German Rams, And Other Rams....?

[Jeff000]

I bought a 37 gallon tank today 18-20" and I cant remember how tall, but its pretty tall.
Anyways While I was wondering around I saw some very nice looking german rams. and there were a couple other rams aswell that I cant remember their name.

My question is how big do these fish get? and how hard are they to care for? if I have like 4 of them would they fight?

I plan on having a drftwood and rock structure tank. so there will be lots of hiding spots.

I also got 2 clusters of ceramic balls that have bacteria that they sell to help set up a tank, I just put them in the bottom corner, but had thought about putting them right into the rocks as I think it would look good, but dont know if it would be good.
I also got some amonia, but dont know how much to put in.

I was told I could put fish in after just 24 hours, but I think I will wait at least a week, and I dont think it will be rams. Some other community tank type fish though and only a couple.

Google gives me contradicting information about rams, I cant seem to be able to search rams on here, and cant seem to find what the other rams were called.

Thanks for any help, sorry if this is in the wrong place, but i couldnt figure out where to put it.

 

[Torrean]

If you don't add fish within 24-48 hours the ceramic balls will be useless and you WILL experience a cycle. The bacteria on the balls needs ammonia to survive. The Ammonia is produced by fish waste.

Take a look at the fish index in SA cichlids if you want to know about rams. They should be in there and that is usually a pretty good resource. Also asking around in the SA cichlid forum might not hurt.

If the store told you that you can fully stock your tank then I suggest you do so quickly. Well no I don't mean that. You need to thouroughly research all the fish your going to stock your tank with before you buy any. So I suggest that you either develop a proper stocking list in the next 24 hours (pretty hard to do) or you go buy some pure clear ammonia and read about fishless cycling in the pinned topics of the beginners forum. If you need any links to these resources please ask and I'll round them up for you.

If the ceramic balls were not very expensive you can scrap them and buy more when you buy your fish. The waiting 24 hours thing is odd. I don't see any benefit and there are a few problems with it that I can think of. Good luck and ask if you need any more help.

 

[mandi]

I agree with Torrean -- I would go buy some pure ammonia and do a fishless cycle (the ceramic balls should help it along).

I've researched rams a little bit, but I've never kept them myself -- from what I recall you want them to be one of the *last* fish you add to your tank. German blue rams in particular are extremely sensitive to water conditions, so you want your tank fully stablilized before adding them. (I *think* bolivian rams are slightly less demanding, but I'm not 100% sure on that.) Rams are pretty peaceful except when spawning, and well-suited to a tropical community. I think they get to about 3" max so they stay relatively small

... I'm sure someone more knowledgable about rams can give you more specifics!!

 

[SamUK]

i have 2 male bolivian rams in my tank and there right little gits!

its probably cos i have 2 males i kno but they chase everyone from clown loaches to my big angel fish.


think they were the cause behind my female angels death and she had jus paired up

they dont seem to actually bite but they chase alot and i think it stressed her out.


having sed that tho i have never heard anyone else have the same problems so i do put it down to me having 2 males.

must get a female or 2 me thinks.

 

[Jeff000]

I also got some amonia, but dont know how much to put in.

^^^ As I said in my first post.
Last night I put in about a quater ounce of amonia, I think that might have been too much, even this morning it was pretty high, and the nitrates were high too, still trying to figure out what that means.
Tonight if everything evens out I think I will get 2 or 3 fish, maybe a couple guppies and something else.

Rams are sure pretty though, I dont know why more people dont have them

 

[Torrean]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=73365

Sorry about that. I missed that line of text somehow. That link should help you along with the ammonia thing.