Blue Rams?

[NorthEastFisherman]

Im adding fish to my 29 gallon tank and so far theres a rainbow shark and gourami. Im going to be adding corys tetras and maybe some barbs and im wondering if a blue ram or some sort of ram would be a good community fish. Just tell me all about these rams because i'd like to get one if its possible without having any fights in my tank. Thanks!

 

[VTDrew]

I had a wonderful blue ram in my 20. He got along with a dwarf gourami, serpaes, neon's and an apisto. unfortunately he was extremely sensitive and just died one day. Same thing happened with my previous ram. They are very hard to keep, I gave up on them.

 

[NorthEastFisherman]

Thanks for the info!

 

[mark4785]

I would highly recommend a GBR for your set-up providing it is a female. Male GBR's can become very aggressive towards Corydoras and other bottom-dwellers, in addition to Tetras.

You should take into account that unlike your present stock, GBR's require a higher water temperature of 27-28 degrees C, very low nitrate levels (below 20ppm is ideal) and soft to very soft carbonate hardness.


The problem with male GBR's is two fold:

1. If you place it with the aforementioned stock, it could begin competing for food and in doing so bite/nip other fish to the point that it actually kills itself from stress induced lowered immunity, making them more susceptible to diseases like hole-in-the-head/Hexamita. From experience, male GBR's must be kept separately to other fish to take into account the potential aggressive streak that they have.

2. If you place it in unsuitable water conditions, it will let you know by dying fairly quickly or through stress induced lowered immunity, often leading again to diseases like HITH/hexamita.