Good Tank Mates?

[Burningsky]

As I continue to think about a cichlid tank (mbuna tank vs a peacock/hap tank,etc) I came across a German Blue Ram. In his picture, he looks very colorful...but I wonder how colorful he really is in real life.

Which fish would be good tank mates if we go with the German Blue Ram? Specifically, which other cichlids?

Here is the picture listed(wondering how accurate it is)

 

[freddyk]

What size tank?

 

[Burningsky]

Sorry! 55 gallon tank.

 

[scrappy]

Heres a picture of my rams for comparison... obviously my amateur picture taking has to be taken into account and although the male doesnt look like hes got as much sparkly luminescent blue on him on the picture than the female, hes actually got a lot more than the female.

Male:

Female:

 

[freddyk]

Sure, what I would do is get about 5 or 6 more rams and let a couple of pairs form. You can fit 2 pairs no problem, some would go as far as 3 but I prefer to give them more space to live. Keeping them in pairs is how you get the most natural behavior, so you'll enjoy them that much more. Then you have a world of options as far as mid and top dwelling non-cichlidfish, like many tetra's and rasbora's. since these guys stick near the bottom (and like a good amount of cover). If you can't find more rams then perhaps you can go with another dwarf, like an Apistogramma, instead.