Last week I went to a near by petshop to buy filter material and I was surprised to see they had few types of Cichilds which not so common here. That’s German Rams (I have been searching for them for years), Electric Blue Rams and Kribensis. All these 3 types of fish are very colorful and they small size Cichild which you can call dwarf Cichild. I couldn’t resist but buying pair of German Rams, 2 pairs of Electric Blue Rams (They are only about an inch long) and 5 Kribensis.
I made usual common mistakes everyone make when buying new fish. I was too excited to see these nice Rams and forgot all the basics. So here are the mistakes I made. These might help anyone who new to fish keeping hobby not to fall for same mistakes.
Never relay on pet shop staff to pick fish for you or deciding gender. I have ended up with two female German Rams because I thought owner might know better. You must know how to find gender of the fish you are going to by. When it comes to Cichild types this can be really hard but there are ways to figure this. It’s not good buying a pair from same gender because Cichilds do not fancy about living with same gender unless you have a school of them or have a bigger tank with other fish.
One of these German Rams were owning one corner of the tank. Big, beautiful one which owner mistook for a male and I was quite happy to get “him” because of he was big, healthy and beautiful. I noticed this fish was chasing everyone away. This should have taken as a warning sigh but I was blinded with it’s beauty. Each Cichild fish has their own personality. If you pick an aggressive fish even if it’s belongs to not so aggressive Cichild type you are going to have problem. It would probably bully every other fish in the tank. Like in my case where this female is chasing everyone except those Electric blues. So it’s better pick those who living to live with their tank mates peacefully. At least if you are not an experienced fish keeper or breeder who looking for the best quality fish.
Another thing is make sure these fish are right types for your community aquariums. Or you have a tank ready for them. If tank is smaller then better have lots of hiding places, plants and drift wood. You do need to keep an eye on them at least a week to find how they settle down and get along with others. Also search online and find if you have a correct pair. This need to be done as soon as possible so you can take one back to pet-shop and change it. Longer you stay without doing it less chance you will have to get it done. Like in my case now pet shop don’t have male German Rams. I seems to be stuck with 2 females Rams.