180 Gallon Stocking Tank! Need New Ideas!

[BluePhantom]

So I have been doing a lot of research and I love tiger barbs and the other ones but it seems like they dont have that many compatible tank mates. I also have seen the German Blue Rams.

So what are some tank mates to build around a center piece of German Blue Ram? Thats would hep tons! Its a 180 gallon tank! So would the barbs be cool with the GBRs? if I got say a school of 12 and they just pick on each other or no? thanks! picking fish is way harder then i thought! lol

 

[Randomitity]

If you do GBR I would say go with fish that wont get to big to eat it or harass it to badly like i have my GBR with female betta and seen them with tetra and with 180 gallon tank you could get a few GBR who will then split up and start trying to chose who gets what territories.

As for Tiger Barbs I know very little about since I have never raised them

 

[fishchick]

I don't know much about GBR's but I've had tiger barbs in my community tank for three years and have been lucky with them getting along with most everything i've have in there. They have a tendency to be very bad fin nippers and for that reason I no longer have any of my angel fish, as the barbs ate their fins and killed them..they are a shoaling fish and do best in numbers of five or greater..They are definately a beautiful addition to any tank but you do have to keep a close eye on them around any long finned fish. Hope this helps

 

[fishchick]

i just found this on another website for you:

Angels, Cories, Pleco, Pearl Gouramis, Zebra Danios, Otos, Peacock Gudgeons


Supposedly are good compatible tank mates with GBR's. Although one thing they did say is that if your planning on breeding them, not to include the cories due to the fact that they are bottom dwellers and will interfere with the GBR's nest, which will result in the GBR's attacking them..

 

[BluePhantom]

If you do GBR I would say go with fish that wont get to big to eat it or harass it to badly like i have my GBR with female betta and seen them with tetra and with 180 gallon tank you could get a few GBR who will then split up and start trying to chose who gets what territories.

As for Tiger Barbs I know very little about since I have never raised them

Are bolivian rams much diff? I just stumbled on them now. Do you know anything about them? thanks again

i just found this on another website for you:

Angels, Cories, Pleco, Pearl Gouramis, Zebra Danios, Otos, Peacock Gudgeons


Supposedly are good compatible tank mates with GBR's. Although one thing they did say is that if your planning on breeding them, not to include the cories due to the fact that they are bottom dwellers and will interfere with the GBR's nest, which will result in the GBR's attacking them..

Thanks man. where did you find it?

 

[Randomitity]

I have had friends who own Bolivian Rams and said they are territorial and can be kept in breeding pairs (which they do)and one of them keeps them with tinfoil barbs other then that all I know is they like the same aquarium set up as GBR like

 

[Tizer]

I have 4 Bolivian Rams in my 240 litre, two have paired up and have tried breeding but are not very good at it. They dont seem to do much more than charge at the other fish to move them away from their eggs, not once have i seen them attempt to bite. My Kribs do very much the same thing and are perhaps a little more agressive, but again, no nipping. I've actually got 4 fry left over from their last breeding efforts that are now bigger than my panda corys and it looks like they are about to breed yet again as the female is hiding.

As you have 180 Gallons to play around with, you should really be thinking about minimum schooling sizes of at least 20 fish. Your tank is massive. Personally, i wouldnt get tiger barbs, i would look at the 5 banded version which are just as pretty and far far less agressive.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would add that Bolivian Rams are considered to much hardier than German Blue Rams.


If this were my tank, I would put gravel in some areas with a lot of caves, hiding places spread out between large dividers (rocks, driftwood, etc.) to break up the tank into separate territories for the Rams, and I would add in some Apistogrammas (dwarf cichlids who are every bit as beautiful as the rams). Then between the little island territories I would fill the rest of the substrate with sand, and have a huge school of large cories - Bronze grow to about 3" and would be tougher than smaller varieties if they stumbled into a territory of a breeding pair. (I think the addition of the sand would allow the cories a large enough area to patrol along the bottom with their preferred media and they should stay away from the gravelly spots. I would also suggest building up the height of the gravelly areas slightly so that the cories recognize a clear difference between the sand and the gravel areas.



That would take care of your bottom area of the tank. For the mid and top levels, I would look into two (or maybe three) large shoals of fish that are very different in appearance from each other. Maybe a shoal of cardinal tetras (as Tizer said at least 20), and a shoal of black skirt tetras, red phantom tetras, or similar. I think in a tank that large, a tight shoaling variety like the black skirt tetra would be far more visually pleasing than a group of cherry barbs who barely shoal together. (I will also second the five banded barb recommendation. If they were readily available near me, I'd be getting a shoal of them! They look just as good as the tigers, but far less aggressive.)

 

[BluePhantom]

I have 4 Bolivian Rams in my 240 litre, two have paired up and have tried breeding but are not very good at it. They dont seem to do much more than charge at the other fish to move them away from their eggs, not once have i seen them attempt to bite. My Kribs do very much the same thing and are perhaps a little more agressive, but again, no nipping. I've actually got 4 fry left over from their last breeding efforts that are now bigger than my panda corys and it looks like they are about to breed yet again as the female is hiding.

As you have 180 Gallons to play around with, you should really be thinking about minimum schooling sizes of at least 20 fish. Your tank is massive. Personally, i wouldnt get tiger barbs, i would look at the 5 banded version which are just as pretty and far far less agressive.

Ok sounds good I have head about them they had them at my lfs. I just love the color the rams have. And breeding would be really cool thanks.

I would add that Bolivian Rams are considered to much hardier than German Blue Rams.


If this were my tank, I would put gravel in some areas with a lot of caves, hiding places spread out between large dividers (rocks, driftwood, etc.) to break up the tank into separate territories for the Rams, and I would add in some Apistogrammas (dwarf cichlids who are every bit as beautiful as the rams). Then between the little island territories I would fill the rest of the substrate with sand, and have a huge school of large cories - Bronze grow to about 3" and would be tougher than smaller varieties if they stumbled into a territory of a breeding pair. (I think the addition of the sand would allow the cories a large enough area to patrol along the bottom with their preferred media and they should stay away from the gravelly spots. I would also suggest building up the height of the gravelly areas slightly so that the cories recognize a clear difference between the sand and the gravel areas.



That would take care of your bottom area of the tank. For the mid and top levels, I would look into two (or maybe three) large shoals of fish that are very different in appearance from each other. Maybe a shoal of cardinal tetras (as Tizer said at least 20), and a shoal of black skirt tetras, red phantom tetras, or similar. I think in a tank that large, a tight shoaling variety like the black skirt tetra would be far more visually pleasing than a group of cherry barbs who barely shoal together. (I will also second the five banded barb recommendation. If they were readily available near me, I'd be getting a shoal of them! They look just as good as the tigers, but far less aggressive.)

yes ill have to check the dwarf chilids you were talking about. Black skirt tetra are cool do you have any other suggestions for schools that stay really tight?

 

[fluttermoth]

What are the dimensions of your tank; length, height and width OP?

 

[fishchick]

I just google'd compatible tank mates for German Blue Ram's and it came up with a whole bunch of stuff

If you do GBR I would say go with fish that wont get to big to eat it or harass it to badly like i have my GBR with female betta and seen them with tetra and with 180 gallon tank you could get a few GBR who will then split up and start trying to chose who gets what territories.

As for Tiger Barbs I know very little about since I have never raised them

Are bolivian rams much diff? I just stumbled on them now. Do you know anything about them? thanks again

i just found this on another website for you:

Angels, Cories, Pleco, Pearl Gouramis, Zebra Danios, Otos, Peacock Gudgeons


Supposedly are good compatible tank mates with GBR's. Although one thing they did say is that if your planning on breeding them, not to include the cories due to the fact that they are bottom dwellers and will interfere with the GBR's nest, which will result in the GBR's attacking them..

Thanks man. where did you find it?

I don't know anything about Bolivian's sorry..I can do some research for ya though and if i find anything interesting i'll post the link for you

 

[fishchick]

here is a compatibility chart for the bolivian ram i found for you online hope it helps

http/www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm

 

[BluePhantom]

What are the dimensions of your tank; length, height and width OP?

Its 6 feet long. 2 ft high an2ft wide

here is a compatibility chart for the bolivian ram i found for you online hope it helps

http/www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm

Thanks man. Are these charts 100% right or 90% cause I have heard that thy may not be perfect

 

[Randomitity]

Thanks man. Are these charts 100% right or 90% cause I have heard that thy may not be perfect

More like 40% if that

 

[eaglesaquarium]

+1



They lump all cichlids into the same category, all barbs, all tetras, etc.

Five banded barbs and cherry barbs are far more compatible than tiger barbs.

Apistogrammas and rams are far more compatible than convicts, jack dempseys, oscars, etc.