Rams are bad parents, but

[henry]

I believe that rams need a very slow PH cycle to be really happy.  

Rams are not great parents in general compared to other SA cichlids. I think we make them worse parents by telling them it is constantly time to breed by keeping them in constant low ph or higher temp.  

They come from the Rio Orinoco basin, a very large flood plain. The rainy season is from April to October. As the savannah floods the water rises over deadfall / grasslands / leaves etc. and starts to lower in ph and food is starting to get more plentiful.  I have read the water can rise 40-50 feet. Fresh cooler water, is starting to build on the flood plain getting warmer and lowering in ph. I would suspect that the water on the savannah towards the end of the rainy season must be very low ph and warm, especially in the shallows where I think these guys should be. During the dry season the water is staying mostly to the creek bed and riverbanks and the ph should be higher. I have read about 7 PH.  I believe they are only in low PH water once a year. In nature, they should only be spawning for a shorter period that most likely overlaps into the start dry season a bit.  

I have made the mistake of keeping them in low ph water too long. They lose their interest/energy at spawning time. Take them to 7 ph for a few months, they can't wait to spawn and are a lot more energetic when the ph does get lowered and the temp raised. It's like they are young adults again. It appeared to me that even a fish I thought was such a bad parent improves a lot, if you give them a rest at 7 ph for a while. This does not cure bad parenting, they are not great parents, but I believe it helps.

I hope this helps people that got rams from me.

[mseguin]

I'm not disagreeing with what ur saing, just discussing :-). From what I understand, te waters in the Amazon and Rio Orinco, etc basin are highly acidic because of the huge amount of decaying of plant matter in the rivers. I would think that the flooding would cause some fluctuation in the pH, I would expect it to go slightly higher during the flood season.  But I may be wrong. I also wouldn't expect the pH to have that strong an effect on their behaviour, expecially since many experienced aquarists can keep them alive very well at that pH, and if it was really that stressful for them, they would be much more likely to die of infection or just general stress. My personal theory is just that they've been bred in captivity for so long that predation is no longer a major concern for them, and good parenting skills have been (unintentionally) bred out of them.

[henry]

Just my thoughts. I have to pack for a trip. Sorry I offended. I believe they natural ph cycle.
Richard

[mseguin]

No offense at all, just discussing the topic.

[henry]

I would have thought that water sitting on the flood plains  in deadfall / grasslands / leaves the ph would become softer and lower in ph the longer it is there. Rainwater that would cause massive flooding like that should wash alot of debris downstream.  Rainwater has to be higher ph and low TDS than water sitting  over debris. So rainwater going to the flood plain is low TDS and Higher PH.
My flight is at 2:00 , sorry I picked a bad time to post.