Etymology of "German Blue Ram"

[JosVermeulen]

I've been wondering for a while where the name German Blue Ram came from. I've always been told that it came from a time where the "true" GBRs were bred by German breeders and this meant that they were of higher quality (so to say). In an era were lots of them are mass bred in farms, they don't seem worthy of that name anymore.

Can any of you guys give me insight into this?

 

[Mike Wise]

You're right. The original German Blue Rams were produced by dedicated German breeders back in the 70s & early 80s. These breeders carefully chose breeding stock and culled inferior specimens. The original GBR was stockier in build and had brighter colors and more black than wild forms. They were in such high demand that breeders elsewhere bought breeding stock and started selling every fish they could produce regardless of its quality. What we see now is a poor imitation of the original GBR. It's another strain that was lost to the hobby IMHO just like the Wickleri strain of A. steindachneri and the original Opal strain of A. borellii.

 

[JosVermeulen]

Do you happen to have a picture of the original GBR? Or are those pictures also lost?

Another question, did these specimen have female features in male specimen (blue sheen in black spot) and the other way around, as happens a lot in specimens currently sold?

 

[themountain]

here are some nice pics http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/mikrogeophagus-ramirezi/

 

[JosVermeulen]

here are some nice pics http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/mikrogeophagus-ramirezi/

None of them seem to be the old strain Mike is talking about though.

 

[Mike Wise]

Anyone who has the original German 1st edition of Linke & Staeck's Amerikanische Cichliden I - Kleine Buntbarsche can see the original GBR on the cover. An even better photo was part of Tetra's fish calendar, for 1984 if I recall correctly. I don't recall any sex reversals in them.

 

[JosVermeulen]

Anyone who has the original German 1st edition of Linke & Staeck's Amerikanische Cichliden I - Kleine Buntbarsche can see the original GBR on the cover. An even better photo was part of Tetra's fish calendar, for 1984 if I recall correctly. I don't recall any sex reversals in them.

Is this the image you are talking about

 

[Mike Wise]

Jos, yes the bottm photo is the one I referenced, not the top photo. Unfortunately the photos cannot be used here as they have a copyright by Tetra Verlag. I had to delete them, sorry.

 

[JosVermeulen]

Jos, yes that is the photo. Unfortunately the photo cannot be used here as it has a copyright by Tetra Verlag. I had to delete it, sorry.

No problem. So it was the first one or the second one?

 

[Mike Wise]

The bottom one. The top book is the 1992 edition.

 

[JosVermeulen]

The bottom one. The top book is the 1992 edition.

They look a lot like present-day rams then. I expected the top book to be the one, since those are different from what you see nowadays. Thanks for explaining all this to me Mike!

 

[Mike Wise]

The original GBR had a deeper body and brighter colors and deeper blacks. Other than body depth, the Rams pictured on Seriously Fish are quite similar in coloration. They are exceptional looking fish compared to most GBRs we see now.