# Why are my rams getting fat?



## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

About a month ago, I added a pair of electric blue rams (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) to my 29-gal tank. At the time I got them, the male was about 0.75 in long and the female was about 0.5 in. They were both thin. Today they are still the same length but have gotten rather chubby. Is this normal for rams?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Almost any cichlid will over eat if given the chance. Mine always bulk up after being in my tanks for a short period of time, but I don't want them overweight, so if this starts to happen, I cut back on food.

An overweight fish seems to be more prone to health problems.


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

Thanks for the response. The rams are in a community tank with an angel, various tetras, some corys and some otocinclus. None of these other fish appear to be bulking up. Given that the corys and rams are bottom feeders, is it safe to cut back on sinking pellets without starving the corys?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Never feed any more than they can consume in a minute! That is my policy for feeding twice a day. If you feed once a day, make it 2 minutes max.


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

I've tried to follow that rule, but it really only works when you are feeding fish that have similar eating habits. For example, my angel and tetras are water column feeders and will consume flake food as soon as it is added, so it makes sense to feed only what they'll eat in 30 seconds. On the other hand, the rams are mostly bottom feeders and don't eat immediately. Worse, my corys only eat when the lights are off. With the bottom feeding species, it makes no sense to feed based on time to eat, because they don't eat when you're feeding them. Can someone tell me how much to feed to bottom feeders?


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

My rams come to the top to feed. Stick around when you add food into the tank, and eventually they'll learn to approach you. As for the cories, I would feed them food designed for bottom dwelling fish, like algae wafers, or sinking pellets. I would also feed a certain amount per fish, rather than what they consume in a set amount of time.


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## Tomagorn (Apr 5, 2013)

My rams and angel do approach when I come to feed them. However, the rams seem intimidated by the angel and tetras and rarely take any food from the water column. When I feed sinking pellets, the angel becomes a bottom feeder (she's a real food hog). If I feed flakes and pellets at the same time, she'll eat the flakes and then feed on the pellets at the bottom. I don't know what my corys are getting to eat.


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

Cories are scavengers in the wild; they'll eat pretty much anything they find. Chances are, there are microorganisms in the tank that the cories find and eat, as well as left over food that the other fish don't manage to eat. If you want, you can try feeding algae pellets and/or at night with the lights off.


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