Completed my cichlid population this morning :)

[yvez9]

I went to the lfs to get one last plant for my tank and saw a tank of german blue rams so decided i should get them as i wanted to get them to complete my cichlid setup. I've just released them from their bags a few minutes ago

I hope they'll do well with the bolivian rams as one of them seems to be quite a bully in there, chasing the female away most of the time.

The guppies are leaving any day now so I'll only be missing two top dwellers, most likely gouramis and 3 otos to clear the algea! (i shouldn't be overstocked right?, anyway, i'm getting the otos first, I'll see for the rest later if it seems too crowded)

I sure am happy I found out about you guys to educate on healthy fish keeping
thanks for all your help!!!

See update below

 

[WILDER]

Congrats, just keep an eye on test results and you should be fine.

 

[guppymonkey]

That sounds like a great tank set up, the ottos should work but I would probably keep an eye on most gouramis as they can get a little bossy at times. I would probably suggest pearl gouramis, they are the most peaceful of any of the gouramis and have really nice color. Good luck with the rams, hopefully the bolivians and german blue rams won't see each other as rivals. They are generally peaceful fish though, soon you will have little schools of ram fry swimming around the tank! Good luck and good job!

 

[yvez9]

I decided against the otos and opted for a big mouth pleco instead. And maybe a little scavenger fish or invert to clean up the bottom sometimes in the next few weeks...

I'm also reconsidering the gouramis altogether now as the 4 rams seem to enjoy their space.

I moved out 2 more guppies tonight and set my gf with one of my filter media. She had cycled fishless for about a week when i figured out it would be easier to just give her media. I tested her water and ammonia was already low and nitrites were getting there so with my media, the tank should be cycled in a few days.

Well the 2 male rams I have are really trying to establish a hierarchy here.
My bolivian ram is about 2 inches long as opposed to an inch and a half to the blue ram. But let me tell you the blue ram is showing character right now! The other rams just swim away as soon as the larger male comes up. But my blue ram just fights him a little bit but usually has to concede victory in the end


The pleco has already cleaned off some algea on my fron glass so all is going well so far!

If the agressiveness between the ram doesn't stop, I might return a pair and get something else.