I finally add a beautiful fish into my cycled tank and its a bolivian ram but now all my bolivian ram does is stay at the bottom (I know they always stay close to the bottom)..but in one spot and his belly touched my sand..I hardly see him move all I see is his fins move that's about it but I never see him move from the spot he's at..even when my curious panda corys go near him there no reaction normally other fish would be scared a go some where else..he's moved around twice but does the same thing stays to the bottom with his belly touching the sand..should I be worried ?
Bolivian Ram Weird Or Normal Behavior
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minnnt
Fish Expert
Have you got any dithers? Get him a friend, they're shy and need encouragement to come out. A group of dithers will give him more confidence.
How did you acclimatise him and what are your water parameters? Is the tank planted? Are there hiding places? (Photo would help.)
Good dithers are usually anything in the tetra group… for example, I would consider neons to be the perfect size for a 30" long tank. A good alternative would be black tetras. I do recommend only one species and at least a group of 6 and ideally, a group of at least 10. In my experience, a tank that size with a reasonable filter and fully cycled should be able to take 10 tetras (of one species), 10 Corys (of one species) and 1 Bolivian ram in terms of bio-load.
(On a side note, I would consider a 20 long to be too small for a fully grown Bolivian ram and do think that they should be kept in pairs or groups because they are social fish.)
Good dithers are usually anything in the tetra group… for example, I would consider neons to be the perfect size for a 30" long tank. A good alternative would be black tetras. I do recommend only one species and at least a group of 6 and ideally, a group of at least 10. In my experience, a tank that size with a reasonable filter and fully cycled should be able to take 10 tetras (of one species), 10 Corys (of one species) and 1 Bolivian ram in terms of bio-load.
(On a side note, I would consider a 20 long to be too small for a fully grown Bolivian ram and do think that they should be kept in pairs or groups because they are social fish.)
Well its a fully cycled tank I've had it for a good 7 months now no problems I've introduced the bolivian just yesterday I had him in the pet store bag kept him in my tank with the bag for about and hour with my water going in the bag every 20 min. Ammonia is 0 nitrates 0 nitrites 5 ph 7.4 I have 8 panda corys and a bolivian...slowly introducing more fish this week might get 10 neon tetra and then maybe 2 fancy tailed guppies
An expert on this forum told me that my set up was perfect so that's what I'm going for originally I was gonna get 1 dwarf gourami and 1 bolivian ram and 10 neon tetras and that's it but then changed my mind and decided with guppies
An expert on this forum told me that my set up was perfect so that's what I'm going for originally I was gonna get 1 dwarf gourami and 1 bolivian ram and 10 neon tetras and that's it but then changed my mind and decided with guppies
minnnt
Fish Expert
Not many more expert members than KK!
Your problem may be caused by fast acclimatisation, especially if the fish came from different water hardness parameters. The method you use is only really suitable for moving the fish between two tanks of the same(ish) water parameters because the changes between the parameters are too fast for the fish to adjust. I attempted to write about why it is important to acclimatise at http
/aquariumadventure.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/importance-of-acclimatisation/ and what I consider to be the safest method at http/aquariumadventure.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/methods-of-acclimatisation/
I recommend against guppies, the ram and neons may have a go at them.
As for "an expert", how do you really know that they were or were not? It might be a better idea to take the average of the advice from a few sources, definitely ask the people, but also do look at written sources too!
What reasoning did they give? My recommendation is based on that I have only ever seen 5-6" Bolivian rams in large tanks, while in small tanks I have only ever seen smaller adult specimens, my observations of various South American cichlids (many of which appear to benefit from interaction with their own kind) and my experience of seeing various sized fish in various sized tanks (I like to see my fish have enough space to swim, as opposed to just turn around).
Edit: thanks minnnt
/aquariumadventure.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/importance-of-acclimatisation/ and what I consider to be the safest method at http/aquariumadventure.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/methods-of-acclimatisation/I recommend against guppies, the ram and neons may have a go at them.
As for "an expert", how do you really know that they were or were not? It might be a better idea to take the average of the advice from a few sources, definitely ask the people, but also do look at written sources too!
What reasoning did they give? My recommendation is based on that I have only ever seen 5-6" Bolivian rams in large tanks, while in small tanks I have only ever seen smaller adult specimens, my observations of various South American cichlids (many of which appear to benefit from interaction with their own kind) and my experience of seeing various sized fish in various sized tanks (I like to see my fish have enough space to swim, as opposed to just turn around).Edit: thanks minnnt
I actually did look for different sources didn't just go with what one person told me I googled everything and got advice from another forum it seemed perfect as for the guppies I mean I decided on them because they stay more to the top of the tank as I want something in each layer of the tank top middle bottom I will look at the web links when I get home as I'm writing all of this on my phone thanks for thee advice also the bolivian ram that I had gotten from the lfs was docile other bolivians chased him around and he just seemed to run away and avoid altercation so you can say he's a wuss I took long to choose I was in the lfs for about 2 hours thinking hard on which one to pick I believe I made the right choice it could be it was to fast to introduce him into the tank but it could also be that he's shy he seems to like the company of my panda corys
minnnt
Fish Expert
I believe it was me who said a pair of Bolivians and the Tetra's would possibly work... But i am by no means an expert. I have never seen Bolivians that big, but then again i haven't ever seen any that have been kept (until adult) in a big tank. From my research i have found that the general advice on size is more around the 3.5-4" mark... A size which i would consider ok the be kept in the sized tank you mentioned before. But the stated size maybe that of a specimen that hasn't been kept in a big aquarium like KK mentioned.
But i am by no means an expert. I have never seen Bolivians that big, but then again i haven't ever seen any that have been kept (until adult) in a big tank. From my research i have found that the general advice on size is more around the 3.5-4" mark... A size which i would consider ok the be kept in the sized tank you mentioned before. But the stated size maybe that of a specimen that hasn't been kept in a big aquarium like KK mentioned.It's not surprising that one would be picked on at the LFS as the tanks are usually too small for the usual number of fish per tank.. it makes sense in the short term because otherwise the LFS would never make a profit, but for longer term, it's not really the best environment partially because of what you observed. I really haven't had any fish which were ever that happy on their own, so I see it as only natural that it appreciates the company of the Corys.
Aye, I would probably say that most 3-4" TL fish that weren't too active would probably be ok in a 30" tank. That covers the exclusion of very active fish like (smaller) zebra danios and the inclusion of non-active fish like (larger) plecos, so I think you made a fair assumption given your experience with/research results about/knowledge of the fish
If you get a bigger tank, then I think you don't have a problem. I do recommend that you aim for length over height as a priority as the length will allow you to get a partner for the Bolivian ram (if you wish to) and give you the option of keeping a wider selection of fish. There are a few species where height matters (for example, angels and discus), but they need the length as well anyway.
I would get only neons and that's it, then wait until I could upgrade. Just be careful as some people have had poor experience with neons!
If you upgrade very soon, then I'd consider cardinals or rummy-nose tetras instead of neons. I would only think about getting a ram of the opposite sex once I had a bigger tank.
If you upgrade very soon, then I'd consider cardinals or rummy-nose tetras instead of neons. I would only think about getting a ram of the opposite sex once I had a bigger tank.
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