure to health rather than to comfort, saying that at 84 to 86 they settle in better, are less susceptible to diseases and lose fewer fry when breeding.

As a monogamous pair on a flat surface, and both parents stay with the eggs. Wikipedia: they form monogamous pairs prior to spawning with biparental brood care, lay small adhesive eggs of 0.9 to 1.5 mm in typical clutches of 150 to 300, and the eggs hatch in 40 hours at 29 C. Seriously Fish calls it a biparental substrate spawner with an incubation of 2 to 3 days followed by five immobile days. Aquarium Co-Op gives 3 to 5 days to hatch, Aquarium Source 3 to 4 days and Fish Laboratory 45 to 60 hours. Four hatching figures for the same egg, and the one source that gives a temperature with it is the one giving the shortest.

Because of two things our sources separate. The water: Seriously Fish requires pristine water quality and will not recommend the species for a general community aquarium, and every care sheet asks for a fully cycled tank. And the stock: the same source says commercial strains are genetically weak, susceptible to disease, exhibit shortened life-spans and poor reproductive vigour, while wild fish are more demanding and suitable only for experienced aquarists. Neither of those is about the temperature, which is the row most people get wrong.