German Blue Or Bolvian For Planted 29g

[kris6458]

Hey All, im new here and needed some help. My 29 gallon tank has been cycling for almost a month and im going to start adding fish to it. I decided to make the tank a Planted SA tank this time. My plants have been in for about a week. I dont know if i should get German blue rams or Bolivian rams. Either way i would probably get 4 ( 2 pairs)

The stocking list i want to end up in the tank is going to be..

4 Rams (german or bolvian?)
12 (neon/cardinal tetras)
3 cory cats
1 BN pleco

Any help would be much appreciated. This picture is when i first planted, i added a few more anubus since then.

 

[bagu]

German Blue Rams need a higher temp of 28C preferably and a low soft pH of 6.5

you could have German Blue Rams and rummy nose tetras. Im not sure that neon tetras can handle the higher temp.

You can keep German Blue Rams, Rummy nose tetras, BN pleco, and Sterba Cory's can handle that temp i believe.

Also Rams need a mature tank but i think they are well more worth it that bolivian rams. I have German blue rams and my old bolivians are nothing compared to german blue rams; not to diss the bolivian rams or anything

Bagu =]

 

[Curiosity101]

Bagu! I covered my little bolivians eyes to stop him reading that

My vote would go for Bolivians as they are more acceptable of less than perfect water conditions. They can also be kept at more like 26C which is better for a larger selection of community fish.
And I think they're pretty in their own way.
<--------- My boy is in my pic

Just one thing, don't know exactly what th dimensions of the tank are, but I'm not sure you'd get away with two males in a 29gal.

 

[tenohfive]

Temp is less of an issue that water quality. I kept GBR's at 24 degrees with no problems, but if I missed a water change they'd get sulky. Personally I'd aim for minimum 40% weekly, though if you want to get the best out of them I'd aim for two 20% changes a week / 20% every 3 or 4 days. Ideally they should be kept in a low pH range, but again I've kept them in pH as high as 8.2 with no problems - again, water quality is key.

If you're looking to keep two pairs then from what I can see in the photo you'll need more plants and/or decoration. You need to create territories, and they need to be broken up. To give you some idea, have a look at the pic below - my CA tank prior to adding fish:

To the left you've got a decent size rock cave - one territory. Planting then breaks the line of sight between that and the bogwood pile - another territory. Then you've got a few caves and a gap behind the filter to the right. I've had to add more rocks to break things up a bit more, but it should give you a feel for it.

I've not kept Bolivian Rams, but they've got a reputation for being less fussy about water quality than GBR's so I'd give some serious thought to going for them - in the end I got tired of all the water changes when I kept mine.

Apart from that theres no major problems with your stocking list, though corys need to be kept in groups of at least 6.

 

[kris6458]

Ok heres a updated picture. I created a rock cave to the left, then added more anubus and vals on the right. I like how pretty german blue rams look, but I hear they are as fragile as discus. I guess im going to get bolivians because i dont want to do water change 30% every week. lol Plus i hear bolivians have more personality. I also want a nice scoal of 12 neons and cardinal tetras. Is my stocking list I wrote earlier resonable?

 

[tenohfive]

As long as you add to the corys - up to 6 - yes.

I couldn't comment on how much personality Bolivians have got - all I can say is I've only found one other fish (C. Sajica) with more character than GBR's. But I think by going with the Bolivians you're making a sensible choice.

And I'd look at moving some of the plants on the right towards the middle to create some sort of screen from the right third of the tank. Its still quite open plan.

 

[bagu]

Bagu! I covered my little bolivians eyes to stop him reading that

My vote would go for Bolivians as they are more acceptable of less than perfect water conditions. They can also be kept at more like 26C which is better for a larger selection of community fish.
And I think they're pretty in their own way.
<--------- My boy is in my pic

Just one thing, don't know exactly what th dimensions of the tank are, but I'm not sure you'd get away with two males in a 29gal.

im so sorry he is a pretty one though you have

sorry Bolivian Ram

 

[kris6458]

Thanks for all your input and help. The guy at the fish store said for my tank size i only need 4 plants, LOL I bought like 8. I thought i needed some grass or something for that open area.

 

[Curiosity101]

Ha! Silly fish shop worker. I have at least 80 plants in my 125l (33 US gal)
And that's 11 different species...
I'm only just managing to keep two male Bolivian rams happily together.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Ha! Silly fish shop worker. I have at least 80 plants in my 125l (33 US gal)
And that's 11 different species...
I'm only just managing to keep two male Bolivian rams happily together.

you have EIGHTY plants in a 125l? Any chance of a tank pic? I've only got a few (plastic) ones in my 125l and it looks pretty full. Would love to see how you've arranged such a large quantity of plants and hopefully steal some of your design ideas

 

[tenohfive]

Theres definately something to be said for a heavily planted tank, though personally I can't be bothered with CO2, T5's and ferts etc.