German Blue Rams...Petsmart

11576 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by rainbuilder, Sep 11, 2012

jbig

Discussion Starter · Sep 9, 2012

So I have an okay grasp on the difference between a male and a female. but the only place i know i can buy them from are petsmart... I don't want to walk in and ask for 2 female german blue rams if they have no idea what the difference is...so my question...How competent are the employees when it comes to sexing?

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jamesbaptista

· #2 · Sep 9, 2012

That would definitely change depending on the petsmart. I doubt that one of the hiring criteria is the ability to sex all fish. You could always ask them.

That being said, my advice would be to buy from planted tank member matt13. They have a family run breeding business and sell some beautiful German blues. I've had mine for about a week and they are doing wonderfully! I couldn't be happier. Their customer service is top notch! You will definitely get better fish from them than petsmart. You can check out the for sale section for matt13's post.

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Axelrodi202

· #3 · Sep 9, 2012

If you do get them from Petsmart you'd be best off being able to sex them yourself.

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John K

· #4 · Sep 9, 2012

The Petsmart near me has a tank full of German Blue Rams. Only problem is, they're actually Bolivian Rams. I pointed this out to the person there who just said that they label them whatever they come in as. So I think you'll be lucky if they can identify the correct species, never mind the correct gender.

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flutterbug

· #5 · Sep 9, 2012 (Edited)

I will second buying them from Matt13, I thought it would be too much to have them shipped so I got some at Petsmart. I quarantined them for a week and a half then decided they could go in my main tank. Wouldn't you know the very next day I noticed an Ich spot on one of them! Once you can see a white spot on the fish that means they have been infected for some time. I have been treating them for 9 days now and they finally aren't showing signs of Ich but are however showing signs of Fin Rot. So now I am going to have to buy more meds for that. I also would like to tell you that I had more of an idea as to how to sex them than the employees at both Petsmarts I went to. FYI They said the females are less colorful than the males like they are guppies or something.

And I am pretty sure I ended up with 3 males.

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jeremyTR

· #6 · Sep 9, 2012

John K said:
The Petsmart near me has a tank full of German Blue Rams. Only problem is, they're actually Bolivian Rams. I pointed this out to the person there who just said that they label them whatever they come in as. So I think you'll be lucky if they can identify the correct species, never mind the correct gender.

I picked up a couple of Bolivian Rams from Petco, they're great little fish. I love the way they'll nearly always come to the front glass when I go to the tank.

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jamesbaptista

· #7 · Sep 9, 2012

jeremyTR said:
I picked up a couple of Bolivian Rams from Petco, they're great little fish. I love the way they'll nearly always come to the front glass when I go to the tank.

My German blue rams do that... they will almost eat out of my hand

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jeremyTR

· #8 · Sep 9, 2012

Haha that's awesome.

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Shanster

· #9 · Sep 10, 2012

My German Blue won't come out from hiding. I don't even know if he/she has eaten in days. I really don't think my german will make it. I would say purchase from a planted tank person as well - I purchased my German from Petco and one died within two days. I don't think this 2nd one will make it either.

I have bought lots of plants through the forum and they are always fuller and more healthy than anything I can buy in Petco / Petsmart. Best of Luck!

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jbig

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 10, 2012

thank you everyone for the info. i will definitely check out matt13. i got three gbr's from petsmart a while back without thinking about male/female at all and wound up with 2 males and 1 female. they have awesome personalities but unfortunately the female died after about a month and a half. they always swim right up to the front of the tank when they see me and follow my hand around when i do maintenance.

thanks again for the info everyone.

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AirstoND

· #11 · Sep 11, 2012

jbig said:
thank you everyone for the info. i will definitely check out matt13. i got three gbr's from petsmart a while back without thinking about male/female at all and wound up with 2 males and 1 female. they have awesome personalities but unfortunately the female died after about a month and a half. they always swim right up to the front of the tank when they see me and follow my hand around when i do maintenance.

thanks again for the info everyone.

Females and males are both territorial, they come up to my gloved hand and nip it while I siphon gravel and trim plants.

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rainbuilder

· #12 · Sep 11, 2012

I try to sex them myself just by looking at them and then ask whoever it is to catch the one that I want. It's worked for me pretty well, because now I have a young pair. Usually the people at petsmart don't know how to sex fish. I even sexed some black neon tetras once, and they happily gave me the ones I pointed out.

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