Which ram chichilid is best?

[ValRasbora]

Hey.
I'm looking at new fish for a small 10 gal tank. I love the look of ram chichi lids, especially the German Blue Ram. I hear they aren't exactly the easiest- Is there an easier one that grows only between 2.5"-3 inches? It's tank mates would be cardinal tetras, neon tetras & harlequin rasbora. (see my other thread "anything to go with tetras?" in the beginning freshwater section, it'll explain alot) Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[Orion]

Blue Rams aren't that hard, the problem for the most part is keeping them alive due to poor breeding. A lot of them are just genetically poor due to years of inbreeding which makes them weak, and susceptible to lots of things in the home aquarium that can kill them. Now not ALL blue rams are like this, but it does feel like a lot of the ones found in large chain stores are. If you can get ahold of some quality fish, you probably won't have many issues as long as you just keep up with regular maintenance.

Other than these, Bolivian Rams are often an alternative. They don't have as much color, so they're not as 'popular' so they've not been bread on a large scale basis for money like the blues have. This also means they are closer to the wild counter parts and typically are healthier. They do get a little bit bigger, but aren't as aggressive.

Now, don't let what I said about poor Blue Ram stock scare you. Getting quality stock of any fish is an important part of keeping healthy fish. This is the first step, and if you don't start off right with what ever species or type of fish, your more likely to have troubles down the road.

 

[ValRasbora]

Yeah, I just heard that they where hard to keep alive- no details of why or anything. I don't buy my fish from a big pet shop. Actually it's a pretty small shop. It's a nice one, though. The only fish I've got from there that's died within a week where neon tetras... I suspect it was neon tetra disease, though. I don't trust pets unlimited because, like, ALL their goldfish where dead... or eating a dead goldfish (no offense to pets unlimited) so I'm not sure. They don't have a huge variety of fish, so that definetly limits what I can get, but what really matters is how healthy my fish are.
On average, how big do Blue Rams get? I hear they are 2-3 inches, but I'd like to know for sure (haha I don't trust wikipedia articles )
Thanks, Orion, that helped SO much!!

 

[Orion]

NP

2-3 inches sounds about right.

 

[ValRasbora]

I saw on kijiji there was a lady person some convicts. Those guys are big and I think they would look a bit ridiculous in such a small tank as mine!! Also she was selling them because there was so many of them in her tank. The risk is that if I bought a female, she'd have babies.
There was another person selling red zebra cichlids. she/he said they where 1"-3". What do you think?

 

[Orion]

Well, you won't spawn any convicts without both a male and a female. And I think a lot of people say it's OK to have a male and female in a 10 gallon. You'd just have to figure out what to do with the fry.

I'm not sure what a zebra cichlid is, but sounds like it's probably a mbuna from Lake Malawi. No way those guys would be OK in a 10 gallon.

You might want to check out the other dwarf cichlid species from SA, like the Apisto's. Lots of Apisto species would be able to do just fine in a 10 gallon. The problem is finding them at a decent price.

 

[Monoxide]

I ve had red zebra and there orange and pretty aggressive. Just remember if you get these kinds of fish that is known for more aggression it can lead to bad tank mates... and limited of friends available. Also there very pretty.. but I had to many different kind of aggression fish and they just attacked for territory eventually. Also they like to have as much hiding spaces/caves or w/e to hide.

 

[ValRasbora]

Yeah I googled it, and they where more like 4 inches. not that it matters

 

[ValRasbora]

Oh I love Apisto cichlids!! I could always go on ebay or order one online if I couldn't find a decently priced one.
That's a great size. I really like them. Are they common in pet stores?? How much do they cost on average?