How should I stock my approximate 90L fish tank

[Dillan11]

Forgot to add that I think they had a bonded pair of blue rams at my lfs and it seemed as if they were burrowing pits in the sand. This means they want to bread right?

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[Byron]

And heating is not a problem because I already have a heater for the tank.

You may have misunderstood my earlier comments concerning the heat. I wasn't just meaning you had to heat the tank; my point was that the blue ram must have warmer water than many other tropical fish species, and species that prefer less warm water will be less healthy in water that is warmer.

Fish are ectothermic, meaning they cannot regulate their internal body temperature; they rely on the temperature of the water. So temperature drives the fish's metabolism, which means that their internal physiological processes will function according to the temperature. The higher the water temperature, the more energy the fish uses and the harder it works just to maintain its normal body functions. Continuously, this wears the fish out, they become weakened, the immune system begins to fail, and the fish will eventually die prematurely. The point of all this is that temperature is thus extremely important for fish health.

As an example, if you get blue rams, they will need the tank kept at no less than 80F (27C). IF you were to put neon tetra in with these rams, the neons (which function best at cooler temperatures) would find this warmth debilitating and weaken. In reverse, if you keep the tank around 75F (24C) to suit the neons, the blue rams would find this too cool and they would weaken.

Forgot to add that I think they had a bonded pair of blue rams at my lfs and it seemed as if they were burrowing pits in the sand. This means they want to bread right?

Maybe. Rams of both species feed off the substrate so they could be simply sifting through the sand to look for food. If however they are making shallow circular craters or pits with their bodies, they may well be close to spawning.

 

[Dillan11]

You may have misunderstood my earlier comments concerning the heat. I wasn't just meaning you had to heat the tank; my point was that the blue ram must have warmer water than many other tropical fish species, and species that prefer less warm water will be less healthy in water that is warmer.

Fish are ectothermic, meaning they cannot regulate their internal body temperature; they rely on the temperature of the water. So temperature drives the fish's metabolism, which means that their internal physiological processes will function according to the temperature. The higher the water temperature, the more energy the fish uses and the harder it works just to maintain its normal body functions. Continuously, this wears the fish out, they become weakened, the immune system begins to fail, and the fish will eventually die prematurely. The point of all this is that temperature is thus extremely important for fish health.

As an example, if you get blue rams, they will need the tank kept at no less than 80F (27C). IF you were to put neon tetra in with these rams, the neons (which function best at cooler temperatures) would find this warmth debilitating and weaken. In reverse, if you keep the tank around 75F (24C) to suit the neons, the blue rams would find this too cool and they would weaken.



Maybe. Rams of both species feed off the substrate so they could be simply sifting through the sand to look for food. If however they are making shallow circular craters or pits with their bodies, they may well be close to spawning.

Oh yes sorry for the misunderstanding. But it is circular pits so my guess is that their ready to breed.

It's too bad I don't have my tank alread set up.[emoji26] Any suggestions how to house them until later? Only if I could otherwise I will just have to wait and see.

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[Byron]

Oh yes sorry for the misunderstanding. But it is circular pits so my guess is that their ready to breed.

It's too bad I don't have my tank alread set up.[emoji26] Any suggestions how to house them until later? Only if I could otherwise I will just have to wait and see.

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

I would not recommend acquiring this fish (or any other for that matter) if you do not have their tank running. You could quarantine them for a few weeks in a QT, but I am assuming you have just the one tank intended. So I would leave them until the tank is completed and has been cycled and then running a couple weeks after that. These are sensitive fish. Some stores will hold fish in such circumstances. You do not want to be rushing this, the fish will likely die if you do.

 

[Dillan11]

Yeah thanks I thought it would stress the fish out

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[Dillan11]

I added my substrate, a sandy fine type, but now my whole tank is fogged up. I forgot to wash the sand and now I'm stuck with the fogged up tank.

I am now running my filter to clear the fogged tank. Is there anything I can do to clear it quicker.

I also have some stuff floating on the top. I just scoop it out with my net. Darn I just should have cleaned it but I was so excited to get my tank filled and running. Now I will have to start my cycle from the start [emoji22]

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[hobby5]

You could do a large water change as close to 100% as possible. But often enough it will just settle after one day. And yes you can net all the floating or swimming stuff.

 

[StevenF]

I would go with celestial pearl Danio and gold ring danio (sometimes called tinwini danio).

 

[Dillan11]

They look amazing but I doubt they can be put together with rams. Their water parameters sort of differs and that kinda sucks and I want some sort of dither fish. Would love to have a few of them though. Maybe in my next tank haha.

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[TekFish]

Cardinal Tetras and Firehead Tetras can do well at the higher temps needed for Rams. Fireheads are actually often kept with Discus too.

 

[Dillan11]

Yeah I thought of cardinals they seem to fit in the best.

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[Dillan11]

Today I hardscaped the aquarium. Well because I messed it up [emoji23] [emoji22]. Here's a foto of how it looked.

But I think the new look looks good and I'm still going to add plants hopefully tomorrow if I get time to stop at my lfs. Any comments, good or bad would be highly appreciated. It is still a bit cloudy but it probably would settle down by tomorrow.

Dillan

 

[Dillan11]

I was wondering how could I know if my tank has cycled without any testing kit

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

[Mrscmurray]

I was wondering how could I know if my tank has cycled without any testing kit

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

You can't really, you need to be able to measure the parameters.
I like the way it's starting to look though, I imagine it will look good once the plants are in and growing

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk

 

[Byron]

I was wondering how could I know if my tank has cycled without any testing kit

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

This is not easy, because every tank is biologically different and there is no set time. It normally takes somewhere between two and eight weeks, but again it can be longer. And this depends upon the amount of ammonia present to start the cycle off.

However, live plants can benefit. Once you have live plants, they take up ammonia/ammonium as their preferred form of nitrogen. This is a great benefit in new tanks, provided you have enough plants, some at least are fast growing, and they are showing signs of growing. I have used this method for many years with never a problem.

Byron.