German Blue Ram Compatability

[Djatwood3]

Hello all!

I was recently given a 29g tank by a friend, and would like to (after cycling it) move my fish from my 10g tank and add a few. In my current tank, I have a pair of German Blue Rams that I REALLY like. Thus, I would really like to add a second pair to my 29g tank, which will be highly planted and contain driftwood. Will the four fish get along? I haven't been able to find much on how this interaction will go.

Also, I really like Dwarf Gouramis..... I would love to be able to add one or two of them (m or m/f) to my tank. Would they get along with the GBRs and my Neon Tetras and guppies?

Sorry there is a lot going on here! Ideally, I would like to have 4 GBRs, and 2 DGs, but realize this may be a stretch.

I know all fish's personalities are different, but any advice or opinions on this would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[attibones]

Ideally, a single pair should be kept in a minimum of 30 gallons. These are my favorite fish and it hurts my heart to see them in small tanks. You shouldn't have had them in the ten gallon. However, if you move them to the 29, they'll do alright. Just don't get anymore. They'll get on well with the dwarf gourami though, as the rams will stay near the bottom and the gourami will be in the upper level. These gourami are fairly peaceful, just be sure to only get one male.

 

[Wills]

I agree with Attibones that it could work on aggression levels, and the fact that they are in different levels of the tank. But the thing that stands out to me is their water needs are pretty different.
 
Attibones what are your thoughts on the whole wild vs farm bred requirements?
 
Wills

 

[attibones]

I'm not entirely positive where my rams came from, but I have a strong suspicion mine came from farm-raised stock with the occasional wild raised thrown in. What research I've seen suggests that the farm raised ones are typically a little sturdier and closer to tap water conditions, therefore less sensitive. My pH is 7.4, a little high for breeding, but generally good for my whole stock, with midline hardness. My breeder had the fish in similar conditions with no ill results. Mine are actually pretty hardy, though I imagine they would be quite prone to disease with any fluctuation in ammonia (not much of an issue though).

I think that the wild ones need to be kept at a constant 6.8 pH, while the farm raised one can tolerate different pH levels with more ease. You'll also have to be doubly sure that the tank is cleaned frequently. Water changes twice a week and all that with the wild ones as they are more sensitive, but I'm not too well versed on the whole idea. I just know that these fish have plenty of personality and are beautiful.

Also, as I'm looking into dwarf gourami for a different tank with apistos, what sorts of water parameters do the gourami need?

 

[Wills]

Yeah thats the same as me, I always find discussing them on the forum really hard because when you buy from a shop its so so hard to know the lineage as to what they need to kept in. Sounds like your quite lucky in the sense that you know the breeder you got them from. And I agree with you on your stock it suits your tap water with the live bearers etc I think your plans for the Apistos should be okay, they are a little hardier than the Blue Rams though I would avoid the rarer species or rare caughts.
 
Back to Djatwood though just because of the complexity of above how do you feel about Bolivian Rams? These are much more flexible than the Blue Rams as terms of water requirements but offer a similar personality if not a little more peaceful.
 
Wills

 

[attibones]

Bolivians would probably fair better. They're less picky about water, but OP already has the rams, so if rehoming them is not an option, then they shall have to keep them.

 

[Djatwood3]

Well I already have the German Blue Rams, so i plan to keep them. If not I would have considered the Bolivians How does this sound for the whole 29g tank...
 
-6 Neon Tetras
-6 Danios
-2 GBR
-1 DG
-4 guppies
-1/2 algae eaters
 
Sound okay?
 
And thank you all so much for your help!

 

[attibones]

How does one have half a fish?

Either way, danios need to be out of the mix. They prefer cooler water, where the rams prefer temps at around 80-82. Personally, I'd get rid of the guppies (I hate guppies), but up the number of tetras. It may also be worth considering the much hardier cardinal tetra. You could do, I dunno, ten of those, and the rams for sure. Willis mentioned the gourami chemistry being off for rams, so I would listen to him. If you get rid of the gourami too, your stock could be like this:

2x GBR
12-14x tetra
4x otocinclus

What do you mean by algae eater, by the way?

 

[r.w.girard]

I used to have a Dwarf Gourami with my pair of Bolivian Rams - it died of cancer - and it was just belligerent.  It would chase the male and the female around.  Sometimes they would fight back, but mostly they hid.  In fact, the lack of violence was how I found out the Gourami was sick.  Anyway, I would say that really, they are not such a great mix.  And I find it hard to imagine that German Blue Rams would fare better.  But that is just my two cents.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well I already have the German Blue Rams, so i plan to keep them. If not I would have considered the Bolivians

How does this sound for the whole 29g tank...
 
-6 Neon Tetras
-6 Danios
-2 GBR
-1 DG
-4 guppies
-1/2 algae eaters
 
Sound okay?
 
And thank you all so much for your help!

 

 
I think that it would be better to have either 0 or 1 algae eaters.  1/2 seems like it would be a problem. 

 
A 29 isn't that large a tank.  What kind of danios are you discussing?  Zebra danios are extremely active swimmers and really wouldn't be suitable to that size tank.  Also as pointed out, the temps don't match up well.  Neons and DGs get along fine in my experience.
 
 
For algae eating, you might be better off with some shrimp, rather than a fish.  I don't know from experience, but I believe that some Amano shrimp would work well in that tank.  They'd be big enough to not be threatened by the rams and are excellent algae eaters.  Red Cherrys look nicer, but being smaller, they may not work well in that tank.