Rams

[RogerL]

Have been enjoying a successful 55 gallon community tank for several months now (5x platys, 4x giant danios, 2 x tetra sp (5 each)., 2x Ottos, 3x Corys) .

Ready to move on to something different and am considering another 55 gallon with Rams. A few questions......

How many can I consider? Will 55 gallon take more than one pair?

I've read that rams like to have tetras or similar in the same tank to provide comfort while they are shoaling. True? If so, any suggestions for Tetra species?

Finally. I'm thinking of cycling with a few tiger barbs. Will these be OK to leave in place with the rams/tetras?
Any other suggestions for stocking schemes would be very much appreciated.

thank you in advance!

 

[AndyL]

Well I now have 4 in my 55g. They seem quite happy except for the occasional squabble over who gets what turf. But these are bolivian rams, germans may be different. I will say they didn't get along so great in the 10g.

I've read the same about dither fish and rams, but mine seem to be fine without. Rummynose tetras are always good, as they also give an indication of water quality.

Why cycle with tiger barbs? Do some reading and try fishless cycling, much more humane and no fish to 'deal with' when done.

Suggestions, My rams seem to be a lot like my cories, spend 90% of the time very close to the bottom. You may want to consider something for the middle/upper waters (tetras, I guess would be your middle water fish)

 

[RedTurquoise]

I loved my german rams! I even was able to successfully breed them without even trying. Its too bad that they did died due to my unexperience starting with a planted tank and C02 poisoning. I plan to get more.......someday!

Rams are fine with barbs! I had my 2 rams together with 10 neons and 10 tiger barbs. You would thing the barbs would bother the rams but nope, the rams sometimes chased the barbs around. Im not sure about shoaling! Rams tend to be a little territorial.

 

[fishboy]

German blue rams are inbred like hell so it will be hard to find some that won't die on you. I would go for bolivian rams. You could go with:
4 Bolivian rams
12 Cardinal tetras
6 Corydoras
4 Ottocinclus
If you want you could also put in a few Hatchets and cut the cardinal population down to about 7 but Hatchets require pristine water.


Good luck,
Daniel

 

[RedTurquoise]

German blue rams are inbred like hell so it will be hard to find some that won't die on you

I would have to differ with you on that one! Depends on the source and breeder. One thing to remember that you can only inbreed so many generations before they either can not breed anymore or are deformed.

 

[fishboy]

True, true, it all depends where you are and who the breeder is but where i am the rams are pretty sickly looking. That is the problem though that most rams will have deformities or cannot breed at all because of so much inbreeding, leading to a less healthy fish.

Good luck,
Daniel

 

[RogerL]

Thanks everyone for you advice. Good to know that the Rams will tolerate some neighbors!

Andy - I'll look more carefully into fishless cycling. I only considered the barbs for cycling because I would like them to be permanent residents of the tank. I used 5 platys to cycle my first 55 gallon tank. They didn't appear to suffer any ill effects and are all still going strong. I never did see the very high ammonia and nitrite levels that I sometimes see mentioned in other posts. Could this be because I planted pretty heavily and transferred over some substrate?

One more question on the rams - are they destructive to plants like some other cichlids?

It will be a few more weeks before I'm ready to move forward and no doubt I will have some other ideas by then! I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,

Roger

 

[RogerL]

And one other question..... are there any "cichlid buddies" that will coexist peacably with the rams?

 

[Abercrombie6202]

LOl bolivian rams and blue rams are like the only two cichlids i nkow that would get along, except discus and angelfish which are also considered cichlids, let me tell you something

I'm actually planning on getting a 75 glalon with an amazon style thinking maybe

tetras
hatchets
angelfish
rams
cories
etc...

Blue rams get along with almsot anyhting as long as there not mating. My 2 blue rams are now in my 20 gallon community with livebearers, tetras, hatchets, etc...