Ideal Setup For Ram Cichlids?

[claireby13]

I recently acquired a 90L tank from a friend (I think 24 gallons, approx? Sorry, I'm Australian so I'm not great at the conversions from metric). I had kept a pair of German Ram Cichlids in the past in my 200L community tank but it was a struggle looking after them in there because the water was so hard, so it was a constant battle to fight the pH levels dropping from neutral to about 8. The other fish (neon tetras, a pleco and rummynose tetras) have been with me for years upon years and seem so hardy now, they adjusted fine to the new conditions. Unfortunately, it wasn't perfect enough for the Rams to thrive so I returned them.

With this new 90L tank, I really want to make this a specialist tank for just 1 pair of Rams to thrive in, and some dither fish such as a small school of tetras as I've heard having gentle tank mates makes them feel less stressed. I was wondering if anyone has kept these fish in the past and could provide me with advice on softening the water, perfect water conditions for them, tips and tricks etc? I know this isn't the right place on the forum but I could only find the African cichlids section. I'm not looking so much to breed them
as I wouldn't have the space for their fry long-term.

Thanks!

 

[Munroco]

A bag of peat in the filter, leaves on the floor of your aquarium. Both would have the effect of bringing the ph down.

 

[Primous]

Hello and welcome to the board.
 
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "perfect enough for them to thrive." but I do understand what you mean by constantly fighting the PH as this is something I've done before. I live in London, the water here when it comes to aquariums is far from ideal as the parameters (GH, PH, KH, NH3, etc) fluctuate weekly. However, the good news is that if these rams are from your LFS you can keep them in a PH of 8 without issue. They simply need time to adjust to your params. I currently have electric blue rams in a low tech and after two months on a good diet they spawned.
 
Trying to obtain "perfect" conditions is costly. Patience and a good diet will temper any concerns you have in due course. They will flourish even at a PH of 8 and they are likely to spawn once they are settled.

 

[Byron]

As Primous has mentioned, the common ram [Mikrogeophagus ramirezi] in any of its forms is rather unique in that it will do well in varying water parameters.  By this I do not mean parameters that fluctuate within the aquarium--this will not work for this fish, as for many others--but stable parameters that are similar to those in which the fish was reared from hatching.  Wild-caught fish (which of course will only be the original species, not any of the man-made forms) do require the very soft and slightly acidic water.  If you can ascertain the source of the fish, meaning the hatchery, and learn their water parameters, remaining close to those will work.
 
As for tankmates, you are limited with a 90 litre aquarium (which is roughly 24 gallons).  I am assuming this tank is around 24 inches (60 cm) in length.  A pair of rams will be OK, provided they are bonded [will return to this].  As you are not interested in spawning them and saving fry, you could add some substrate fish like corys or whiptail (Rineloricaria species only, others get too large); these will almost inevitably eat any eggs or fry during darkness as they are nocturnal.  For upper fish, stay with close to the surface species, as the rams are lower half inhabitants.  But the small tank size reduces your options a bit, as you need smallish fish.  Hatchetfish and pencilfish are excellent here, but I must caution that most of these will be wild caught fish and thus require soft water.
 
At this point, do you know your GH (general hardness)?  This is actually the more important parameter as the minerals in hard water directly impact the fish's physiology.
 
On the bonding, you must let the rams select their own mate.  Not every male will accept every female, and vice-versa.  If you can observe a group in the store tank, finding a bonded pair is usually easy.  This is more important in small tanks as the fish have no where to escape their mate should they not get along.  Even in a 5-foot tank, my Bolivian Ram male hounded the female to death after they spawned four times; they had never really bonded, as in hindsight I was able to see from their actions over the few months.
 
Byron.