Bolivian Ram (Microgeophagus altispinosa)

Common Name:

Bolivian Ram.

Other Names:

Butterfly Ram and Red Ram.

Scientific Name:

Microgeophagus altispinosa.

Family:

Cichlidae.

Class:

South American Cichlid.

Distribution:

South America,Bolivia, Brazil.

Size:

Males up to 4 inches with females slightly smaller.

Diet:

These fish are omnivores and readily accept most dry and live foods. You should give a variety such as Brine Shrimp, pellets, Spirulina tablets, etc.

Water Temperature:

77-82 degrees Fahreheit (25-28degrees Centigrade).

Water Chemistry:

dH 1-10, Softwater is favoured.

pH:

pH 6.8-7.0 is favoured, although they can be acclimated upto pH 7.8.

Life Span:

Approx 2-4 years.

Housing:

The tank should have a length of at least 24" (the length of a 20g high) with a lot of plants and other hiding places.

Breeding:

These fish are biparental, open substrate spawners. After a pair forms, the male will begin courting the female. Usually courting consists of mouthing certain objects in the courtship area. After a few days, the pair will clean around a rock or some object in the substrate. At this point, the male may become more aggressive than usual, chasing tank mates around, without damaging them, just warning. During the beginning of the spawning ritual, the female will lay a few eggs and move out of the way, while the male quickly follows up and fertilizes them. They will continue doing this until there are 100-200 fertilized eggs. After the spawning, the male will usually guard the territory while the female fans the eggs with her pectoral fins. This happens for most of the time, except when the male will occasionally relieve the female. While passing each other, they give a reciprocal lateral display signaling the 'shift change'. The female will usually come back within 30 seconds and reclaim her duty, although no display is shown during her re-entry. After the eggs hatch and the fry are wigglers, the pair tends to change color, showing yellowish bodies, intense eye stripes and lateral blotches. It is known that Rams make poor parents and while it is not unusual for them to be decent parents, you should still remove the fry if you plan to raise them.

Description:

The Bolivian Ram reaches up to 4" in length. Females are a little smaller. The male is slimmer than the female and has more coloration along with extensions on its upper and inner caudal fin rays. These fish are bottom to middle dwellers. They are great additions to community setups for 'personality'. The cichlid interaction has no equal besides loach companionship. I have seen these fish kept with Guppies, Discus, Angels, Tetras, Barbs, Loaches or just about anything not too aggressive. They are especially great for planted communities and are a very peaceful species. The possible exception to this is breeding, when some of the typical cichlid aggression is displayed, though they are not as nasty as some of the other family members, like Convicts).

Requirements:

These guys enjoy soft water with a slightly acidic pH of 6.8 to neutral, although if bred and raised in certain conditions, it's not unheard of to keep them in water with pH as high as 7.8. They appreciate temperatures between 77 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

Nomenclature:

I've decided to go through the nomenclature because of the various scientific names this species has been under. Originally the Bolivian Ram was called Crenicara altispinosa in 1911. Dr. Axelrod put the Bolivian Ram in the genus Microgeophagus, the same as the Venezuelan and Colombian Ram. The Ramirezi (Venezuelan or Colombian Ram) was originally placed in the genus Apistogramma genus but was put in Microgeophagus because its morphology and spawning behavior was different from that of the Apistogramma spp. The Bolivian Ram, with morphology and spawning behavior more like that of the Venezuelan ram, was then put in the Microgeophagus genus as well. Then Kullander came along to make things more complicated in 1977. He gave birth to a new genus, one that would have both Ram species because of the theory that Microgeophagus was nomen nudum. The genus was called Papiliochromis. There are still confrontations between experts as to which name has precedence but a lot of people are in favor of Microgeophagus. Anyone doing research should use the Microgophagus or Papiliochromis genera.

Photo Credit:

Photos supplied courtesy and ^©Sum-X.