Ram Cichlids vs Apistogramma CIchlids: Which is Best? 

I would love to hear more about keeping Apistos with Rams.

I was relieved to hear y’all say you can mix both. I have a 29g with one female German blue ram and was thinking about adding one apisto. Now I can do some more research into a peaceful one that will work in my community. Great video!

I have two Apistograma Borelli and just love them. I also enjoy Bolivian Rams and will be adding one to my 20 long once it finishes cycling. I want to start a breeding project with some Apistograma Cacatuoides once my 10 gallon finishes cycling. Love your RU-vid channel and always watch the livestream on Wednesday nights. Keep up the good work.

Great comparison of these two types of cichlids! Very thorough and easy to understand. Thank you!

I’ve had an EBR in my 20 gallon long community tank for almost 5 months and I’m still blown away by how striking it looks when the LED hits it at just the right angle as it swims through the aquarium. It’s genuinely breathtaking.

OMG! I just found your video on these guys after asking at Aquashella, Orlando! I've got a group of Bolivians and Apistos in my 75 gallon, and absolutely love them! Great to get some more information on these little guys. As always, awesome video!

I just got my first cichlids about 3 weeks ago, a pair of A. cacatuoides and they've quickly become my favorite fish in that tank. They've even spawned once already! It's amazing how much the female's colour changes.

Just started keeping cichlids after 60 years of fish keeping, i'm a nano guy, so far i have German Black rams, Bolivian Rams, Electric Blue Acaras and about 30 Jewel Cichlid fry that were given to me by my LFS. This is all in the last 3 months. Love your channel, lots of great information! have 27 tanks and in the process of setting up a black sand 55 for the acaras. I think apistos are in my sights

Always great info -- getting my first apisto trifasciatas today and am so excited!!!

My opinion is Apistograma!! I think they are more easier to care for. I’ve kept both my ram didn’t make it long bout 2 months only . My Apistograma is thriving!! Love your channel !!

Happy Monday! Thanks for the video this week! I’ve been debating just this for a while...

love the apistos still trying to find some, the rams definitely more readily available this was neat guys thanks !!

This is the exact type of video i was looking for!

You read my mind. I was thinking what an awesome comparison then I saw your video title. Google reading my mind again?? Keep up the great work guys.

I'm going to say Ram's!! I love your videos!!!! Had one German Blue Ram in a 20 gallon with a few other fish....Greatest experience with a Fish!! (Tied with my experiences with Kribensis, Loaches, and Danios) And my favorite Apistogramma is the Agassiz's!!

Fully agree, I have both Rams and Apistos in the same large community 60 gallon tank. They're definitely amazing, both cool and territorial ! My favorite are A. trifasciata and A. baenchi, and M. ramirezi F1. Best wishes

Happy happy Monday Jason and Joanna 🙏💞 I love learning about these dwarf cichlids. My first time in the hobby I was in love with cichlids but I didn't have any knowledge.. I put anything and everything that was labeled as a cichlid in the same tank 😥 I didn't realize the size some of them got, I didn't know if they were aggressive or not... needless to say it didn't work out. That was 20 years ago! Over the past year I've been watching everything on the Apistos and Rams. What incredibly beautiful little dwarf cichlids and centerpiece fish!! I wish I had seen videos like this my first time around! Thanks for another great video on some truly amazing fish!! Love you guys bunches and I hope everybody has a blessed and beautiful day 🙏💞🌿🐟🌿

Love my borellii. My whole fish room is on the cooler side with lots of hill stream species so their lower temp range fits and their variety of colour is awesome too.

Awesome video! I've never cared for Rams before, but thinking about getting a Bolivian Ram after this.

I always love the vibe in these videos

I love the Rams! The Bolivians spawn constantly and I am hopefully going to actually see a few fry survive. German Rams were tough. Lost a ton from different breeders before I got my hands on some healthy GBRs. Gold and Electric Blues are paired up and doing well but there was a time I didn’t think I could successfully raise them. I haven’t found any decent colored Apisto fish that justifies the cost. However I am still looking. Out of all my tanks and different fish, I love the Rams, hands down. Great personalities and fun to watch. They get along with everything from guppies to Kribs. Just a great fish. Nice segment. I appreciate the work you both do for us fans.

I’ve had both over the years but apistos are my favorite. So many flavors to choose from!

Bolivian Rams are definitely my favorite. LOVE them!

Apistogramma!! I’m biased....I’ve never tried rams yet, but so far my trio of agassizii double red I acquired from accuaticclarity are fantastic!! Thank you for this video😀👍🏻

Personally if I had to choose I'd go apistos, simply because they've got so much more variety, also I'd say overall apistos are easier to keep.

First time keeper of balloon rams! Excited ty for the video

Happy Monday! I’m with Joanna, I have always liked the look of German Blue Rams. 🐠

Great video topic! I would have to go with the Midnight Rams from Dean Tweedle. 😍

I have a German blue ram , German electric blue ram and a apistograma Agassizi double red in my 125 planted they get along great I never seen aggression except when they were small and first day in the main tank.6 months later no problems so far

I have a gold ram, Balloon Body GBR, and a pair of Cacatuoides…I love nano cichlids. Great info I appreciate the vid.

Apistogramma for sure!! I have 3 different varieties, so fun to watch!

Happy Monday. Bolivian rams... I love the streamers that they grow. Very nice against a dark substrate. Great video again guys👍

Another good video there and centerpiece fish is Bolivian Ram for me super cool :D

I think the dwarf electric blue rams are beautiful. Will be trying them soon. Have a well planted, cycled tank just waiting for their arrival

I was just deciding on my next purchase between these two, how fortuitous a video!

Getting back into fishkeeping after a handful of years off.... looking to get a colony of Rams, Caucatoides, and some tanganyikan shellies as well... 3 tanks obviously, with hopefully some growout tanks needed as well down the road...

I just purchased my 1st 2 Bolivian Rams yesterday. They are in quarantine right now but seem to be picking on each other!!!

love my GBR such a sweet pair goes well in my community tank have had them with dwarf gouramis and short fin bettas and have never had any issues! :D

Nice video and good Monday to you! I have 3 female Gold Rams in a 25gal planted community tank and they do very well and look nice. I have a breeding pair of Apistogramma Cacatuoides and a breeding pair of Electric Blue Rams in a 33L planted community tank. All of them are doing very well... I can't really decide on a favorite.

I’ve had a German Blue Ram in my heavily planted community tank for months without issue. A couple weeks ago after watching a similar video talking about how friendly Apistogramma are, I did the hour-long drive to the “good” fish store. They had about a dozen types, and I got a female Nijsseni (bright yellow body with 3 large black spots on each side). For the first 2 days, it was pretty timid, hanging out in the plants checking things out. Then it got comfortable. Then it killed all of my horned nerites. Then it decided to chase the ram for 3 laps around the tank anytime they made eye contact. Then it decided cories aren’t allowed in any of the hiding spots. Then it feasted on a dozen mollie fry before I could scoop them out. So Apistogramma - pretty, but not as chill as everybody keeps making them out to be.

Thank you so much for this video 🙏😍 my fav are Rams especially the German ram. I hope I will have a pair in the future. 🤞😊

Perfect timing....I've been thinking about getting one..and can't decide what one to get

I took your advice 😊 i bought a german blue ram cichlid today. His little face is cute. Hes in a 20 with blue and green neon tetras. Two mollies 😊

Been toying with getting Apisto breeding pair.great information.

I love my Bolivian Ram. I need get a few more of them.

If it's a community tank then I'd definitely opt for Bolivian Rams every time, the Blues (especially the imported ones) generally don't live long in my experience, not to mention they like it way hotter than most community fish are comfortable with. Apistos are awesome but they were a bit of a menace towards my corys.

Jason, when you add lines of text in white, can you please put a black box behind for contrast? The white letters are really hard to see when watching on a small device like a phone. Love your videos. God bless y'all.

Definitely Rams, I have a pair of german blues for about 6 months now and I really enjoy them. On top of that they are really chill with others and super easy to feed, basically eat anything you put in

This is exactly what I needed. Also I'm hear for that woman. She knows her stuff.

Good morning to my two favorite RU-vid fish hobbyists. My preference leans towards the rams. The problem for me to keep them (I think ) would be difficult though. My tap water falls far below neutral. Any suggestions on how to raise it? I always love your Monday videos! Sincerely, Marty Borst 👍🐠

Ooh Hands on head! Both are so cool. Toss up, can't decide. Alas, I will stick with ........ haha coin toss Love you guys thanks for brightening my Monday!

I think the 20 gallon long is my favorite tank size for smaller fish.

I bought about five blue Rams and only one lived and he is thriving. Now I bought seven mixed juveniles and hope to find a pair from them. They are characters and are always exploring and looking for bits of food and even come up to feed from my fingers. I love the Ram color but I also think the Bolivian Rams are a little slow and a little dumb. Never had Apistos.

Aposisto macmasteri. Definitely my favorite

German blue rams are one of my favorite fish, but I also love the apistogramma cacatuoides (especially that name, cacatuoides, fun to say and listen to)

i have apistograma agasizii fire gold i kept in a community tank with tetras and rcs and yes my shrimps are doing fine with my apistos

Happy Monday. I’ve never kept Rams yet, but I do have a pair of Apistogramma agassizii Alemare Red Tail (I think), the male is just stunning 🤓

I was actually thinking about this this morning. I'm setting up a 55 gal angelfish tank that's half sand and half planted. Apisto's are kinda hard to find here in Southern California so I'm considering Rams.

4:31 Jason!! You missed an opportunity to compliment Joanna! Great video, though, on some great fish.

I love Gold Rams, but they are always so hard to keep! :(

Thks

I love apistos, one of my favorite fish of all time. I keep like 7 species 🙂 I like apistogramma more than rams, I've had a tough time finding healthy hardy rams.

Thank you for this video! I’ve been researching to decide the best species for a show pair in my Fluval Evo 13.5 planted tank. Has a school of ember tetra, otos and 4 dwarf cory. What should I consider? (Used to breed temporalis and fontosa, but got rid of my giant tanks due to health. Now that I’m better, want a cichlid that is appropriate for my tank).

I have a Bolivian Ram in my 65 gallon community tank and it's my favorite fish that I have.

Just picked up 2 blue rams for a 55 gallon community tank. I would eventually like to add 2 black rams.

My water is like yours, hard with a pH at or above 8, are you finding that captive bred apistos of the more common species (like cacatuoides?) manage in your water? Or do you cut it with RO? The species profile you linked is from when you hadn't had them long and mentioned cutting the tap water. So I wondered what you've found now that you've had apistos for a while.

Good topic I have gbr's and borelli apisto's and the do well in my community 65g.

I love them both in different ways but if I was hard pressed to choose, I’m going with German Blue Rams/Electric Blue Rams

I am a sucker for Rams! They are so beautiful and vibrant.

Two of my very favorite breeds. I think I like Apistos a teeny bit more....

Hello from England 🇬🇧 Love Dwarf Cichlids, I'm making 2 large indoor ponds, I would love to have these again but as there are so many African & American Cichlids I'm going to have to have them until I get my shallow 4 foot Aquarium set up. Thanks for the info'.

I haven't kept Apistos yet but I have some GBAs and have kept Bolivians previously

im a sucker for the GBR's, however i cant seem to keep them healthy. whether I get them from my ma & pop fish store or big box stores. They always seem to have severe out breaks with ich and some sort of break down in their immune system. I always QT my fish and it doesn't seem to matter. i have a feeling i will be trying the Bolivian Ram here soon.

I have a 29 gallon, never had Apistogramma so I recently added Apistogramma Cocatoides, male and female. They get along great with my 5 Blue Plays and 5 peppered Cory’s . The Apistogramma are presently a little smaller than the Platy’s. Would love to add a few more fish but not sure what to add yet. I haven’t had success with Blue Rams before, not sure why? But I don’t want anything aggressive towards the Apistogramma

I’ve tried German rams 3 times and have failed all three times. The first pair made it a month before they started breathing heavy and died. The next pair I lowered the hardness and ph to match their preferred parameters and they didn’t make it 2 weeks before they went breathing hard and died. I tried it once more thinking I was unlucky and they didn’t make it a week before the heavy breathing and died. I don’t know how anyone keeps them alive. Bolivian rams are much hardier. I currently have a pair that are just over 4 years old.

I want a pair of borellii. Not sure if I like the opal or the blue better, but I love the yellow of the female in contrast to the blue in the males

I like the color of the German blues the best but the problem with them is the higher temperature you need to keep them compared to most other fish. If you have a planted tank than higher temps also lead to more algae outbreaks if you don't know how to control it.

I am setting up a 29 gallon tank and was thinking of German Rams. I wonder if I can keep two different kinds of Rams, like possibly the Electric blue or Gold Ram. Will they get along? I also wonder what you think is best for raising PH? I am not sure until I head to ye olde fish store if the water is hard but out of the Tap it's bright bright blue on the tester strip, so 7.6 or higher. Thanks and hope all are well.

They are both pretty.

Hmmm, I have a 40B with 9 corydoras and was thinking about a pair of Bolivians. Just not sure I want to move away from the species tank...🤔

I loved my golden rams such personality, now I have a pair of apisto cockatoo which are very pretty but I feel that rams, they have more personality and interact better.

Apisto's all the time. Although, I do enjoy how Rams tend to follow your finger when shoaling. Apistogramma are far more individualistic. I like to think of Ram's as canines whereas Apisto's are more like felines when comparing the two. On a side note, I have the luxury of designing my own fish room as we speak. My guy over at my LFS has been hounding me for at least a year now for some _A. cacatuoides 'Super Reds'_ and "anything else you are willing to breed". As much as I want to jump the gun and start the project(s) now, I have to remind him (and myself) that our current residence is only temporary while the new house is being built. Watching these videos does not help me to curb that desire. Nonetheless, I absolutely love Apisto's and look forward to being the premier Apisto breeder in Arizona. Although you make an incredibly valid point about the inbreeding. I would like to say that I have a solid source for some F1 or F2 _A. cacatuoides_ but I truly worry that they may lead to some genetic abnormalities. My inherent distrust of everybody bodes well in some situations. I saw what could potentially happen with my WCMM breeding project and I would like to avoid that if at all possible. I whole heartedly trust you Jason (and Joanna) and look forward to your recommendation for a reputable Apisto breeder. I am also not opposed to purchasing a breeding pair/trio/etc from you if you are willing to do so. We still have time until our home is complete so this is by no means a "rushed decision". Thank you as always and keep up the great work. Stay classy my friends.

My choice would be a German Blue Ran that would actually survive longer than 2 months. Three times I have tried and every time they have not thrived and just died off one by one.

I have severums, blue acara, threadfin acara, bolivian ram, rainbow cichlids, and geophagus tapajo in a 210. Would apistos work with them?

I have a 75 gallon that I want to turn into a community tank. The only thing I have in it right now is 5 rummy nose tetras and 3 golden zebra loaches. I have been looking at the rams I'm just not sure what ones would be a best fit for me as I'm not used to keeping cichlids. Any ideas?

How do you manage to keep Panduro in a pH of 8 and hard water?

For a 40 gallon aquarium, how many rams would you guys recommend? I currently only have 1 (lost one :-( ) but would love some more. I have heard having more than 2 will result in territory battles. Thoughts?

I have a 60 gallon I got for free a few months ago. I been dancing around topic. After seeing this I think I'm leaning towards RAMs💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

Where do you purchase your fish? Can you recommend some resources?? I've heard you mention Chicagoland..do you have any recommendations for Southwest Chicagoland?

Was thinking two of each in a 75 gallon with 5 discus, 18 cardinals , a few Cory and the best alge suckers I can find after researching that stay small. Why four and 2/2? Don't want them to distract from the discus as center piece fish but add the unique color variety.

Hey I’ve got a question! My water parameters are similar to yours, ph 8.0-8.2 and GH 12 degrees. How are those apistos doing? I’ve heard they like acidic and soft. I wanna get some but I don’t want to kill them

Hey Prime Time, you guys shared that you had success keeping apisto's in higher pH levels around 8. I also have high pH water around 7.8-8 and this has been keeping me from getting some apistogramma. Have you guys still been successful with a higher pH for these fish or should I set my sights on another cichlid?

I’m a Ram girl too! GBR have my ❤.

whats that fish near corydoras 5:35 looks like a young jack dempsy??

Awesome video that somehow no one seems to talk about until now! I was for obvious reasons initially drawn to the German Blue Ram, but the poor thing really struggled. I have had much more luck with Apistos in my water. Currently I'm really into Hongslois and Agassiziis.

Hi, what kind of clean up Crew can I have with my larger SA cichlids (Electric blue acara, parrot, convict, fire mouth , giant danio and Denison barbs . Right now the biggest fish is no more than 3 inches . I know shrimp and ottos would get eaten . I am having a big diatom algae problem on my Amazon swords and glass

I have a couple of triple red apistos in a community tank with amber tetras, Corys, ottos. Do you think I could add a pair of blue rams?

Why is my PH, KH, Alkalinity and Water Hardness high in my 40 gallon (Glofish)fresh water fish tank?

Hi! I know you recommended a 20 gallon for them, but could I maybe put a ram cichlid in a 10 gallon? If I could it would just be with a couple rasboras or tetras, though I don’t know about tetras yet, I know they can nip a lot, so you think I could have them with rams in a 10 gal, if the rams could go in the 10 gal ofc

One of the prettiest fish you'll ever see is a female Apisto Cacatuoides in breeding colours.