The Blue Ram cichlid, also known as German Blue Ram, is a beautiful and peaceful cichlid that is popular among aquarists, however I would not recommended this fish for beginners.
They usually do well in community tanks, but require established aquariums to thrive.
Their head and chest are gold, yellow, blue, and black with a red patch on the abdomen.
The flanks are gray or blue with a vertical black line crossing the eye, yellow dorsal fins with black front edges, and pelvic fins usually red with blue.
The Blue Rams usually live up to three years or longer and can grow up to 2-3 inches.
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Tank requirements for Blue Ram Cichlid
The minimum tank size for a Blue Ram is 10-gallons but you’ll need at least a 29 gallon aquarium if you intend to add other fishes.
Our recommended 10 Gallon Aquarium:
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Our recommended 29 Gallon Aquarium:
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Before introducing your Blue Rams cichlid, you must make sure your tank is already cycled and well-established, as they will not do well in fresh aquariums.
They will thrive between 82-86° Fahrenheit, but will do best in 86 degrees. You may need an Tetra HT Submersible Aquarium Heater With Electronic Thermostat, 50-Watt to get your tank to the ideal temperature.
This range will help them establish more easily and be less vulnerable to diseases.
They like water pH to be between 6.0-7.5 and hardness between 2-6 dGH with ideal dGH at 3. Make sure you have the right pH with a pH reader.
Water should have minimal movement, even lower in the breeding tank, to avoid the fry being dragged around by currents.
Blue Rams like moderate lighting, so it’s best to add floating plants, especially when you plan to breed them to help diffuse the light.
Feeding Your German Blue Ram
As omnivorous fish, the Blue Rams require both plant matter and animal food.
When introducing them to your aquarium, don’t panic if they lose their appetite.
This is a normal behavior in most fish and for the first days; try feeding them rich and tasty treats like larvae or frozen food.
After they are established in your tank, gradually try cichlid flakes or pellet food and soon your cichlids will accept a wide range of foods.
Our recommended food:
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It’s important to make sure your Blue Rams cichlid are fed, as they may be slow to notice food in the tank and have other fish eat it before they do.
Also, keep feeding them a high quality, varied diet to avoid nutrient lacks.
Common Diseases
The Blue Rams are prone to the usual diseases of tropical fish.
They may become stressed in poor quality water, there’s not enough oxygen, or there aren’t enough hiding places.
Extended stressful periods my weaken your cichlids’ immune system and make them more vulnerable.
Ich is the first and most common disease affecting freshwater fish.
Also, Blue Rams are prone to parasitic infections, bacterial diseases, flatworms, skin flukes, or Costia disease.
They are also prone to fish tuberculosis.
German Blue Ram Behavior
These cichlids are usually very peaceful fish compared to other cichlids and in normal living conditions they will not attack other fish.
They can become stressed if they don’t find enough hiding places, as they do love their privacy.
Be sure to provide extra plants, caves, and pieces of wood or clay pots for them to hide in.
During mating time, males guarding the eggs may display aggressive behavior towards approaching fish, so you must consider this when breeding your Blue Rams.
Tank mates for your Blue Ram Cichlid
The Blue Ram is a peaceful cichlid that can be housed together with other dwarf cichlids or peaceful non-cichlid fish.
They do well in a community tank and shouldn’t be kept alone.
Aggressive cichlids should be avoided at all costs, as the Blue Ram won’t actually fight them.
Suitable tank mates would be Discus, Rummynose Tetra, Cardinal Tetra, Kuhli Loaches and Clown Loaches.
Only keep more than one male if your aquarium is large enough (over 30-gallons).
Placing a single pair together won’t necessarily mean they will mate.
You can determine which pair will mate after you place more juveniles together in a tank and you see two of them swim close together.
Breeding
After you notice a breeding pair, you can move them to their own tank to establish a family.
The water in the breeding tank should be warmer, between 82-86° Fahrenheit, and wide leaves or smooth pebbles should be available for the female to lay eggs on.
Water should be very clean and all stress factors should be avoided, as the stressed pair will eat their eggs.
Other fish can distract them and make them less aggressive, so adding some into the breeding tank would be a good idea.
After the fry hatch, the parents should be removed if the tendency of eating them is observed.
Usually, the female digs a pit in a remote place and guards the fry there.
Another possibility is the parents splitting the fry between themselves and each guarding their fry in a separate pit.
If you plan on adding these beautiful cichlids, keep in mind the fact that they need established tanks and other peaceful tank mates, roughly the same size as them.
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13 thoughts on “Blue Ram Cichlid Care Guide”
Could they be kept in a 30 gallon with cherry barbs, kuhli loaches and fancy guppies
Yes,just be sure that your school of cherry barbs is large enough (minimum 5 fish) to avoid fin nipping issues. Make sure you have three female guppies for every one male you have to prevent them from being aggressive towards other tank mates. Khuli loaches also like to be in schools and spend more time out of hiding that way 🙂
Thanks for this; very informative! I currently have a well-established 25g unplanted tank housing 4 corys and 9 neon/cardinals. My pH is 7 and GH is 12. What are your thoughts on adding 1 male and 1 or 2 female GBRs? Because the corys’ natural waters are on the cooler side and the tetras prefer it around 80, I settled on a temp of 76.5-77. Thanks again!
Thanks so much for the info. I am thinking about getting a blue ram for my 30 gallon. I have goldfish in it too—do you think they will get along well? I also have a weather loach— or do you think that I should get a smaller Cichlid for my 5 gallon? Thanks so much
I wouldn’t put the ram with goldfish first because gold fish require colder water and Rams warmer. Second is that goldfish produce a lot of waist. Goldfish do good in a only goldfish tank because they get picked on as well
Can you keep them in just groups of females because i dont want them to mate
Would German Blue Rams do good in a tank that is 36 inches long by 12 inches front to back by 18 inches tall? Would celestial pearl danios, guppies, cory cats, shrimp, and empire gudgeons be good tank mates? If not, what tank mates would be a good selection?
I recently got one, a male, and he is doing great. I’ve been in the hobby for almost 1,5 years now, starting out with a 10 g I got after a brave encounter at the dentist office. I was pretty drugged up and thought “ye I want one!” A few hours later it dawned on me what I had done, but I took my responsibility, as one should. I didn’t really like it at first, but then I quickly grew to like fishkeeping, so much so that I got myself a 7-8 g tank for a Betta.
My ram has lived with a platy and a few male fancy guppies since I got him. I thought that he might be really hard to keep, a new challenge to overcome, but he took to the community like a seal to water. He loves it, the plants, dark hiding spot and the thriving beneficial bacteria has done wonders on him.
They truly are a peaceful fish and I totally recommend them.
I have a 60Gal established aquarium with 11 zebra danios, 2 angelfish, 6 Cory’s, and 1 Bolivian ram. I was wondering if it would be okay to add just 1 blue ram with them? Thanks in advance!
I recently purchased a german blue and a longfinned electric blue ram i had them in the tank for a week so far and they have been inseparable. Now i noticed the longfin has been bullying the german blue. I have increased their food supply but it hasn’t seemed to help. Any thoughts?
I’m looking at German blue rams at a aquatics store. There are a couple that have white spots described as “scale” not ich. Is this an actual thing? Is it curable?
I would love to no if You can keep blue ram in A10 gal thank I have blue Ram and electric Blue Ram in my thank I no if one is mail or a female there in a 10gal with 5 mother tater with live plants but they keep changing the other one around what should I do to keep them charging each other
Could the rams be in a tank with dwarf grouami Cory cats angelfish one pleco and two phantom tetras