Additions To My Tank/stocking

[Ri-Za]

Hi all,

So I currently have a 125 litre tank which currently has 6 glowlight tetras and one german blue ram who have been in there for quite a few months now and are all getting on great, I would like to add to my stocking as its not exactly full yet.
Also, my tank is quite heavily planted which they all seem to really enjoy. I was considering getting some cardinal tetras and some cherry shrimp but I don't know too much about the shrimp so will need to do some research on those.
What do you guys reckon I should add to my community tank? I am open to suggestions I shall try to post a pic of what it currently looks like later on!

 

[Wills]

Hi quite a good situation to be in really with the Blue Ram as the Glowlights can tollerate the high tropical temperatures the Blue Rams need.

Blue Rams are not really an ideal community fish. In community tanks they will live to about 18 months - 2 years where as they can actually live for 5 or 6 years. They often will not be at their best in mid temps and tap ph. The other disadvantage of keeping them like this is they become slightly stressed like a lone tetra in a tank it will be fine day to day but when you add more fish it can stress them and any thing brought in on new fish the Ram will have a higher chance of catching it than if kept in conditions closer to their requirements.

You are better off using alder cones, almond leaves and drifwood to lower the ph to around 6.5 and have the temperature set at 28. Dont use ph down products though as this is unreliable - you could use peat in your filter but this is expansive and can colour your water where as the cones and leaves will not and it makes for a nice natural looking tank as well. It is quite an easy route as well - just slowley add more leaves and cones and it will gradually get the levels down.

For tank mates you could consider fish such as Rummy Nose Tetras and Sterbai Cories there are also a few small plec species that do well in high temperature tanks like King Tigers as an example. When researching your fish make sure you find other fish that do well in low ph and high temperatures - for example Guppies and Platies are not suited to this tank as they prefer neutral to high ph and lower temperatures.

For me a stocking could be.

4 Blue Rams - try to get 4 pairs but you can mix the colours (Blue, Gold, Orange and Electric Blue)
10 Rummy Nose Tetras
10 Glow Light Tetras
10 Sterbai Cories

Which would make a nice little tank IMO lots of action and with 4 Rams lots of little characters

Wills

 

[eaglesaquarium]

For me a stocking could be.

4 Blue Rams - try to get 4 pairs but you can mix the colours (Blue, Gold, Orange and Electric Blue)
10 Rummy Nose Tetras
10 Glow Light Tetras
10 Sterbai Cories

Which would make a nice little tank IMO lots of action and with 4 Rams lots of little characters

Wills

That sounds like a lovely tank.

 

[Man of fish]

+2

 

[Rummynose]

Seeing I'm still new to this hobby, I'm not the most reliable source, but I have a 30 gallon (113 liters) 36 inch (92 cm) long tank with 9 Rummynose Tetras. I can't imagine 10 Rummynose and 10 other Tetras in there, plus the other fish in that stocking suggestion.

Will those extra 3 gallons really make that much of a difference?

 

[Ri-Za]

Thanks for your help guys

My ram has been doing great the past few month since I changed a lot of my plants and re-scaped my tank, he seems to be really enjoying the hiding spots and the new food I have been feeding him. He doesn't seem stressed at the moment, although this might be due to the fact that there are only 6 other fish in there at the moment!

I have been doing a little bit more research on some of the fish suggested and some other fish I have seen at local lfs'. I like the idea of increasing the numbers of my glowlights and adding more rams to my tank, I am slightly unaware of other rams so I think I will have to research these a bit more unless anyone has any great links with lots of pics?
I am not a massive fan of cories, I have never had any but I just can't get excited about them when I see them. Would a small shoal of shrimp be an alternative or would my ram pick them off?
Another shoal of tetras also sound good, possibly not rummy nose but maybe neon/cardinal.

Any other options are always welcome

 

[Wills]

I dont think that stocking would over run a 30 gallon tank to be fair It would need a pretty standard care routine - but nothing above what people should be doing anyway (weekly water changes and regular filter cleans)

The problem with having Blue Rams Ri-Za is that they have pretty special needs as I said above. The first thing to know about Rams is there are two species - Blue Rams (which are the same species as Golds and Electric Blues) and the other is the Bolivian Ram. Bolivian Rams are a much easier to care for fish and can often work brilliantly in community tanks as they tolerate neutral ph pretty well and can handle more average communities and live out a full life span in these conditions. Where as Blue Rams are more sensitive and need the higher range.

The reason I suggest keeping Rams in such a specific way is not because he will show signs of stress right now but long term it will shorten his life span. When kept in cooler water it slows their metabolism so when they are rasied from being young in this water some parts do not form as fast as they are needed into maturity which can lead to all sorts of issues though most of the problems are to do with the gills and digestive system from whats been reported on various forums. Also when kept in a ph that is close to neutral or higher these issues get worse. I know that in recent months on this forum there have been a number of people saying their Rams, kept in community tanks, in tap water have died of no obvious reason at around 2 years.

The reason I suggested adding in specifically Rummy Nose Tetras and Sterbai Cories is because they also thrive in the high temperatures and low ph that the Rams do - there are not many other species that will do well in the same way. I believe Cardinals would work but are a larger growing species of Tetra so would need to be kept in a smaller school.

Got to be honest based on your response to my first post I would swap your Blue Ram for a Bolivian Ram or even a pair of Bolivians as you obviously want quite a diverse tank and do not want the limitations that Blue Rams will place on you. And you would be better off rehoming the ram somewhere that wants the Blue Ram specifically or swapping to the Bolivian - or other Dwarf Cichlids would work like Apistogramma aka Cockatoo Cichlid (or other Apisto species) or Laetacara, either Dwarf Flag Cichlids or Red Breasted Acaras.

Perhaps a bit of thinking and reading and then make a decision on which way you want to take the tank

Wills

 

[Ri-Za]

Ah right that's good to hear, I tend to do water changes every two weeks at the moment but it all depends on my water conditions over the week.

Umm, thanks for your help Wills, I think that I will consider moving or swapping my current ram for two Bolivians for now and just keep it at two. So how would this possibly look as a stocking?

2 Bolivian Rams (1f and 1m)
10 Cardinal Tetras
10 Glow Light Tetras
xx Shrimp

I am slightly unsure about shrimp still, I did some research on here last night and find out quite a lot which was handy. Some possible things though, would the rams eat the shrimp at all? Ideally I wouldn't want them breeding to be honest so could I get different species to counteract it? What would you suggest shrimp wise?

Thanks

 

[Wills]

Good news I think if you got Cherry Shrimp the Rams might eat them - particularly the young ones but if you can get a good colony going it might work out. But Amano Shrimps are larger and could work out better.

Your stock plans look good With shrimp I would add 6 or 7 and see what the population gets too, the Rams might help to keep it under control but they will breed and after a while you could end up selling on batches of the Shrimp to keep the population under control IMO you have some more room for some more fish in there as well - are there any other species you like?

Wills

 

[Ri-Za]

That's good to no, I might go for a few cherry shrimp and see how it goes as I prefer them over Amano shrimp. I think that I will need to re-scape my tank a little as I have a big ornament in there which I don't think suits it too much. I have some rocks that I might stick in there and cover with some sort of moss which the shrimp will like and prefer and then add some more plants possibly to cover up the big gap there will be.
I have finally managed to get my plants to stay alive now after getting some useful advice on fertiliser but they don't appear to be growing which is a shame. I was thinking that I need to add a co2 system but I no nothing about them to be honest. I currently have very low light plants, java fern, anubias etc with the following lights;
One Power-Glo Fluorescent Aquarium Tube 20W
One Aqua-Glo Fluorescent Aquarium Tube 20W
Would you suggest I get a co2 system to help my plants grow and remove my ornament to aid my shrimp in the tank?

 

[Ri-Za]

So I was thinking of getting some sort of moss to have a bit of a 'carpet' in the front of the tank for the shrimp and hopefully cover over two smallish rocks that I have to give it a bit of depth. I am just not entirely sure as to whether my current dosing is going that well. I have two 20W lights that some with the tank and I dose every week but it hasn't seemed to made a difference. The plants are surviving but not growing, although some of the plants are dying slightly. Should I be considering upgrading my lights or dose more or try out a co2 system? Ideally I don't want to have a co2 system as I wanted to have a easy to maintain planted tank, hence why I went for the beginner plants.

Any suggestions are always helpful and welcomed

 

[Ri-Za]

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My current tank at the moment...open to suggestions

At the moment I am keeping my ornament there as my ram enjoys it but I would move it if I could create a better layout/scape for him and my other fish.