135litre stocking advice.

[Michaelwolfe92]

The dimensions are 80cm(L) x 42cm(D) x 50cm(H) I'm planning on stocking it with
1x angelfish
1x electric blue ram
1x gold ram
1x cockatoo cichlid
6-10 dwarf neon rainbow fish
The tank will have lot of hiding places.
And my filtration is x2-x3 times what I need.
What's you opinions please?

 

[NickAu]

Hi

First things first, Water parameters, Whats your PH is your water soft or hard? If you don't have a test kit you can find the parameters on your water authorities web site.

 

[Michaelwolfe92]

Hi, My tank is currently re cycling, I stripped it down from fresh water set up to change to salt water but things changed so I'm going back to fresh water now, I'm just thinking of a stocking plan now while it's cycling. Do you think those fish will work okay together, I'm happy to change the cockatoo cichlid to another ram like a German blue ram and lower the school of rainbow fish. Thanks

 

[Essjay]

Whats your PH is your water soft or hard?

As Nick says, what are your pH and hardness? We need to know those before we can comment on your fish selection.

 

[Michaelwolfe92]

Il text my tap water soon, it's not that hard i don't think iv kept German blue rams before without dying on me would you say the fish in my list is okay or overstocked and will they be all okay together ?

 

[Essjay]

Assuming you do have soft water -

Personally, I wouldn't keep an angelfish in that tank. It is tall enough but I don't think the tank is long enough for these fish.

I also wouldn't mix two species of dwarf cichlid (ram and apisto) unless the tank had a much bigger footprint.

With rams it would be better to study the shop tank and choose an already bonded pair of just one colour rather than one electric blue and one gold. Watching the shop tank for half an hour will indicate if any of the fish have bonded
And just a bonded pair, no more.

 

[Michaelwolfe92]

Sorry I thought all three rams were the same just different colour, so I assumed they would get on together, couldn't I have one of each but just all males or all females, and what do you think to the rainbows, they only grow about 2-3inch don't they what size school could I keep?

 

[Essjay]

Sorry, I should have made it clearer.

It is better to buy an already bonded pair of rams. Buying a male and a female doesn't mean they'll get on. Two males is not a good idea, though it might be OK with two females.
Shops tend to keep the different coloured rams in different tanks - or they do in the shops near me. There is no way to choose a bonded pair from fish in different tanks.
If you want a pair of bonded rams they will have to be the same colour just because of the way shops keep them. If you want one of each colour you will need to get 2 females - though even then it is not guaranteed they'll get on.


I once had dwarf neon rainbows in a tank 107 cm long and they were so active I gave them away, it made me tired just watching them. Provided you are prepared for such active fish - and their tank mates can cope - a shoal of 8 should be OK, with at least 2 females per male.

 

[Michaelwolfe92]

Sorry to make it seem like I wasn't listening to what you said, I was only asking about the gold ram and the blue ram because one of my local fish stores had, gold, electric blue and German blue rams in the same tank. I love active fish, I had some boesmani rainbows because some guy at a local fish store told me I could keep 8 in my tank which I soon found I couldn't and returned them to him as it wasn't fair on the fish!

 

[Essjay]

If your shop mixes rams in the same tank, that makes it easier. If you watch a tank for half an hour you should be able to spot a pair of fish that have bonded, and they cold be mixed colours. Otherwise, get all females, but be prepared to take action if they don't get on.
I've only ever seen the different colours in separate tanks in shops.

 

[NickAu]

How To Sex German Blue Rams, Microgeophagus Ramirezi
http://www.aquaeden.co.uk/how_to_sex_german_blue_rams.html

 

[Byron]

We still need the water parameters of your source water (tap it seems here), but there are some issues. First, I completely agree with all that essjay has posted to date, so I won't repeat (I hope).

You mention liking active fish...fine, but do not combine them with sedate fish, that simply won't work to the good of the sedate fish. All cichlids (Neotropical that is, African rift lake are different) are sedate, and this includes angelfish, rams, dwarf apistos, etc. These when combined with active swimming fish will be "on edge" so to speak, and that means stress and health issues.

Another issue is temperature. Rams need warmth, meaning warmer than many other "tropical" fish will be happy with. Your lack of success in the past with rams may have been temperature; when maintained below 80F this fish will not live it full lifespan, at least I've never heard of it happening.

So from the original list in post #1, and not knowing the water parameters yet, the only fish suitable are the rainbowfish (if you have these, obviously leaving them out changes things).

Byron.

 

[Michaelwolfe92]

Il have a proper look in the tank when i do go! Thanks for all your help and advice it's much appreciated