Maybe, maybe not. I remember when these German blue rams first appeared, back then they where very temperamental with water quality and many I read don't have a very long lifespan.Andys temperate tank wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:24 amI'd had the fish since the end of August. He probably grew by 50% in the time I had him. I'd have thought any problems bred I to him would have shown up before now.Martinspuddle wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:46 am Sorry to read this @Andys temperate tank, these colour morph Rams don't seem very strong and are prone to infections.
As @plankton says breeding has a lot to do with it. Any idea where he originated from, many come from far East farms, bred in outside pools.
I refuse to keep anything that has been line bred or morphed for colour size etc. Over the years all to often I found the longevity of these sorts fish to be short or prone to diseases and found I've had less issues with mainline fish species, although this still can be problematic with even these species.
Take the Neon Tetra, at one time these fish where very hardy during the eighties and nineties, could even been said as near bullet proof in some cases. Now, I seen a lot of of deformities, deformed fins, missing gill plates and missing eyes, mouth parts, not to mention any internal issues we cannot see and many of these fish will be prone to infections. It's no longer an easy fish to keep, they've been bred and bred over and over again for the pet trade, along with many other fish species. I've observed this recently in a aquatics in young Angelfish, Guppies and Tetras in this state, very sad how retailers will sell them this way.
Don't take me wrong, I'm in no doubt there are some fish morphs that have no issues and live full lives in a home aquarium but I'm afraid say tropical fishkeeping has with some species can be a bit of a lottery.
