My New Balloon Rams

[Gill]

they are adorable aren't they. mine have settled in well and look just as vibrant as yours

 

[snowflake311]

I had 2 blue balloon rams. 2 males not a good mix. Once they matured the dominate male killed the weaker one . Then the other one died of old age. They are fun and very cute, but can be little firecrackers. They don't know how small they are half the time. mine were shy around me they would hide when I came up to check on them not like some other cichlids like my Keyhole who comes running to the front of the tank looking for food.

 

[pippoodle]

they are adorable aren't they. mine have settled in well and look just as vibrant as yours

post some pics hun they are so gorgeous

 

[Truck]

nice fish, just beware that they are sensitive fish nitrates above 20ppm arent really acceptable, and 28oC is needed for their health or they will deteriorate rapidly. at lower temps they face hexamita, and slowing of the metabolism

Hey Truck,

Does the 20 ppm apply to nitrates supplied through fertilization?

Thanks for the tip about the temp. I'll keep that in mind when I can find some of these gold rams.

They are pretty.

Thanks.

Greg

when fertilising you shold be aiming for 15-20ppm of nitrates which is fine for rams as long as it doesnt go over.

 

[electric yellow]

Oh wow! I havent seen any of those before. I fell in love with GBRams. I have four of them and they are stunning. I have 1 girl and 3 boys (i think) There is def 1 pair. I should get some of yours

 

[Truck]

Oh wow! I havent seen any of those before. I fell in love with GBRams. I have four of them and they are stunning. I have 1 girl and 3 boys (i think) There is def 1 pair. I should get some of yours

you will need to buy 2 more females if space permits or loose 2 males (1 pair per 20 gallons)

 

[bagu]

they are stunning!

 

[pippoodle]

they are stunning!

Thankyou hun
2 are pairing off so the spare female will go in the 60ltr rekord with the spare female bolivian if they have any agressiveness sent their way

 

[kcharley]

nice fish, just beware that they are sensitive fish nitrates above 20ppm arent really acceptable, and 28oC is needed for their health or they will deteriorate rapidly. at lower temps they face hexamita, and slowing of the metabolism

Hey Truck,

Does the 20 ppm apply to nitrates supplied through fertilization?

Thanks for the tip about the temp. I'll keep that in mind when I can find some of these gold rams.

They are pretty.

Thanks.

Greg

when fertilising you shold be aiming for 15-20ppm of nitrates which is fine for rams as long as it doesnt go over.

Either my test kit is wrong or the fertilization instructions are wrong. I am consistently getting a 40 ppm reading on my nitrate test while the dosing instructions I am using swear it will result in a 10 - 20 ppm level. I've backed the nitrogen dosing down some but the test reading hasn't budged. Maybe my API test kit has gone bad. I think I will test a tank after a 50% water change and before fertilization for nitrates and see what I get. I will also retest the incoming water in case that has changed from the zero it showed the last time I tested it. Hmmm? Maybe I will buy a new test kit and test with both.

I am open to any suggestions as I would really like to keep some of these rams. Now that I think of it, my son has a pair of blue rams and that tank tests at 40 ppm. I'm beginning to really suspect my test kit as those rams have been fine for a month now.

 

[Truck]

nice fish, just beware that they are sensitive fish nitrates above 20ppm arent really acceptable, and 28oC is needed for their health or they will deteriorate rapidly. at lower temps they face hexamita, and slowing of the metabolism

Hey Truck,

Does the 20 ppm apply to nitrates supplied through fertilization?

Thanks for the tip about the temp. I'll keep that in mind when I can find some of these gold rams.

They are pretty.

Thanks.

Greg

when fertilising you shold be aiming for 15-20ppm of nitrates which is fine for rams as long as it doesnt go over.

Either my test kit is wrong or the fertilization instructions are wrong. I am consistently getting a 40 ppm reading on my nitrate test while the dosing instructions I am using swear it will result in a 10 - 20 ppm level. I've backed the nitrogen dosing down some but the test reading hasn't budged. Maybe my API test kit has gone bad. I think I will test a tank after a 50% water change and before fertilization for nitrates and see what I get. I will also retest the incoming water in case that has changed from the zero it showed the last time I tested it. Hmmm? Maybe I will buy a new test kit and test with both.

I am open to any suggestions as I would really like to keep some of these rams. Now that I think of it, my son has a pair of blue rams and that tank tests at 40 ppm. I'm beginning to really suspect my test kit as those rams have been fine for a month now.

when was the last time you cleaned your external/internal? they can cause nitrate issues

 

[kcharley]

when was the last time you cleaned your external/internal? they can cause nitrate issues

I know I cleaned the canister last weekend (after the test result). I don't remember exactly on the others. I picked up another API kit yesterday. I do my weekly testing and waterchanges on Sunday afternoon/evening. If the two kits show the same results and the tank with the canister still tests at 40, I think I will cut my nitrate dosing in half and test nitrates daily until I get this sorted out. I really want to keep some of these gold rams.

Thanks for the help, Truck.

Greg