Identify this ram

[ItsWasntMe]

Temperature is around 82f with around 6ph hardness is soft.

[black ghost]

Ok maybe it isn’t stressed then.

It would probably appreciate a male, although they might pair up and breed...
Another single female would probably just cause agro, as one would be dominant and not appreciate the other being there.

[ItsWasntMe]

Okie thanks. If am right that the gold and electric blue and blue ram are all the same species just different colours? The place I order my fish from only have gold and electric blue's in stock so if I order a couple of them will they still pair?

[black ghost]

Yes, there’s only two species, the Bolivian and all the others. All the others (normal, gold, leccy blue, long-finned... ) they all know they’re the same species.

[ItsWasntMe]

Thanks alot just one last thing how do you sex them? Just so I know what am looking for when I get I order 1-2 more. And it's starting to slowly colour up Now .

[ItsWasntMe]

Forgot to add how old do u think she is!?

[black ghost]

Forgot to add how old do u think she is!?

I’ve never raised them to an inch and a half so I’d be guessing. I’d guess at least 6 months.

As for sexing them, I’ve been trying to do that for nearly 50 years, and it’s a lot easier for me to do than to explain, especially when they’re young (most of the differences increase with age).

Most of the gender differences you’ll read about are not much help till they’re well mature, and some are just plain wrong.

The black spot on the side (yours is very faint). One sex is said to have blue spangles in the black spot and the other sex doesn’t (I forget which is which)... totally wrong. Both sexes can have them, or not.

Males have longer 3rd and 4th dorsal fin rays... this used to be reliable but isn’t any more because a lot of Rams have the long-finned genes, and also these rays lengthen with age, so an older female can have longer rays than a young male.

Females have a pink belly.... most females only have a pink belly when they’re in breeding condition, and some males have a pink belly all the time.

I sex them by head shape, and to a lesser extent body shape. In nearly all cichlids, males have a bigger head than females. They have a more vertical forehead. It’s very subtle in some species, but it’s there. The different head shape gives them a different facial expression. Female Rams look meek and mild-mannered, while males look like they’ll be in yer face if they need to be. Again it’s subtle in young fish, but after 50 years you get to recognise it (try describing a family member to me by facial features alone, then tell me to pick them out of a crowd. I’d have trouble, but you’d spot them straight away).
Females have a more pointed snout, with not much above the eye? A very short distance vertically from the eye up to the water, if you get my drift. Males have more ‘flesh’ above the eye because the angle of the forehead is steeper.
Behind the head, males have a more horizontal, straight back, whereas females have a gentle curve. This depends a lot on how well built or not they are, and so it’s not always obvious.

So, with that in mind, google Ram pairs and have a look at the differences. Ignore colours because they’re a very variable fish even in nature, and since yours is colourless, you want to be looking for a male that’s also colourless (yours is nowhere near breeding condition, and a colourful male will be in or near breeding condition, which will be a big problem for your female. If you add a male you want it not to be in breeding condition, because it would require the female to breed straight away and she’s not ready. They’ll need to come into condition together).

In a shop you may see a few with pink bellies. These are probably females, so the males will be the ones that are a (slightly) different shape.

Females of the same age are also smaller than males. This can be helpful in a tank full of Rams, which will usually be of the same age.

Hope this helps a little. Sounds a bit waffly.

[black ghost]

What you don’t want to do is add a single female, because one will come into condition first and be dominant, and it’ll need the other to disappear while it waits for a male to swim by?
Same with males. Add either one male, or a few Rams and let them sort things out for themselves.